Social and Environmental Projects
in Madagascar

PROJET HEPA - Oral Testimony

Projet Hepa was launched in collaboration with Panos London in 2007 with the aim of increasing the voice of local populations, and to improve awareness about the knowledge and experience of the indigenous people in southern Madagascar. HEPA is an abbreviation of Hetahetam-Po Ambara signifying "Proclaim what is in your heart"..

UPDATE: The project is launching its collection of Anosy testimonies entitled "Voix du Changement" (Voices of Change). Published in Malagasy (Antanosy dialect), and French language,  it will be disseminated widely in Madagascar and internationally.

The book is available in all three languages, including English, in PDF format on this web page.
Download it here >>>>>>>>>

An e-publication of the testimony collection titled "Pushed to the Edge" is available on the Panos website.

Voices of Change ( Voix du Changement )
Pushed to the Edge

This is the first published account of the lives of the Antanosy people in their own words and is an important opportunity for local people to speak directly to decision makers about their difficulties in the face of climate change, food insecurity, and rapid development due to mining. Villagers express their feelings of powerlessness as they lose their lands and access to their forests which are a vital part of their survival strategy. These resources are increasingly restricted, and under threat, since the arrival of a large scale mining project (QMM/Rio Tinto), with serious impacts on livelihoods and food security for rural families. There is rapid regional development accompanying the mining operation which brings new infrastructure, but also many foreigners who do not respect local taboos, so changes are perceived as mixed blessings. Villagers appreciate improvements to their health and education services, but they do not believe they compensate for loss of their lands, and they speak of how their own lack of literacy has left them vulnerable in recent negotiations for compensation.

The communities already face challenges from climate change and a growing population, but the presence of the QMM mining operation has created additional pressures in a fragile environment. The changes and restrictions to traditional occupations in farming and fishing undermine customary self-sufficiency and are resulting in significant levels of hardship.

There is rapid regional development accompanying the mining operation which brings new infrastructure, but also many foreigners who do not respect local taboos, so changes are perceived as mixed blessings. Villagers appreciate improvements to their health and education services, but they do not believe they compensate for loss of their lands, and they speak of how their own lack of literacy has left them vulnerable in recent negotiations for compensation.

Communications are the Key

"it is a huge challenge for people to draft a letter and send it to the authorities. Most of us are illiterate..." - Const and (m), St Luce

Communications is a vital part of the development process. It is particularly important in fragile environments where the most poor, typically rural producers and women, remain isolated and disenfranchised; where governance mechanisms are weak, and where low literacy skills exacerbate feelings of powerlessness and exclusion.

A recent study undertaken by the UNDP entitled ‘Communications for Empowerment in Madagascar’ (2008) concludes that opportunities for local people to express their views are extremely limited and invariably these do not enter the public domain through national or local media.

Local debate and information sharing is usually confined to village meetings where traditional hierarchies are prevalent, and women in particular are excluded or dismissed as unknowledgeable. Fear and taboos also play a part in restricting the flow of debate, especially where opinions are dissonant with the status quo.

Opening up Dialogue in the Region

Despite the significant changes brought about in Anosy since 2005 - through the mining project and accompanying investments into the region - no permanent independent forum exists where local people feel confident to speak out about how they are affected by the rapid change, or are able to seek neutral arbitration and solutions for problems arising.

Since the mining operation began Andrew Lees Trust has repeatedly called for an independent neutral stakeholder platform in Anosy in line with ICMM (International Council on Mining and Minerals) guidelines. Such a forum would offer villagers and other all stakeholders an opportunity to highlight problems and discuss areas of concern, without prejudice, and to engage the company in mechanisms to resolve issues in a safe, secure environment that places a premium on open participation, empowerment, and dialogue. Read ALT’s position on the QMM mine.

Aims of Publishing the Testimonies

The aims of the Anosy testimonies publication are to: open up the debate at all levels; widen the audience of the Antanosy people by employing different media; demonstrate the importance of communications in the rapidly changing development scenario; and promote the enfranchisement of the most vulnerable within local decision making processes.

These testimonies are being published locally, nationally and internationally; they will also be aired in part via radio, e networks, and press coverage to inform donors, decision makers, and development actors about the reality for local communities, and to create greater understanding and awareness of the development challenges in the local context.

ALT also hopes this publication will encourage all those who hold the power, resources and skills, to listen and act to alleviate the suffering and improve the lives of the Antanosy people.

Oral Testimony and Participatory Video

Project HEPA began when Andrew Lees Trust (ALT) requested the assistance of Panos London to help develop and deepen participatory techniques for its ‘Projet Radio’ which has been delivering non formal education and information via radio networks to rural communities across southern Madagascar for the last ten years. Funded by IFAD, the HEPA activities commenced in November 2007

Communities in the southern littoral zones of Anosy and Androy, Southern Madagascar, were identified to participate in Projet Hepa, being subsistence farmers, women, local producers and fishermen who live below the poverty line and who depend on their local environment for their daily needs of food, fuel, livelihood and medicines. Some face annual drought and food shortages, others displacement from their lands and traditional livelihoods.

Panos London brought its expertise to train villagers from Anosy and Androy to become rural interviewers, collect oral testimonies and film life stories from within their own communities. Panos has considerable expertise in media for development, and builds skills and capacity for communications in developing countries. Its work on oral testimony spans communities in Sudan, Pakistan and Namibia and brings to life the development challenges in these countries:

"Testimonies challenge the generalisations of development literature, increase our understanding of development issues, and enlighten planners and policymakers about how it feels to be at the sharp end of development."  Panos

The Approach

The testimonies were undertaken and recorded by local village interviewers. These interviewers were trained and supported over a week long workshop with field practice. Themes and questions for the community were developed by the participants through a facilitated dialogue. Techniques for ensuring that questions were open, and interviews focused primarily on environment and poverty, were practiced and monitored.

The interviewers were provided with Dictaphones and were remunerated for the hours they spent on the interviewing. They returned to their communities and between them collected 58 testimonies from five coastal fokontany (village communities) in Androy and Anosy over two months. These were peer reviewed by the ALT Malagasy field teams who also took part in the Panos training, and who undertook the first selection process. The selected 44 testimonies were transcribed and translated. The final selection and edits were made by Panos London with the goal of reflecting the most recurring themes. All interviewees agreed to have their story published or broadcast. All the village participants have received copies of their testimonies.

"The benefits of oral testimony in southern Madagascar are multiple:  it works at grass roots level; it ensures that local language and meaning is used and readily understood; women are included in the sharing process; the absence of hierarchy engenders more freedom of speech; the interviewers are known by their communities affording greater trust in the exchange; people get to speak for themselves and not through interpreters or facilitators; and foreigners are not present to influence outcomes." Yvonne Orengo, Dir ALT

13 Radio programmes have been developed and broadcast about the environment, climate change, local development challenges, and culture. Much of what has been learnt by the ALT local teams through this process will enhance their radio programme work and will influence the future vision of the communications strategies of ALT in Madagascar.

Participatory Videos

In March of 2008 a participative video training was carried out and five films were made by villagers who had never seen or picked up a video camera before.

The films were viewed by a local audience in Faux Cap and extracts are about to be launched on the Panos website as part of the day of Indigenous people, together with a selection of oral testimonies. The project also aims to air the films on television in Madagascar.

For more information about Panos and oral testimony visit  http://www.panos.org.uk/survivalstrategies.

This work represents ground breaking communications activity in the south of Madagascar where there are few opportunities for local people to express themselves publicly or have their stories heard by a wider audience.

It is also their first direct interaction with audio and visual media and is an exciting opportunity for remote communities who are marginalised and not visible to the outside world. Read their stories and see their lives.

Projet HEPA - by the people, for the people.

Updates

Film Showings

Panos produced short versions of four of the HEPA PV films with English sub-titles. These are on the Panos website and have been widely promoted to international audiences. They have been screened at two international conferences: the climate change conference in Poland in December 2008, and the Indigenous People’s Climate Change conference in Alaska in April this year. They are also scheduled to be screened at the major Climate Change conference in Copenhagen, Denmark later this year. Panos produced a Malagasy version of the six films on DVD for two regional screenings: The Rebeke festival in Tshiombe Androy, and a screening to regional decision-makers in Ambovombe Androy, which resulted in raising awareness of the community and their problems to other organisations and donors. The DVD has been distributed throughout the region and at national level In June this year, the films were broadcast on Malagasy regional television.

Four testimonies from the Androy participants were published on the worldwide web in August 2008 on the Day for Indigenous People, alongside films that were made by villagers about their environmental and development challenges. The films have been broadcast regionally and at international conferences on climate change. Extracts of the films and the Androy testimonies can be viewed at http://www.panos.uk.org/survivalstrategies

A local cultural association was launched in Anosy in 2009 following the enthusiasm that developed from the initial testimony collection exercise. The participants decided there was a real need to preserve the identity of the Antanosy people given the rapid change and development in their region and the Anosy Cultural Association aims to continue collecting and sharing oral testimonies to record and celebrate their culture.

See: http://www.andrewleestrust.org/aca.htm

LOCAL LAUNCH

On the 27th October 2009 ALT launched ‘Voix du Changement’ at the Town Hall in Ft Dauphin in the presence of the Chef du Region, and approximately 100 members of the Anosy community including local Mayors, Chef de Fokontany, teachers, students, Elders and local association representatives.

Copies of the book were distributed and the opportunity afforded some discussion about the project and the role of communications in local development. The audience were also afforded the opportunity to watch a showing of ‘Radio pour la Brousse’ a short video about ALT’s Project Radio.

 

Links

http//www.panos.org/pushedtotheedge

http://www.panos.org.uk/survivalstrategies

http://www.livinglens.co.uk/

http://www.ifad.org/english/operations/pf/mdg/index.htm