The lives by the Brahmaputra
Group Members: Ms. Ranjita, Mr. Narendra Deb Barma, Ms Shreyoshi, Ms Awon, Sobita, A Sen Jamir, Dr. Shreelekha Ray, Ms. Isabella.
The winter afternoon was made perfect with the soft sun, the mist and the cool breeze and the glittering river by the side in all its glory.
A stroll off the regular track leads us to the vicinity of the boating junction. The almost surreal beauty of the shimmering river and the bountiful green and the noise, commotion and pollution of the city life- what a harsh contrast in every frame! 
The overcrowded buses brimming with people struggle to move ahead, but their ways are blocked by the shabby autorichshaws and the always- in- a- rush bikers. The footpath too, has many stories to tell, of the many invisible lives that are led in the quiet and dark, hidden behind the trees and gray walls. One such woman is Mina, a tea-garden worker whose husband deserted her and their three daughters. The twisted workings of fate then landed her in the banks of Bramhaputra. However, her face still holds on to a smile as she describes the girls, the oldest of five and the youngest being just two and half. The strength of human hope at the face of adversity is always a surprise.
At the gate of the boating complex, the boatmen who are trying to lure us away with their low rates and schemes greet us. The busy juncture has people rushing in and out, families and businessmen, homeless children and teenagers. The busy city life and the calm winter what an interesting play of images…
We move ahead and sit on the steps to watch the people in their daily whereabouts. A little girl who was playing in the corner, rushes to us in a sudden bout of excitement. Dirty oversized clothes and running noses, but not a care in the world… she is blissfully unaware of the life she leads and the life she deserves. She shows off a handful of coins with a broad mischievous smile and looks at us expectantly. There is no reaction, but she patiently waits, holding on to her expression. After a little while the call of her friends divert her and she heads back to her friends and her playthings, the mid and leftover garbage on the banks. 
Our eyes then move on ahead to the vast open stretch ahead leading up to the boats. The area is strewn with plastic wastes and leftover items carelessly dumped by the unaware everyday passengers. Packets of chips and mouth fresheners, straws and paper plates greet us every step of the way to the boat. It bothers no one, no one seems aware of the harm they will cause. A deep breath and we step into the boat and move to the next destination.
Workshop notes from periferry
We divided ourselves into 5 groups and went to various sites and locations to observe , record and reveal our experiences.
Creative documentation and methods
by Desire Machine Collective is conducted
Nanook of the north, mosaffer and A.B.C Africa was screened.
Partners Workshop on Documentation and Communication
FST’s mission is to invest in and promote the region’s abundant human, natural, cultural and creative resources; enable communities to be owners of the development processes; encourage rights based approaches and gender equality; channel youth energies for constructive social transformation in north east India. We do this through grant making and fellowship programmes to support creative approaches for solutions to critical issues of the region. Parallel efforts are made towards building capacities and knowledge through training and networking.
Past demonstration grant making (whilst being incubated by North East Network) saw FST extending support to 12 organisations and 12 individuals in 2007. FST charted its own course in 2008 and has extended its support to another 10 organisations and 6 individuals working across various thematic areas in March 2009. Yet another 8 organisations and 12 individuals have been selected for support in the October 2009.
FST appreciates the importance and significance of work of its partners and is confident of the potential of their individual and combined efforts in social transformation of the NE region. CPD Mizoram, ROSS Tangla, BRO-ICARD Assam, will train and sensitize Mizo, Bodo and Mising youth to be change makers in their communities; Research studies by Prodigals Home, Dimapur and Kripa Foundation, Guwahati will help to create evidence and raise public awareness about child rights violations and substance abuse in Nagaland and Assam; SATRA Sipajhar will empower communities in Darrang, Baksa and Odalguri to assert themselves and fight for transparent governance; sSTEP Guwahati will use community risk management tools to study the social security needs of the poor in poverty pockets across Guwahati, Morigaon, Jorhat and Sohra; RWUS Churachandpur will help to organise and strengthen local farmers to fight for food security and related issues; Babul Gogoi will promote and train people on citizen’s journalism across small towns of Assam; new livelihood opportunities in mushroom cultivation will be created in Makum, Nirjuli and Mendipathar by MDF, Guwahati; Robes Nongbri will sensitise local communities on the value and need for conservation of traditional medicines, plants and herbs in villages around Umtyrnuit; Peter Adang will teach screen printing to survivors of substance abuse in Nagaland; Ratumoni Das will learn multimedia skills to improve his prospects as an artist and teach others; Lalthanzami and Lalbiakthuami will have improved skills in working for the cause of minority women who are victims of violence in Mizoram; VHAT Tripura will sensitise local communities in Mohanpur block of Tripura to shun gender based violence and ensure legal redressal to victims of violence.
Recent grant making in October 2009 will include training and economic empowerment of young adults with disability in Guwahati and semi literate indigenous girls in Tripura; orienting youth groups in Manipur to use theatre and street plays to raise awareness about social issues; documenting vanishing musical motifs in Tripura; raising awareness about rights of indigenous people; supporting a group of gun widows in Manipur; building bridges and empathy for the NE in Bangalore; raising awareness on health and hygiene in remote villages of Dhemaji and strengthening a village school in Chirang district; replicating successful children’s groups and leadership programmes in East Khasi Hills; empowering women victims of domestic and gender based violence to fight for legal redressal and justice in Assam and Nagaland; building alliances among local community based organisations to campaign against illegal and environmentally harmful mining practice in Meghalaya; spreading awareness about
right to food and work in villages and impact of climate change, as well as improving skills in documenting stories of local achievers in Nagaland; widening training on medicinal plants and herbs among women in districts of Assam.
As FST moves into the next phase of reviewing and monitoring work done by partners, we find that while some amazing stories of change and transformation have in fact taken place on the ground, these are often not documented adequately or shared publicly. These stories of efforts, the successes and failures need to be noted and narrated so that others may know and learn and be inspired from this.
FST appreciates that writing long detailed reports is not easy. Some of us find it easier to do the work than write about it. However simple creative ways of documenting work and change can be used effectively. It may often be easier to just record conversations, take short video footage and photographs that animate our work and tell our story in different and innovative ways. All these will help partners to present and communicate their work better.
Based on the above and feedback from most of the partners to a questionnaire on training needs, FST has chosen the theme of Documentation and Communication for the Partners’ Workshop. The intention is to stress on the importance of documentation and also cover different aspects of documentation such as using photography, bogging, seeking out stories of change etc. FST also plans to link these ideas with its existing reporting formats and thereby facilitate compliance. It is hoped that a mix of theoretical and practical hands-on sessions will help FST and its partners to build and hone their skills in documentation and effective communication and this will no doubt help in sustaining ongoing programmes.
