How Societies Work - A Look at Unconvential Arrangements

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• Video PitchThe Indigenous Guard, a force to be reckoned with

  •  Colombia

  In the southwestern Colombian province of Cauca, justice is in the hands of the Indigenous Guard. This native Colombian elite, although armed with only the “chonta” or chieftain’s stick, control and protect the territory of the Paeces indigenous community.

  The history of the Guard goes back many centuries and it already existed at the time of the Spanish colonization of the Americas, when the indigenous lands were invaded by the conquistadors.

  The Guard is made up of men, women and children and derives its mandate from the community assemblies and thus is directly dependent upon the indigenous community authorities.

  The Guard came about to defend the community from those who would attack the villages. Their other tasks include searching for the disappeared, freeing those kidnapped or detained, supporting and accompanying the local authorities, transporting the sick and the injured, protecting sacred sites and protecting the community during marches and assemblies.

  This video will take a closer look at this form of indigenous justice and how it relates to the official powers of the Colombian government. We will spend time the Guard, documenting how they work as well as reporting on the attitudes of local government representatives.

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    Scheltus57

  13 Apr 2011

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• Video PitchCommunity Mums take over state tasks

  •  Colombia

  A wave of tragic accidents involving children who were at home alone, convinced a number of neighbours in a suburb of the Colombian capital Bogota to organize their own child daycare centre, assigning the care of a group of children to one stay-at-home mother. This project soon caught on and by now over 82000 of these Community Mums take care of almost a million and a half children.

  Despite receiving some government support the mothers claim to lack real institutional backing and insist that the entire programme depends on their own spirit of solidarity and hard work. They accuse the government of using their home-grown programme to show off the positive results as their own.

  In this video I would tell the story of the first Community Mum through her experiences and show the challenges this innovative grass-roots system faces.
  

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    Scheltus57

  13 Apr 2011

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• Video PitchExtremism in Germany

  •  Germany

  Far-right violence against immigrants has become a prevalent problem in different parts of Germany. But also far-left wing terrorism and fundamentalist groups convulse german democracy consistently. Which of the militant extremists are most dangerous and how do they threaten the German state and society?

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    Ruth Wolter

  22 Jan 2013

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• Video PitchDefending a controversial crop

  •  Colombia

  In the south east of Colombia local communities are taking a novel approach to their most controversial of crops, the coca leaf. While in other parts of South America, coca - an essential ingredient for cocaine production – is being eradicated by governments, Colombian farming communities have decided to embrace their ancestral crop, finding new uses for this hardy plant.

  At least three small companies, employing around 100 local families, are proving that growing and processing coca can foster local development without fueling the drug trade.

  These small cooperatives produce tea, biscuits, a coca-based wine and even a soft drink made of coca. One of these brands is My Kokita, which is run by the Guambiana community and produces and sells medicinal products, tea and a wine made from coca. Other cooperatives go even further, making soap and even a form of spaghetti.

  The cooperatives control the entire production process, from planting the coca right up to the marketing of the finished product. With these products they hope to highlight the use of coca, beyond the criminal scene with which it is normally associated. It also serves to help these impoverished communities to make a decent living.

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    Luisa López

  13 Apr 2011

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