News and pics: Jessie Rodrigues
Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi (SP)

New Delhi, Apr 24: A month-long summer crash course on basic communication skills for religious sisters from all over India, conducted by National Institute of Social Communications, Research & Training (NISCORT) Delhi was inaugurated here recently. 

In his welcome address, director of NISCORT, Fr Jude Botelho said that besides the regular academic graduate courses like the Masters Degree programmes in Print Journalism, Broadcast Journalism and Audio Visual Communications, NISCORT has been offering short term courses right through the year. They also have been conducting  a three-month certificate course in  ‘Covering Social Issues through Video Production’ from mid-September to mid December. A three-month course in Pastoral Communications was organized from end-Jan to the beginning of April 2009, in which many priests and religious sisters participated.

This will be followed by a one-month course in video-production primarily organized for a group of representatives from Kandhamal, to help them to learn how to document and make video films. Hopefully, this will help them in their fight for justice and peace in their back-home situation. The director also emphasized that the present course was not primarily about learning skills alone, but about acquiring the right attitudes and vision which should enhance our communication.

After the lighting of the lamp, Fr Pius Malekandathil, Professor at the JNU University, Delhi, department of history, in his inaugural address stressed the need of communication under the current scenario and highlighted the unique role the Church has a to play in the field of communications. He felt that the Church cannot remain on the periphery especially as it has to raise its prophetic voice and be the voice of the marginalized and the voiceless.