HIGHLIGHT ABOUT US
YouthFest is an E-publication that
targets a youth audience and employs youth writers. The main reason
behind YouthFest is to raise awareness of various youth related issues
and to provide a safe platform for constructive dialogue and discussion
to take place. YouthFest attempts to create opportunity for youth
writers to get published, and to engage in productive community building
through narratives.
INTRODUCTION
YouthFest is a rebranding of
“Furaavaru”. “Furaavaru” began as an E-magazine in 2007, and was also
produced as a TV show on National TV, TVM, as a co-production of TVM and
the website. The main
reasons for this rebranding is the broadening of
audience; as the name “Furaavaru” suggests, was aimed at a younger
audience. Furaavaru E-magazine was the first online magazine in the
Maldives that dealt with teen-related issues, and challenged the norms
and taboos in that time. Furaavaru was a huge success; not only did we
become a TV show, but we also had 11000-15000 hits per day.
In 2008, when “Furaavaru” became a national TV show, it brought with
it the controversies it published about before, to a production
platform. Before “Furaavaru” TV show, TVM did not allow nick names to be
used on screen. Nor did they allow informal dialogue, informal attire
or informal seating arrangements on-screen. After having negotiated our
own style and ideas, we managed to implement those on-screen. Needless
to say, “Furaavaru” was a success.
What brough us here today was our undeterred persistence in our
values. “Furaavaru” was criticized heavily for discussing controversial
topics such as incest and sex trafficking in the Maldives so publicly,
but we continued. We continued to bring constructive and interactive
discussions of such topics, with direct participation of survivors and
counsellors on such topics. We strongly believe that for a society to
become fully aware of these issues, they must also be educated on the
narratives of such abuse. After an initial wave of criticism,
“Furaavaru” TV show succeeded in gaining a large audience, and fostering
critical thinking among its audience.
YouthFest, like Furaavaru, has various segments represented in the
writings. From youth related issues to health and style, discussions
around healthy relationships, and opinon eds, YouthFest boasts liberty
of its writers. Instead of having hired writers who are paid, YouthFest
pays for the articles. This is to ensure maximum participation and to
ensure that anyone who wants to write to YouthFest can do so. If our
editorial board approves the article, it gets published. This ensures
not just maximum participation, but also equal opportunity and
diversity.
HOW IT STARTED
At the beginning we had only 3 members in our team. We first thought
of starting a printed magazine. We got the funds for it as well, but
decided against it as we didn´t think a printed publication was suitable
for our target audience. Since most activity in modern day happen
online, we decided to go ahead with our idea of a publication, but
instead online.
Thefuraavaru.com
We were first established as thefuraavaru.com
on 18th October 2007. After some successful publications “Furaavaru”
became its own TV show on TVM. “Furaavaru” was a segmented program and
every episode had three different locations. Outside of developing the
script for the episdes, the shooting and editing itself took a week. The
last segment of the show was always on aired live and interactive.
Dhifuraavaru.com
After
finishing the first season of our TV show we rebranded ourselves as
Dhifuraavaru.com. We worked only on the magazine for quiet sometime and
was offered a second opportunity to go in-screen, this time on YouthTV,
the baby channel of TVM. Team “Furaavaru” was also heavily involved in
inagurating this new TV channel. We started our second season here.
Apart from “Furaavaru” we created and presented 3 other TV shows on
YouthTV. After all such Youth activism, and production we have now
rebranded ourselves to be YouthFest, in an attempt to include all our
diverse roles and platforms in one.
SPONSORS
Below is a list of our past and present sponcors.
-Whale submarine: Our first sponcor.
-Wataniya: Wataniya
was our main sponsor. It was the first time wataniya had given sponsor
to an online magazine. We were also offered to cover Wataniya eid
celebration events.
-The Human Rights Commission of Maldives: We have been affiliated with the Commission to present different events and programs.
-NGOs: The NGOs of Maldives has also given us a huge support in what we try to do. They have been of help to improve us too.
ASSISTANCE and FEEDBACK
Journalists from New York Times recently gave feedback on the website
and its contents. Their suggestiong which came in verbal and written
form, have been incorportated into the website. One such noteworthy
update was the video plugin. For the purposes of this plugin, they
presented us with a HD quality camera. We are grateful for such support
and feedback.
We strive to promote inclusive constructive dialogue, and to
encourage critical thinking and awareness among youth. We believe in
fostering a mindset of community, self-awareness and questioning.
