CIRCs make 6,000 people digitally literate in two months
US-based film-makers Daniel Oxenhandler and Will Sloan along with DEF team members Rohit Dhall and Udita Chaturvedi undertook a day-long visit to CIRCs around Alwar on 19th December, 2015 to shoot for a documentary called ‘One Billion Stories’ that the duo are producing to explore the impact of India’s unprecedented expansion of network and digital technology on the country’s ability to collaborate around major social and environmental challenges. The duo had earlier shot an interview with DEF Founder-Director Osama Manzar. It was during this interview that Daniel and Will were impressed by the mention of CIRCs and expressed the intention to visit one of these centres. They, in fact, ended up visiting three such centres.
The trip started with the two film makers visiting Mungaska village in Alwar district they were introduced to the family of Yusuf Khan, a bhapang player. Yusuf is also managing DEF’s smallest CIRC with just two computer systems. At this centre, Yusuf and his family digitise their music and store it online for two purposes — first to save their music from being lost and, secondly, to allow a wider global audience to hear their songs or watch their videos.
The second stop was at Chandauli CIRC, which also happens to be the centre that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg visited during his first trip to India in October 2014. At this centre, Daniel and Will interviewed several students and the CIRC trainer, thus, learning about what the students and teachers expect from each other and how has digital literacy impacted the local community.
The final stop was at Vijay Mandir CIRC, on the outskirts of Alwar town, which has been established in the Vijay Mandir Palace. Besides the purpose of the centre, the USP of this CIRC is the breathtaking view of the sunset at the horizon of a lake.
All the three locations helped lead Daniel and Will to the goal of their film, which is to combine the stories of people currently exploring the potential of technologies and its impact on the society’s economic and social conditions.
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