Culture & Tourism, Winners 2016
heritage | entertainment | media | broadcasting
1. Media for Children in War Zone
ORGANISATION: www.AfghanMMCC.org URL: www.AfghanMMCC.org
COUNTRY: India LANGUAGE: English & Persian & Pashtu
EMAIL: circus@afghanmmcc.org
Spreading happiness and creating joyful communities
Afghan Mobile Mini Circus for Children (MMCC) believes in the transformational power of children and the tremendous positive effect it can when they are supported, facilitated and respected. MMCC, through Media for Children in War Zone, provides all necessary tools and technical skills to children who learn to produce content in different media formats and engage in joyful educational performances and workshops, besides advocating for themselves and thereby informing others.
The effects of its approach towards children not only make the children enjoy their lives but also increase their self-confidence and capacities, eventually benefiting the entire society, including the lives of adults.
Established in 2002, MMCC — and its local partner Afghan Educational Children Circus (AECC) — has grown into a countrywide education programme that focuses on teaching children to lead. Their basic philosophy is that children know best how to communicate with other children; and therefore the goal is to give them the tools they need to develop creative and novel ways of spreading edutainment throughout Afghanistan.
AECC has, so far, been able to successfully employ its unique approach in democratising access to art and media for 3.7 million children in Afghanistan who have enjoyed watching live educational social circus performance. A large number of art forms are regularly introduced and produced, which keeps pushing the quality of children art in Afghanistan and inspire their ambitions. The ‘advocacy by children’, particularly, has had a very impressive impact on the way adults/authorities consider children, involve them in decision making, and take decisions to improve children’s lives.
Through the channels of AECC, individuals, non-profits and the government have been exposed to the joyful and child-centered activities, which are transforming the largely traditional and conservative Afghan population towards a more open and child-friendly Afghanistan.
2. eTunes
ORGANISATION: Software Shop Limited (SSL Wireless) URL: www.etunes.com.bd
COUNTRY: Bangladesh LANGUAGE: English EMAIL: sakib.khan@sslwireless.com
One-stop Online Music Store
eTunes is Bangladesh’s first legal music portal, which enables people to buy songs and albums online. A one-stop music solution for singer, composers, lyricists and music lovers, the platform aims to empower all stakeholders in the music industry by establishing a transparent digital channel for music distribution
While eTunes caters to the thirst of music lovers by introducing quality songs of different genres at the tap of a touch, it also comes to the rescue of struggling artists and musicians by promoting new and upcoming artistes and ensuring royalty towards singers, composers, lyricist and others related to the music. The music portal also provides real-times sales reports for stakeholders.
eTunes stands firmly against piracy; and by making access to music convenient for its citizens, it is encouraging people to listen to quality music legally. The platform provides high-quality MP3 content with ‘preview’ facility. Users can purchase song of their choice through various netbanking and mbanking channels, including card transactions.
Special Mentions, 2016:
Kavum Kokis
ORGANISATION: Kavum Kokis URL: http://kavumkokis.com
COUNTRY: Sri Lanka LANGUAGE: English and Sinhala
EMAIL: ayeshaimalika@gmail.com
An online portal catering to your sweet tooth
Kavum Kokis and other traditional sweetmeats are an integral part of Sri Lankan culture. Important life events were marked in household with the preparation of this sweetmeat. Unfortunately, this heritage is fading away from the society due to busy urban lifestyles and traditional culinary skill being confined to the senior generations. This realisation and the inspiration to preserve the culinary tradition of Sri Lanka led to the idea of Kavum Kokis dot com.
Kavum Kokis was started with a simple business idea to supply traditional sweet varieties to local retail markets. However, soon a potential was identified for expanding the business to corporate customers as well as Sri Lankan expatriates in Australia, Europe and the Middle East.
Established as a formal business entity in July 2013, Kavum Kokis serves its customers through a well-developed online portal, exclusively dedicated to traditional Sri Lankan sweets. At present, the product line on the portal is limited to traditional Sri Lankan sweets that are freshly prepared with natural ingredients, adhering to traditional methods of preparation. Further, without limiting the products to ready-to-serve items, a do-it-yourself product line has been introduced. It offers a variety of natural ingredients bundled with recipes to prepare selected sweet items at home and, subsequently, encourage every Sri Lankan to enjoy home-cooked traditional sweetmeats with the pride of contributing towards the preservation of Sri Lankan culinary heritage.