Example Reflection – Story telling

Challenge & Selection

I work for a humanitarian organization for children. We work intensively through focused welfare  projects to help guarentee education for poor children in India.

There are many underprivileged children who are under difficult circumstances, such as child labour,  children from poor families, married children (especially girls) ...  and in order to help these children ,  it is mandatory to go first through their families and help inspire them. To do this, I always tend to  use Storytelling which is a great tool to get insight into families, build empathy and reach them  emotionally to help enlighten them about the necessity of education

I also use stories to better understand their interests and thought processes. I use this information to  develop different strategies to try and find a way to convince them about the advantages of child  education

Application

Here’s a story about using storytelling in my work for the humanitarian organization. At its debuts,  the organization built classes in underpriviliged villages of the country and expected high attendency  rates. I was trying to explain to them the benefits of taking a more client focused approach, and in  particular, of recognizing each person as a unique being, and addressing their individual needs first  and foremost.

I told a story about a family I had met composed of a mother and her daughter. When I first saw  them, they were lying in the street next to their highly damaged house while the daughter , aged 10  to 11 was crying, her sobs muffled as she leaned forward against her school bag. I approached them  kindly and asked about their issue. It turned out that she was planning on marrying off her daughter  to an overly aged man to help them with the daily expenses. The child will therefore be stopping  school and focusing on house chores and taking care of her husband.

Insight & Approach

Seeing that their story was very similar to mine. I told her how bad of an impact it had on me as I got  married at a very young age. All the harassment and violence I endured and how helpless I felt being  uneducated in my early years and thus unable to get proper jobs to stand up for myself. I also told  her how my mother regreted merely her decision and decided to help me get divorced and get  through this experience with proper medical help. I showed her new ways she could use to get a  better paying job and thus help her daughter get educated and build a bright future

Sharing my story with the mother helped better organize her thoughts as she sincerely expressed  how bad of a decision she had and how lucky she was to have met me at the right time.

From its side, the organization , having heard this story decided on going on a more people’s focused  strategy to help increase child education. And more precisely to use story telling as an effective tool  to approach people with difficulties. People in the organization are therefore being trained to  achieve our objectives through the use of this tool.

In conclusoin, Story telling helped me impact an entire organization and therefore impact an entire  community.


Example Reflection – Story telling Challenge & Selection I work for a humanitarian organization for children . We work intensively through focused welfare projects to help guarentee education for poor children in India . There are many underprivileged children who are under difficult circumstances , such as child labour , children from poor families , married children ( especially girls ) ... and in order to help these children , it is mandatory to go first through their families and help inspire them . To do this , I always tend to use Storytelling which is a great tool to get insight into families , build empathy and reach them emotionally to help enlighten them about the necessity of education I also use stories to better understand their interests and thought processes . I use this information to develop different strategies to try and find a way to convince them about the advantages of child education Application Here ’s a story about using storytelling in my work for the humanitarian organization . At its debuts , the organization built classes in underpriviliged villages of the country and expected high attendency rates . I was trying to explain to them the benefits of taking a more client focused approach , and in particular , of recognizing each person as a unique being , and addressing their individual needs first and foremost . I told a story about a family I had met composed of a mother and her daughter . When I first saw them , they were lying in the street next to their highly damaged house while the daughter , aged 10 to 11 was crying , her sobs muffled as she leaned forward against her school bag . I approached them kindly and asked about their issue . It turned out that she was planning on marrying off her daughter to an overly aged man to help them with the daily expenses . The child will therefore be stopping school and focusing on house chores and taking care of her husband . Insight & Approach Seeing that their story was very similar to mine . I told her how bad of an impact it had on me as I got married at a very young age . All the harassment and violence I endured and how helpless I felt being uneducated in my early years and thus unable to get proper jobs to stand up for myself . I also told her how my mother regreted merely her decision and decided to help me get divorced and get through this experience with proper medical help . I showed her new ways she could use to get a better paying job and thus help her daughter get educated and build a bright future Sharing my story with the mother helped better organize her thoughts as she sincerely expressed how bad of a decision she had and how lucky she was to have met me at the right time . From its side , the organization , having heard this story decided on going on a more people ’s focused strategy to help increase child education . And more precisely to use story telling as an effective tool to approach people with difficulties . People in the organization are therefore being trained to achieve our objectives through the use of this tool . In conclusoin , Story telling helped me impact an entire organization and therefore impact an entire community .