Published: Saturday, 23rd January, 2010 5:00pm

Seeing what he could do to help in a crisis

Stephen Rudden with the other finalists in the European Commission Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO) Crisis Correspondent - Reporting from Uganda competition, Karen Reidy, Eimear Hannon and Tina Brescanu.
Pic by==: 97

ECHOs crisis correspondent reporting from Uganda competition' was open to over 130,000 third level media students around Ireland and I was fortunate to reach the final four of the competition.

The final took place on the December 9 in Ballsbridge Co. Dublin in front of an expert judging panel. The panel included Richard Downes, presenter of RTÉ's morning Ireland and former BBC African correspondent; Leila Doonan, former head of the Irish Film Board and founder of the first media studies course in Ireland; and Emma Ledden, the first Irish person to be an MTV VJ, and now a communications training professional.

The finalists were required to give a 10-minute presentation on How you can give the survivors of the conflict in Uganda a voice here in Ireland. The process was nerve racking but the judges helped to make everyone feel at ease with some conversation about their experiences of County Cavan and Cavan people.

The presentation I gave focused on producing a documentary about the struggles of the Ugandan people in the past and specifically centring on the personal stories of their hardship but also their hopes for the future. The second part of my presentation was to plan to utilise print mediums and also social networking websites. Overall the judges seemed impressed with the presentation.

Karen Reidy DIT media arts graduate was announced as the eventual winner.

Karen had already carried out aid work in a number of different countries in Africa. It was clear from her enthusiasm for aid work and documentary film that she was a well deserved winner and has a bright future in this field.

The winner received a trip to Uganda to gain first hand experience of the humanitarian aid that ECHO and the Irish NGOs provide there and a professional camera to record their experience.

Richard Downes gave some feedback to the finalists saying I was "very charismatic with a strong personality". This was a small consolation on the day.

Janice George, responsible for communication for ECHO, presented the winner with her prize and said: "We have been impressed with the standard of entries received and the quality of the presentation provided by our finalists."

Mrs. George also stated "that this competition has been designed to raise awareness among third level students in Ireland of the 'forgotten' crises in countries like Uganda. Echo funds its partners to alleviate the suffering of people in countries which have been affected by natural disasters and conflict.

The European Commissions humanitarian aid department was established in 1992. ECHO's mandate is to provide emergency assistance to victims of natural disasters and armed conflict outside of the European Union. The aid goes directly to those in distress irrespective of their race, religion or political conflicts.

Since 1992 ECHO has funded humanitarian aid in more than 100 countries. It grants cover emergency aid, food aid, and support for refugees and displaced people, worth almost €1 billion every year.

The crisis correspondent competition was ECHO's first attempt at a competition like this. It proved successful in achieving its goal to raise awareness for forgotten crises countries. More than 1.8 million people have been forced out of their homes due to civil war. ECHO works to help return these people to their homes and provides them with basic provisions such as food, water, and sanitation. Many of the things we take for granted in Ireland.

With recent events in Haiti it is important in a time of economic turmoil that we do not forget these underdeveloped countries or the work organizations such as ECHO are carrying out.

I learned about the crisis correspondent competition in Cavan Institute as part of my multimedia class. Before reaching the final I was first required to write an essay on What I Could Do To Help and also create a short video on why they should choose me. After reaching the final 10, the entry videos were placed online and opened to a public vote.

The competition has also proved a huge success for me. It provided me with some invaluable experience in a number of different forms and also in meeting some interesting people. I would advise anyone with the opportunity to enter something like this to take it.

At this point I would like to thank all the people that voted for me during the public vote and also the people that helped me out during the competition including my classmates and my tutors.

• crisiscorrespondent.ie

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