Using AI/Digital Technologies to Tell the Story of Fisherfolk in the Philippines: Kiana Cezar

For her digital storytelling project, Kiana created an interactive, scrollable web-based story about fishing livelihoods in the Philippines, combining visuals and Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping, and using the AI tools she learned about in the programme. Kiana had initially intended to focus on agriculture, which seemed like the obvious choice for someone from her country. But after hearing the ideas of her fellow participants, she realized she wanted to tell something more personal. She asked herself, “do I have something more close to the heart that I can share?”, and found her answer in her grandfather.

Kiana’s grandfather was a fisherman. He passed away before Kiana experienced coastal life or the tough lives of fisherfolk, but she remembers her mother’s stories how he would get up very early every day to sail, despite hardships and the little income it would bring. Through the project, she wanted to explore and share the stories of fisherfolk that are often overlooked, especially by younger audiences.

I realized, why not expose myself to more of those stories and share those stories to others. Right now, especially for youth, you don’t really see those stories anymore, even if it’s a very important part of our economy.”

Through her project, Kiana wanted to highlight not only the environmental challenges like pollution and depleted fish stocks, but also the economic structures, lack of government support and territorial disputes that threaten fishing livelihoods. She included stories of women in fishing communities, who handle post-processing and are essential to the industry, challenging the perception that fishing is only men’s work.

The programme’s mentoring sessions played an important role in helping Kiana shape her project. Every week, she shared her ideas and progress with her mentor and received feedback that helped her decide on the final direction of the story. The hard work paid off: Kiana was able to present something that she was very proud of and won a prize for it at the final public presentation in November.