Why do we make videos? Well, for many today, video is a go-to form of entertainment. According to Statista, three billion people streamed or downloaded video once per month in 2022. In another study from Statista, online videos had an audience reach of 92.7% of users worldwide, with some of the most popular videos being entertainment, like music videos and comedy. But video has proven itself to have power beyond just entertainment. Video shooting can play a critical role in spreading information compellingly and effectively. This is why illuminAid's mission is to give the world's most impoverished communities the means to shoot video and distribute it to their community members.
Video's effectiveness comes from its ability to communicate complex ideas visually; it's accessible regardless of literacy levels or language barriers. Plus, the addition of subtitles and dubbing further enhances the medium's reach, allowing a diverse audience to understand the information being communicated. Through video, communities in developing countries learn about practices that can significantly improve their living conditions, such as proper hand washing or the use of mosquito nets over beds. For example, in our four-day workshop in Togo, organized with the Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the workshop taught attendees the skills they needed to shoot effective videos. The videos the attendees went on to make provided their community teachers with guidance on classroom management and taught students essential hand-washing practices.
And, unlike oral communication, which can be riddled with errors and distortions in human memory, video maintains the integrity of a message over time. We shoot videos to ensure the message won't be muddled due to memory or inaccurate retelling. Moreover, video can reach a larger audience. We provide impoverished communities with cordless projectors to show videos to large crowds.
So, why do we shoot videos? For illuminAid and the communities we help, it's an effective medium for providing life-changing information. By backing our cause, you're directly contributing to the spread of education and awareness in areas that lack the resources to use the full potential of video. If you have the means, go to illuminAid.org to contribute to our mission.
