New Routes’ project “Abriendo Las Cajas” raise awareness on violence in Hispanic Community

Printer-friendly versionSend to friend

MADISON, WI, June 18, 2009 – The New Routes to Community Health project Abriendo Las Cajas (Opening Boxes) has released a DVD compilation of 20 digital short stories to draw attention to violence in the Hispanic community in Oakland, California. The stories are told by Mexican adults, Latin American immigrants and Latino youth who live in the Fruitvale District.

The short videos, posted individually at www.newroutes.org, were produced during the past year through collaboration between La Clinica de la Raza, ZeroDivide, and Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC). More than 100 community members attended a screening of the DVD in late May, many of whom ordered a copy of the DVD to show in their communities.  

“Our goal is to share these compelling stories with the greater community to encourage others to also share their stories, create dialogue and, consequently, systemic change,” said Maria Pilar Tudela, La Clinica Health Education Adult Programs supervisor.   

The DVD is available to community groups who want to help spread the message about preventing violence. The stories and tools are offered in Spanish and English, and are free to nonprofit organizations and schools that plan to screen the stories in health, community and violence prevention settings.

Abriendo Las Cajas anticipates that the stories and its curriculum guide will be shown by a statewide network of health educators, as well as be heard on local radio and public access television stations. This summer, the project is inviting participants to be part of a larger, intergenerational media program.

“This project is healing for the community in two distinct ways,” said Jennifer Gilomen, Abriendo Las Cajas program manager and BAVC lead developer. “First, it spreads the word to the greater Hispanic community that it’s okay to talk about violence in public. Second, it empowers the teens and adults who produce the videos to share their experiences with their own families and community.”  

To view the videos online:
http://www.bavc.org/index.php?option=com_seyret&Itemid=1047&task=videodirectlink&id=207

Stories on the DVD include:

Mi Principe Azul – Health educator Veronica shares her personal story of domestic violence
Racism and Judging – Teenager Javier tells his experience with racism and how he overcame stereotypes in his own life

La Cuota de Sangre en mi Familia – Tulio’s personal story of violence, immigration and healing
Tali’s Story – A 15-year-old girl tells about something that happened to her at home, which became a turning point in her life.

Abriendo las Cajas Experiences – a 10-minute piece in which several women and men in the Latino Fruitvale neighborhood tell their own stories of violence and its impact on their lives

Four pieces that focus on Abriendo Las Cajas leaders and catalogue their personal journeys through this project
To order the digital story collection and curriculum guide, visit www.newroutes.org <http://www.newroutes.org> .

To request a copy of the DVD:
http://www.bavc.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1669&Itemid=1726 

Abriendo Las Cajas asks that in return, groups report back on audience data so producers know how the stories were used, and what was effective.

Abriendos Las Cajas is part of a larger, national project called New Routes to Community Health, which improves the health of immigrants in the U.S. using media created by immigrants.

“Our program’s ‘new route’ to community health runs straight through urban neighborhoods, populated by immigrants. Health and mental health concerns are an endemic part of the landscape,” said Beth Mastin, New Routes national program director. “That’s why our national collaborative offers immigrant groups new tools to tell their stories and make their communities stronger.”

The eight New Routes projects are each receiving $225,000 from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation over three years. The media content they create is housed at www.newroutes.org <http://www.newroutes.org> and available for any community to use. The Web site also serves as a resource for research and news on the topic of immigrant community health.

New Routes to Community Health is funded through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Vulnerable Populations portfolio. The Benton Foundation and MasComm Associates provide direction and technical assistance for the program.

About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change. 

About the Benton Foundation
The Benton Foundation works to ensure that media and telecommunications serve the public interest and enhance democracy. It pursues this mission by seeking policy solutions that support the values of access, diversity and equity, and by demonstrating the value of media and telecommunications for improving the quality of life for all. 

To view the videos online:
http://www.bavc.org/index.php?option=com_seyret&Itemid=1047&task=videodi...

To request a copy of the DVD:
http://www.bavc.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1669&Itemi...