A campaign sponsored by SIGNIS with support from the Catholic Communication Campaign aims to share stories of hope that inspire and generate social transformation from new communication resources—a journey through Burundi, Liberia, Belize, Mexico, and Tanzania.
From Liberia, shortly after the second round of presidential elections, in Bong County, 168 km from the capital; to Burundi, finding a way to get to Muyinga, when it was impossible to locate a drop of fuel in the entire country; to Belize, amidst the wonders of nature and the challenges of society; to Mexico, in the days when Cyclone Otis devastated Acapulco.
These are some of the pit-stops of Inspiring Hope, the new communication campaign launched by SIGNIS, with support from the Catholic Communication Campaign of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. A journey that aims to tell stories of hope through videos that inspire and generate impact, showing the importance of communication for social transformation. Videomakers Edgar Rubio, a Mexican based in Brussels, and Valeria Bodnar, an Argentine on mission in Burundi, with eyes trained to pick up hidden stories and bring them to light and eager to empower and give a voice to women and young people, have traveled miles to gather these stories, which will soon be available on YouTube.
The journey begins in Burundi, in Bujumbura, inside the Cardinal Foley music production studio, which through music, seeks a way -especially among young people- to promote reconciliation and peace. Next stop, Liberia, alongside the media “heroes” for peace who, under extreme conditions, through the local Radio Paraclete established in 2020, animate the life of the community, even in the pre-election period. Moving along, we travel to Central America, to Belize, where the new diocesan communication center plays a key role in the call for emancipation and growth among the youth and beyond. We return for a moment to Burundi, but this time to the town of Muyinga, where the radio station “The Voice of Reconciliation” opens new perspectives on the work of media workers as true instruments for reconciliation and forgiveness in the country. It’s time to move to Mbinga, in the southern highlands of Tanzania, where Radio Hekima is Bishop John Ndimbo’s 7-year-long dream that finally became a reality during the pandemic. Last stop: Radio Lío, an experience that links nine Latin American countries with the voice of young people, according to Pope Francis’ invitation at 2013 World Youth Day in Rio.
These projects were implemented between 2018 and 2021 thanks to the accompaniment of SIGNIS Services Rome, the technical branch of SIGNIS, which allowed many project ideas to take shape. The campaign will start in February and accompany us through the spring with videos that were recorded on-site between October 2023 and January 2024.
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