There are many different ways to document development projects going on around the world. By using film, the Internet and print media sources an organization can promote what they do, shed light on the issues they aim to confront and can make creative uses of those mediums to further their agendas. Mixing those genres can prove to be even more effective. Reality television, webisodes and interactive media are starting to replace the more traditional documentary as a way to display “reality” to an average television viewer.

Reality television gives you an intimate window into the lives of the subjects that you wouldn’t normally have access to as an outsider. You can follow life of a Celebutant as she searches for a new best friend, watch a celebrity as they embark on a life changing journey, or you can see what living in a household of 18+ people is like. I was watching the reality show “18 Kids and Counting” on TLC the other day. I don’t really follow it, but the basic premise of the show is following the Dugger family with (now) 18 kids in their daily routine. The episode I caught had some members of the family going on a trip to El Salvador, in which they visited orphanages, schools and other projects being run by a missionary organization. What struck me was that the Dugger kids made comments about the plight of the poverty stricken children they met. One of the girls said “People in America must not know what is going on down here, otherwise they would be doing something about it” (Not an exact quote). While we aren’t all exposed to development issues at the same degree, it would be hard to find a person in the Western world who has no idea about Third World Poverty. I do agree that the issues that confront people daily in developing countries are not publicized nearly enough on the world scale. Sometimes it is frustrating that an issue has to be come tragic before the media takes note.

There are some great examples out there of reality television that is being used to explore development issues in a different light then news outlets. 4REAL, which airs in Canada on MTV both on television and episodes online. The show is broadcast internationally on the National Geographic Channel. The show takes a celebrity guest to a different location each episode to “connect with young leaders who, under extreme circumstances, are effecting real change on some of the most pressing issues of our time”. The host Sol Guy takes these celebrity guests to remote parts of the world, and they are challenged to take a real world look at how change is made by people from within. I was first introduced to the show when I attended a youth conference a few years ago in Vancouver where the pilot was shown. 4REAL has come a long way since then and now has become an online global community.

In the sixth and seventh seasons of the popular reality show American Idol the show dedicated two episodes to Idol Gives Back, in which special guests come on the show for a special concert and to raise funds for charities supporting underprivileged children around the world.

It is apparent, not only as a student of development, but as someone who has worked in fundraising for non-profits that traditional forms of promotions and campaigning are being mixed with social networking sites, text-message campaigns and a plethora of other innovative uses of the Internet and technology. Organizations that will succeed in a recessed market are those that can use innovation to their advantage and reality television (while controversial in terms of privacy laws) might just be one of those ways to get the message across.

There are many different ways to document development projects going on around the world. By using film, the Internet and print media sources an organization can promote what they do, shed light on the issues they aim to confront and can make creative uses of those mediums to further their agendas. Mixing those genres can prove to be even more effective. Reality television, webisodes and interactive media are starting to replace the more traditional documentary as a way to display “reality” to an average television viewer.

Reality television gives you an intimate window into the lives of the subjects that you wouldn’t normally have access to as an outsider. You can follow life of a Celebutant as she searches for a new best friend, watch a celebrity as they embark on a life changing journey, or you can see what living in a household of 18+ people is like. I was watching the reality show “18 Kids and Counting” on TLC the other day. I don’t really follow it, but the basic premise of the show is following the Dugger family with (now) 18 kids in their daily routine. The episode I caught had some members of the family going on a trip to El Salvador, in which they visited orphanages, schools and other projects being run by a missionary organization. What struck me was that the Dugger kids made comments about the plight of the poverty stricken children they met. One of the girls said “People in America must not know what is going on down here, otherwise they would be doing something about it” (Not an exact quote). While we aren’t all exposed to development issues at the same degree, it would be hard to find a person in the Western world who has no idea about Third World Poverty. I do agree that the issues that confront people daily in developing countries are not publicized nearly enough on the world scale. Sometimes it is frustrating that an issue has to be come tragic before the media takes note.

There are some great examples out there of reality television that is being used to explore development issues in a different light then news outlets. 4REAL, which airs in Canada on MTV both on television and episodes online. The show is broadcast internationally on the National Geographic Channel. The show takes a celebrity guest to a different location each episode to “connect with young leaders who, under extreme circumstances, are effecting real change on some of the most pressing issues of our time”. The host Sol Guy takes these celebrity guests to remote parts of the world, and they are challenged to take a real world look at how change is made by people from within. I was first introduced to the show when I attended a youth conference a few years ago in Vancouver where the pilot was shown. 4REAL has come a long way since then and now has become an online global community.

In the sixth and seventh seasons of the popular reality show American Idol the show dedicated two episodes to Idol Gives Back, in which special guests come on the show for a special concert and to raise funds for charities supporting underprivileged children around the world.

It is apparent, not only as a student of development, but as someone who has worked in fundraising for non-profits that traditional forms of promotions and campaigning are being mixed with social networking sites, text-message campaigns and a plethora of other innovative uses of the Internet and technology. Organizations that will succeed in a recessed market are those that can use innovation to their advantage and reality television (while controversial in terms of privacy laws) might just be one of those ways to get the message across.

This week’s a busy week with lots of diverse events, including some dealing with technology and volunteerism, media for social change, art and AIDS, just to name a few.

Volunteer Toronto is hosting a film evening on Thursday with a new British film that asks questions about how Web 2.0 technology can change democracy and civic participation.  Us Now is about “the power of mass collaboration, government and the internet.”   I’ll see you there.

Film: Us Now (internet and volunteerism)
Thursday, February 26 - 7:00pm
Bloor Cinema - 506 Bloor Street West at Bathurst

On Friday, I’m headed to two events about AIDS.  In the morning, Global Voices and Rising Voices will be hosting a live online Blogging Positively chat for bloggers and activists, facilitated by Kenyan bloggers Serina Kalande and Daudi Were.  If you haven’t seen it already, the Global Voices team has put together a great google map with AIDS bloggers around the world.

Online: Blogging Positively
Friday, February 27 - 9:00am
http://www.worknets.org/chat/

In the afternoon, as part of the Canadian Art Reel Artists Film Festival there is a screening of Art, AIDS and the Fin de Siecle. According to the website,

“In 1969, three young artists living in Toronto formed General Idea, a media-based collective, and quickly became international “art stars” challenging and transforming conventional ideas about art. Their enormous body of work explores pop culture, consumerism, media and celebrity. They also focused strongly on the AIDS epidemic and AIDS activism at a time when the virus was first being identified. The members—who changed their names to Jorge Zontal, Felix Partz and AA Bronson—lived and worked together until 1994, when Felix and Jorge died of AIDS. Narrated by AA Bronson, this film charts the life of one of Canada’s most internationally celebrated artist collectives.”

Film: Art, AIDS and the Fin de Siecle
Friday, February 27 - 3:15pm
Al Green Theatre, Miles Nadal JCC, 750 Spadina Avenue

Check out other events this week on the Unpacking Development Events Calendar.  These include a speaker about global health in Sudan, a weekend conference about children’s rights, a workshop on media and social change, a symposium on the business perspective of water as a human right, and a photography fundraiser for the AIDS Committee of Toronto.

Still recovering from TwestivalTO last night.  For those of you who didn’t partake, the Twitter event brought together people in 200 cities around the world for a cause, with people attending parties from LA to Bangalore, as well as right here at Toronto’s CIRCA nightclub.

All proceeds went to Charity:Water.  It’s a glossy charity, started in 2006 by Scott Harrison, a New York club promoter who was inspired to start an NGO after traveling to West Africa with Mercy Ships (check out Alanna’s take on hospital ships over at Change.org).  Charity:Water has had amazing successes in its short life and has funded over 1,200 projects in 2 years.  In the same time, they have gotten more than 60 press mentions – an NGO publicist’s dream.  And Charity:Water claims to use 100 percent of its fundraising dollars on projects (most organizations also need to use some of it to run their organization).

So here’s the trade off: rather than being run by development experts and local staff, the organization is dominated by business executives and communications people.  A friend pointed out the charity’s Vice President boasts Coca-Cola among his client list (a client that has gotten in trouble for water issues in the past).

I like glossy, high profile and mainstream (like Jeffery Sachs, Angelina and Bono) because it is so good at mobilizing money and hearts.  Though the numbers aren’t in, Twestival alone aimed to raise $1million for water issues.

On the other hand, the celebrity/tycoon approach tends not to question the structures that cause disparity in the first place (like trade relations, conditional loans, etc).  Case in point: Charity:Water receives support from Banana Republic, a brand which seems to celebrate colonial relationships.

In the age of public-private partnerships for charity, social entrepreneurship, and celebrity causes, this debate is one that will keep coming up.  I’m cautiously optimistic about having a new army of world changers from outside the traditional development set.  Best of both worlds, perhaps?

At TwestivalTO, party seemed to overtake charity.  After buying your ticket online, you could forget that you had ever donated to Charity:Water and focus on being in a social setting where it was totally appropriate to Tweet mid-conversation.

My top picks for Toronto’s charity events this week are targeting two specific demographics: geeks and singles. On Thursday, a world-wide Twestival for Charity: Water will take place at Toronto’s Circa nightclub. The party will be facilitated by Twitter, a micro-blogging site that allows you to post status updates like you would on Facebook. According to TwestivalTO,

“Twestival was born out of the idea that if cities were able to collaborate on an international scale, but working from a local level, it could have a spectacular impact. By rallying together globally, under short timescales, for a single aim on the same day, the Twestival hopes to bring awareness to this global crisis.”

Party: Twestival Toronto for Charity:Water
Thursday, February 12 - 7:00pm
CIRCA, 126 John.

On Valentines Day this Saturday, Habitat for Humanity is hosting a Singles Build, getting Toronto singles out to help build low-income housing at Peddicord Building Site, and hopefully finding a soul mate in the process. Does combining volunteering+dating=true love? I’d certainly like to think so.

Volunteer: Habitat for Humanity’s Singles Build
Saturday, February 14 – All Day
Peddicord Build Site

Also on this week:

Symposium: Tibetan Medicine - Interactions with the West, Challenges and Contributions
Tuesday, February 10 – 5:30pm
Munk Centre for International Studies, 1 Devonshire Place

Speaker: Capacity building for primary care - The Brazilian Experience
Wednesday, February 11 - 12:00pm
7th floor conference room, 525 University Avenue (building just south of Sickkids)

Film: Darwin’s Nightmare
Thursday, February 12 - 7:00pm
U of T Health Sciences Building, 155 College St (at McCaul), Room 208

Fundraising Dinner: Fighting a Long and Lonely War Face to Face with AIDS
Thursday, February 12 - 7:00pm
Empire, 50 Cumberland

Coming Up Next Week:

Speakers: Urban Moods and Urban Myths: Do Neighborhoods Matter for Mental Health?
Tuesday, February 17 - 7:00pm
Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St. West

Conference: De-Colonizing Our Minds, Creating a Space for Critical Thought
Saturday, February 21 - 10:00am
Wilson Hall Lounge, New College (40 Willcocks Street, 2nd Floor)