Adding Spice: Collaborative Video as an Intersection Between Institutions and Refugees in Dadaab, Kenya

This paper, presented at the 3rd Annual Forced Migration Student Conference 'Seeking Refuge, Seeking Rights, Seeking a Future', examines the creation of an original, targeted video about HIV/AIDS that was written and produced in the three Dadaab Refugee Camps of Northeastern Province, Kenya. The analysis seeks to clarify the role of participatory methodology in rewriting the concept of selfhood and the relations of power between agencies and refugees in the context of refugee encampment. The public health educational video project was undertaken as a collaboration between aid agencies (led by FilmAid International and United Nations World Food Programme - WFP) and Somali refugees, and presented an intersection between the two.

The paper relies on anthropological analysis and ethnographic examples from fieldwork conducted in Dadaab in July and August 2004. It argues that the creation of Fur Indhahada/Open Your Eyes, as the video was later titled, allowed for a vision of "true" Somali identity to be re-created and wielded strategically in the effort to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.

In 2003, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) created an "integrated" mandate for HIV/AIDS which meant that all agencies operating with refugees in East Africa should attempt to provide health programming that was related to local contexts. This was considered particularly important in Dadaab, as even though there were education projects about AIDS, much of the feedback from the community indicated a persistent denial about the relevance of the disease for them. The refugees characterised HIV/AIDS as a "non-Somali" and "non-Muslim" disease.

Another problem, which was identified in Dadaab, was the almost exclusive use of visual educational materials that had originated in other parts of Kenya and therefore did not necessarily portray Somalis. Even those that had been translated into Somali language depicted "up-country" characters, which seemed to further reinforce the premise that only Christians could get HIV/AIDS.

It was then suggested that perhaps a targeted video which was written, shot and produced in the Dadaab camps would help transform to these beliefs. FilmAid designed a multi-step process in order to increase the feeling that the video was truly being designed by and for the community.

Initial meetings were held with religious and community leaders to ascertain whether it would be worthwhile to pursue the idea, and after these initial meetings, a Messaging Committee comprising refugee leaders, educators and workers, and agency staff was formed. The Messaging Committee chose five themes on the topic of HIV/AIDS and announced a story competition to the larger community.

At the time of the arrival of the FilmAid team in Dadaab in July 2003 there had been almost 500 stories submitted. The FilmAid technical team chose the 15 most viable stories and presented them back to the committee, who chose their 5 favorites. The team then came up with a story, the Messaging Committee critiqued it, and rehearsals began. There was further input from the Messaging Committee on the script and on the rough-cut of the video before it was finalised. “In order to design the video, the refugee participants highlighted and transformed the ideal of a ‘true’ Somali identity in order to directly confront the idea that HIV/AIDS is a disease that belongs only to non-Somalis.”

“The FilmAid project used participatory methodology to preserve the sense of local appropriateness and relevancy, which meant not only proactively selecting certain stories, but also avoiding the inclusion of others. The story involving a young boy who challenges the elders to a game of ‘Jar’ was unanimously chosen, as it was seen as celebrating a quotidian and highly visible aspect of cultural life in Dadaab. Whereas two of the other stories (one involving a traditional ‘cure’ for HIV/AIDS, and the other describing a young wife who is unfaithful and spreads the disease to her husband and his three other wives) were not well received. These stories were banned based on the fear that they would be seen as attacking religion, and therefore would be offensive to the community."