By Lalita Roshni Lakra
Vaishali, Oct 5, 2025: Around 40 nuns engaged in fighting human trafficking in India spent three days at a Church media institute learning various forms of media that they could use in their mission.
The October 3-5 workshop aimed to equip the AMRAT (Asian Movement of Women Religious against Human Trafficking) members with media knowledge so that they can report crimes against women and children, including trafficking, to the authorities, said Holy Cross Sister Regina Rozario, the project coordinator in the movement’s national team.
The AMRAT is part of “Talitha Kum” (“Little girl, I say to you, get up”), the international network of consecrated life against trafficking in persons.
The October 3-5 training that focused on digital storytelling and cyber safety was conducted at the Media College of NISCORT (National Institute of Social Communication, Research and Training, managed by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, at Vaishali, on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border.
The participants came from various women congregations that serve in the regions of Bihar, Delhi, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, North East, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.
Sister Rozario said the event was the third media workshop the movement conducted for its members. The two previous workshops were held in Mangaluru, the port town in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.
During the course, the participants learnt about visual and print media.
NISCORT director Father Robinson Rodrigues, who presented the workshop’s overview and introduced the resource persons, addressed cyber-crimes such as cyber grooming, cyber flashing, and cyber-stalking. He stressed the importance of ongoing learning and awareness in cyber security and online safety.
He also taught the participants about Artificial Intelligence tools and their usage.
Aakash Singh, assistant Niscort professor, dealt with the art of mobile photography and the essential composition and elements of photography.
Ruchica Mahajan, head of the department of Multimedia, NISCORT, taught the participants how to make templates, posters, and cards.
Sumit Dhanraj, vice president of SIGNIS India and a renowned media educationist, handled news writing, editing and reporting.
He emphasized the importance of developing the habit of reading and writing news in print, electronic, digital and social media. He encouraged the participants to contribute to both Catholic and secular media.
Dhanraj also introduced various Catholic print media initiatives and encouraged the nuns to contribute articles and news reports for them.
Another topic was writing scripts for short films, videos, reels, and documentaries. Dhanraj explained the fundamentals, purpose, and techniques of script writing, using real-life illustrations to demonstrate story plotting, character development, dialogue creation, and formatting.
Daughters of St Paul Sister Michelle Mathias, another Niscort assistant professor, stressed strategic social media usage. She dealt with the significance of social media in the modern digital age, highlighting its role in communication, networking, and personal branding.
Sister Mathias explained about various social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and their unique features. She helped the participants to select platforms that align with personal and professional goals.
Niscort principal Ritu Dubey Tiwari too highlighted cyber security and common cybercrimes.
Several participants said the workshop, although brief, convinced them about the importance of media knowledge in their ministry.
“We can save lives through our reporting,” said Scholastica Kunkal, a member of the Sisters of the Cross of Chavanod.
The Munda tribal nun told Matters India that many from her community go missing from their state Jharkhand. “Many sisters have formed a network to find the whereabouts of those people. The workshop has helped us to safeguard them,” she added.
She cited the case of the discovery of a tribal youth from a Goa beach. The Migrants Assistance information and Network of Goa Jesuits helped the family to claim the body.
“The relatives received compensation for the youth’s last rites and TA for their visit to Goa. This was not reported as the sisters did not know how to do it. Now, such incidents will not go unreported,” Kunkal asserted.