Story Telling

Challenge and Selection:

I am an intern at an NGO aimed to provide and promote education to the

underprivileged society. A new program was recently launched to allow older

men and women in the rural parts of the country who hadn’t received their high

school diploma (completed matriculation) to study for the test and receive the

diploma. The program was well received and conducted by volunteers and

members of the organisation across various villages and states in the country.

The students enrolled were primarily middle aged women who were denied

education as young girls due to numerous factors. In order to reach a wider

audience and convince them to join the program, the team needed to come up

with a plan. The medium of communication needed to be impactful and

replicable. So what better way, than using the tool of story-telling?

Application:

We decided to interview a lady who was enrolled in the program and had

completed it. Her story was one which would resonate with majority of the

target audience. She was 45 years old, married with 5 children and a housewife

who hadn’t studied past the 8 grade. Born in a patriarchal family, she was

denied to go to secondary school which was almost 12kms away from her home

and instead made to carry out household chores. Whereas, her brothers both

younger and older were allowed to complete their basic eduction as well as

further it. Uneducated, she was denied her dreams and forced to marry at the

young age of 18 and run a household. She was humiliated and her voice

disregarded since she was “uneducated”. Her dreams of becoming a graduate

remained unfulﬁlled until this program.  She was a diligent student and earned

her diploma within a year of joining. She was then able to start tutoring young

kids and earn her own pocket money instead of depending on her husband. She

said “She was given a ‘Second Chance’ at life”.

GEOLOGY 101 REPORT �1

Insight and Approach:

That was truly enlightening and heart warming story. Being somebody who

was given the opportunity to study and chase their dreams, it made me feel

grateful and appreciative of the liberty and opportunities I had received.

A simple portrayal of one’s story had affected me drastically. So why

couldn’t it affect others, especially those who had experienced the same or

similar situation?

Therefore, as a team we decided to create infographics, ﬂyers, videos and

other engaging material based on her story in multiple languages. This allowed

volunteers and members to go to untapped communities and spread the word

there to help convince both local ofﬁcials and community members to allow the

program to be run and convince people to join as students.

Who would have thought that a housewife from a small unknown town,

who completed her matriculation 30 years later, would become the face of a

nation-wide program by being a role model and somebody the students aspire to

be?

GEOLOGY 101 REPORT �2


Story Telling Challenge and Selection : I am an intern at an NGO aimed to provide and promote education to the underprivileged society . A new program was recently launched to allow older men and women in the rural parts of the country who had n’t received their high school diploma ( completed matriculation ) to study for the test and receive the diploma . The program was well received and conducted by volunteers and members of the organisation across various villages and states in the country . The students enrolled were primarily middle aged women who were denied education as young girls due to numerous factors . In order to reach a wider audience and convince them to join the program , the team needed to come up with a plan . The medium of communication needed to be impactful and replicable . So what better way , than using the tool of story - telling ? Application : We decided to interview a lady who was enrolled in the program and had completed it . Her story was one which would resonate with majority of the target audience . She was 45 years old , married with 5 children and a housewife who had n’t studied past the 8 grade . Born in a patriarchal family , she was denied to go to secondary school which was almost 12kms away from her home and instead made to carry out household chores . Whereas , her brothers both younger and older were allowed to complete their basic eduction as well as further it . Uneducated , she was denied her dreams and forced to marry at the young age of 18 and run a household . She was humiliated and her voice disregarded since she was “ uneducated ” . Her dreams of becoming a graduate remained unfulﬁlled until this program . She was a diligent student and earned her diploma within a year of joining . She was then able to start tutoring young kids and earn her own pocket money instead of depending on her husband . She said “ She was given a ‘ Second Chance ’ at life ” . GEOLOGY 101 REPORT � 1 Insight and Approach : That was truly enlightening and heart warming story . Being somebody who was given the opportunity to study and chase their dreams , it made me feel grateful and appreciative of the liberty and opportunities I had received . A simple portrayal of one ’s story had affected me drastically . So why could n’t it affect others , especially those who had experienced the same or similar situation ? Therefore , as a team we decided to create infographics , ﬂyers , videos and other engaging material based on her story in multiple languages . This allowed volunteers and members to go to untapped communities and spread the word there to help convince both local ofﬁcials and community members to allow the program to be run and convince people to join as students . Who would have thought that a housewife from a small unknown town , who completed her matriculation 30 years later , would become the face of a nation - wide program by being a role model and somebody the students aspire to be ? GEOLOGY 101 REPORT � 2