Preparing for a Video Education Workshop: Behind the Scenes with illuminAid

At illuminAid, we're privileged to work with local partners to bring educational opportunities to rural communities in the developing world through our Video Education Workshops (VEWs). Our four-day VEWs occur in-country and typically involve the training of 30 to 50 participants in all phases of video production. From shooting video content in the field to hands-on video editing experiences, trainees leave the workshop more confident in creating and mobilizing educational video for positive behavior change.

Preparing for each international project is an exciting process with many moving pieces and details to coordinate, all of which are essential to ensure a successful workshop. Having just wrapped up our most recent Video Education Workshop in West Africa, we wanted to highlight just a few of the steps that go into each project.

Gathering the team

The heart of our workshops is our team of Local Video Trainers (LVTs) and volunteers. Through our networks and targeted outreach, illuminAid recruits and trains local individuals with video production expertise who will help facilitate the workshop and guide participants through the learning process. LVTs’ insight into not only video making but also local culture is invaluable for adapting the curriculum to the local context and language. If you or someone you know would be a good fit for our team of Local Video Trainers, learn more here.

Volunteers sometimes accompany our staff and LVTs for a Video Education Workshop to contribute their time or knowledge to the project. Volunteers may help ensure the workshop runs smoothly, bring their expertise in videography or photography to document our impact, support interpretation with their language skills or lend a hand with other important activities. We welcome the application of volunteers who are able to fundraise for their travel expenses. Learn more about traveling with illuminAid here.

Booking the travel

After we have identified the team that will lead the project, we will tackle travel logistics next. As soon as we have a finalized agreement with our partners abroad and a date set for the workshop, our team can identify cost-effective flights, lodging and transportation for our staff and volunteers. Fortunately, our executive team has abundant experience navigating travel internationally and across developing countries, though coordination with our in-country partners is always key to a smooth ride.

Preparing the equipment

Assembling our camera kits, projector kits and recharge kits is a meticulous process that is integral to a successful project. The number of kits deployed into a local community varies by project, but they always contain innovative and new technologies to equip our trainees with the best tools to create video content. Each of our kits requires careful assembly, acute attention to detail, and product testing to ensure that when our team arrives in-country, we are ready to put the equipment to use. The equipment kits always stay with local teams after the project, so it is our duty to provide our partners with sustainable and comprehensive tools that can be maintained long after our departure. 

Finalizing the curriculum

illuminAid’s Video Education Workshop curriculum has been informed by over 40 years of expertise in video production, but it is always evolving to better meet technological and educational developments. As we prepare for a project in a new community, this often entails translating materials into local languages, adjusting content based on any learnings from our last workshop and ensuring the curriculum is accessible and engaging for all participants.

Packing our bags

Packing our bags means more than just folding clothes and inventorying personal items. Our team typically takes off with 3 to 5 large pieces of luggage filled with all the equipment, workshop materials and official documentation needed to travel and facilitate the workshop smoothly. When putting the final touches on our project preparations, our student interns and staff are vital in managing all the small but important details. 

If you are interested in being involved and experiencing firsthand how illuminAid prepares for an international Video Education Workshop, we always appreciate the support of volunteers, so get in touch! 

Photo Credit: Nate Webb / illuminAid