Consumer Education Society (CES) held three screenings of '10 tactics' in February and March: two in the Latur District and a further screening in Guntur, India.
Latur District, Maharashtra state, India, saw two screenings of 10 tactics; the first being in Udgir on 2 February and the second one in Loni the following day. These screenings were organised by CES and shown as part of teacher training programmes. Around 100 teacher trainees and NGO representatives participated in these events and were said to have found the film to be highly informative and inspiring.
Aruna Katragadda from Vikasa Dhatri, an organisation which offers Telugu e-books for free downloads said about the event: “it was amazing to see the film knowing that people and communities had benefited with the available information and to learn how they turned the information into action."
On 22 March a further screening was organised by CES in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India. This screening was organised as part of the ‘Free and Open Source Software Workshop' for civil society organisations and was attended by 12 representatives from different voluntary organisations. This screening had been planned for December 2009 but due to the political and social unrest that erupted in Andhra Pradesh regarding the bifurcation of the state, the event had to be postponed. The organisations that watched the film found it informative and inspiring and hope to use the knowledge, they gleaned, in their work.
Many of the participants are new to the internet and are excited about the happenings that are taking place using the latest ICTs.
CES is a volunteer driven organisation that works to protect and promote consumers’ interests. They aim to expand and strengthen the capabilities of consumers and civil society groups to carry out effective Consumer Education Programmes. Their main focus is on consumer rights, environment education, health, poverty, gender and good governance. CES have developed training modules focusing on behavioural change in areas such as HIV/AIDS, community forest management, gender and environmental education. They have published articles and guides on these subjects and the Telugu books developed as part of the CES Series can be downloaded free here.
CES strongly feel that ICTs can be used effectively to promote any developmental issue at a low cost and that they are now well placed to help social organisations with their work in the area. Therefore CES have already started to organise Free and Open Source Software Training Programmes for civil society organisations. After coming across '10 tactics' they found the work interesting and wanted to screen the film in India to benefit larger sections of the society. CES plans to use the film as a resource material in their workshops that they conduct in Engineering Colleges and Bachelor of Education College.
Top: '10 tactics' screening on 2 February 2010 at Udgir, Latur District. Middle: Screening on 3 February 2010 at Loni, Latur District. Bottom: Screening at Guntur, Andhra Pradesh on 22 March.