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The Power of Stories: Digital Storytelling Firelight Foundation – The Power of Stories – Digital Storytelling 1 Michaela LeslieRule MPA, MPH designed and contributed to the conception and implementation of this participatory video and documentation project with Firelight Foundation and it’s partners. Michaela is a social scientist and media maker whose work focuses on the use of storytelling to advance social change. Learn more about her work at www.factmemorytestimony.com Project Overview: In January 2013, Firelight Foundation contracted Michaela LeslieRule to develop and implement a fourday participatory video training in Gisenyi, Rwanda and Nkhotakota, Malawi. The aim was to train a total of nine adolescent girls — defined as girls under the age of 19years old — from three Firelightfunded communitybased organizations (CBOs) funded under GGI 3.0, namely: Action pour le Developpement du Peuple (ADEPE) (Rwanda) Association Tuvuge Twiyubaka (Rwanda) Nkhotakota AIDS Support Organization (NASO) (Malawi) Girls were trained to use Apple touch screen devices to document the change that each experienced in their own lives, in the lives of their family members, or in their communityatlarge. In addition to the girls, each organization selected two staff members to ‘follow’ the training. The training supported objective two of the Grassroots Girls Initiative (GGI) by: 1) Building the capacity of the CBOs and girls to develop visual media skills. 2) Empowering girls to document their own stories. 3) Leveraging the girls’ stories by sharing them with a wider audience to attract more resources for girls. 4) Documenting the most significant change in the lives of girls. The training objectives aligned with the GGI longterm outcome of increasing evidence of girls’ agency and effect by providing a method for girls to document the range of actions they can take on their own behalf. Over the course of a 4day training, participating girls in Rwanda and Malawi learned about the basic elements of visual storytelling, including how to: Define what they want their community and country to know about girls Create a storyboard to frame the story they will tell Use a video camera (construct and frame a shot, basics of lighting, etc.) Identify interview subjects that will help them to tell their story and conduct the interviews Use the iPod Touch to edit their footage to construct stories In lieu of measuring empowerment directly, the girls were asked to create a collective definition and value statement for the digital storytelling. The following questions were used to guide the group discussion: 1) Why do we tell stories? 2) Why is it important to amplify girls’ voices? 3) What do you want your community, the nation, and the world to know about girls in your country? The answers to these questions, generated on Day 1, helped to guide the photo and video exercises at each site. Girls revisited their answers preceding the storyboarding exercise (Days 3 and 4). In both Rwanda and Malawi the girls were asked to come to consensus around the

The Power of Stories: Digital Storytelling

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 The  Power  of  Stories:  Digital  Storytelling  

 Firelight  Foundation  –  The  Power  of  Stories  –  Digital  Storytelling    

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Michaela  Leslie-­‐Rule  MPA,  MPH  designed  and  contributed  to  the  conception  and  implementation  of  this  participatory  video  and  documentation  project  with  Firelight  Foundation  and  it’s  partners.  Michaela  is  a  social  scientist  and  media  maker  whose  work  focuses  on  the  use  of  storytelling  to  advance  social  change.  Learn  more  about  her  work  at  www.factmemorytestimony.com  

Project  Overview:    In  January  2013,  Firelight  Foundation  contracted  Michaela  Leslie-­‐Rule  to  develop  and  implement  a  four-­‐day  participatory  video  training  in  Gisenyi,  Rwanda  and  Nkhotakota,  Malawi.  The  aim  was  to  train  a  total  of  nine  adolescent  girls  —  defined  as  girls  under  the  age  of  19-­‐years  old  —  from  three  Firelight-­‐funded  community-­‐based  organizations  (CBOs)  funded  under  GGI  3.0,  namely:        

• Action  pour  le  Developpement  du  Peuple  (ADEPE)  (Rwanda)  • Association  Tuvuge  Twiyubaka  (Rwanda)  • Nkhotakota  AIDS  Support  Organization  (NASO)  (Malawi)  

 Girls  were  trained  to  use  Apple  touch  screen  devices  to  document  the  change  that  each  experienced  in  their  own  lives,  in  the  lives  of  their  family  members,  or  in  their  community-­‐at-­‐large.  In  addition  to  the  girls,  each  organization  selected  two  staff  members  to  ‘follow’  the  training.    The  training  supported  objective  two  of  the  Grassroots  Girls  Initiative  (GGI)  by:  

1) Building  the  capacity  of  the  CBOs  and  girls  to  develop  visual  media  skills.    2) Empowering  girls  to  document  their  own  stories.  3) Leveraging  the  girls’  stories  by  sharing  them  with  a  wider  audience  to  attract  more  

resources  for  girls.    4) Documenting  the  most  significant  change  in  the  lives  of  girls.  

   The  training  objectives  aligned  with  the  GGI  long-­‐term  outcome  of  increasing  evidence  of  girls’  agency  and  effect  by  providing  a  method  for  girls  to  document  the  range  of  actions  they  can  take  on  their  own  behalf.  Over  the  course  of  a  4-­‐day  training,  participating  girls  in  Rwanda  and  Malawi  learned  about  the  basic  elements  of  visual  storytelling,  including  how  to:  

• Define  what  they  want  their  community  and  country  to  know  about  girls  • Create  a  storyboard  to  frame  the  story  they  will  tell  • Use  a  video  camera  (construct  and  frame  a  shot,  basics  of  lighting,  etc.)    • Identify  interview  subjects  that  will  help  them  to  tell  their  story  and  conduct  the  interviews  • Use  the  iPod  Touch  to  edit  their  footage  to  construct  stories  

 In  lieu  of  measuring  empowerment  directly,  the  girls  were  asked  to  create  a  collective  definition  and  value  statement  for  the  digital  storytelling.  The  following  questions  were  used  to  guide  the  group  discussion:  

1) Why  do  we  tell  stories?  2) Why  is  it  important  to  amplify  girls’  voices?  3) What  do  you  want  your  community,  the  nation,  and  the  world  to  know  about  girls  in  your  

country?    The  answers  to  these  questions,  generated  on  Day  1,  helped  to  guide  the  photo  and  video  exercises  at  each  site.  Girls  revisited  their  answers  preceding  the  storyboarding  exercise  (Days  3  and  4).  In  both  Rwanda  and  Malawi  the  girls  were  asked  to  come  to  consensus  around  the  

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messages  they  wanted  to  share  through  their  stories  and  the  importance  of  sharing  girls’  stories.  

 Girls  review  a  video  on  an  iPod  touch  

 Malawi    In  Malawi  the  girls  largely  chose  problem  statements  to  articulate  what  the  world  needed  to  know  about  girls.  The  girls  in  Malawi  agreed  that  they  want  the  world  to  know  that:    

• Girls  in  Malawi  are  fighting  for  equality  and  are  contributing  to  the  development  of  their  country  

• All  girls  in  Malawi  should  have  access  to  free  education  • We  have  a  lot  of  teen  pregnancy  • We  have  a  lot  of  early  marriage  in  Malawi  • We  have  a  lot  of  high  school  drop-­‐out  • Some  girls  in  Malawi  have  been  raped  • Girls  are  abused  in  different  ways    

For  their  collective  story,  the  girls  in  Malawi  chose  to  focus  on  the  problem  of  Teen  Pregnancy,  asserting  that  despite  the  problems  girls  face  in  Malawi,  they  are  fighting  for  equality  and  by  doing  so,  they  are  contributing  to  the  development  of  their  country.    Rwanda    In  Rwanda,  the  girls  chose  to  tell  personal  stories  that  related  to  messages  that  they  wanted  to  share  with  their  community,  their  nation,  and  the  world.    

• We  want  the  community  to  know  the  contributions  we  make,  and  that  we  are  able  to  participate  equally  in  society  

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• We  want  the  country  to  know  that  all  jobs  have  value.  (There  has  been  value  placed  on  government  and  other  “high  level”  jobs,  but  jobs  such  as  tailoring  are  also  important)  

• We  want  the  world  to  know  that  we  want  more  opportunities  to  participate  in  the  international  market,  and  want  to  raise  the  visibility  of  the  products  made  here  

 Follow-­‐Up  Action:    Rwanda    During  the  nine  days  following  the  training,  Amanda  Hill  worked  with  the  three  girls  supported  by  ADEPE  to  construct  and  complete  their  digital  stories  and  to  present  them  in  a  community-­‐film  festival.  Amanda  documented  the  event  with  still  photos  and  audio.  The  following  day,  before  departing  for  the  second  Rwanda  location,  Amanda  interviewed  training  participants  to  gain  insight  on  their  experience  during  the  training  and  digital-­‐story  creation  process.  Amanda  then  spent  nine  days  in  Nyamagabe  District,  where  she  provided  similar  support  to  the  training  participants  at  Tuvuge.    A  year  later,  the  girls  completed  a  Time  2  video.  In  addition,  they  trained  additional  girls  to  capture  their  stories.  Finally,  Michaela  created  an  interview  protocol  to  surface  further  information  about  the  change  that  girls  had  experienced,  both  in  the  program  and  within  the  digital  storytelling.    Malawi    In  Malawi,  girls  from  the  school-­‐based  adolescent  girls’  corners  participated  in  training  with  Michaela.  Due  to  their  academic  schedules,  girls  did  not  have  the  benefit  of  working  with  Michaela  on  capturing  and  editing  their  stories  after  the  training.  Michaela  provided  a  Next  Steps  document  that  outlined  the  process  for  capturing  and  editing  the  stories.  Girls  later  worked  on  capturing  their  stories  during  their  school  vacation  at  the  end  of  March  2013.  Michaela  worked  with  Moses  Chiwango,  a  NASO  staff  member,  to  teach  him  the  skills  covered  during  the  training  —  in  particular  editing  on  the  iTouch.      The  girls  in  Malawi  did  not  get  the  same  intensive  support  that  the  girls  in  Rwanda  received.  Because  of  the  amount  of  time  between  their  training  and  their  personal  storytelling,  only  one  of  the  three  girls  completed  both  the  Time  1  and  the  Time  2  videos.  Malawi  requested  additional  support  on  the  video  editing.        Change:      A  year  after  producing  their  first  videos,  girls  created  a  Time  2  video.  They  were  also  interviewed  to  understand  the  change  that  had  happened  to  them  because  of  participating  in  the  digital  storytelling.  The  interviews  surfaced  not  only  the  change  that  happened  to  girls  within  digital  storytelling,  but  in  the  overall  initiative.  Some  were  extensions  of  one  experience,  while  others  simply  reinforced  and  consolidated  a  process  that  was  already  underway.    Key  themes  that  emerged  from  the  changes  experienced  by  the  girls  as  a  result  of  digital  storytelling  included:    

• Healing  and  Connecting:  Humans  use  storytelling  to  make  sense  of  their  lives.  The  process  serves  as  both  a  reflective  process,  bearing  witness  to  one’s  life  and  a  process  of  connecting  

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to  others  who  bear  witness  to  our  story  and  find  shared  meaning  in  our  experiences.  In  fact,  research  studies  have  shown  that  those  who  tell  or  write  their  stories  gain  both  physical  and  psychological  benefits.      The  experience  of  the  girls  bears  that  out.  The  digital  storytelling  process  had  a  healing  power  for  the  set  of  girls  who  went  through  the  training  and  process.  As  Elina  expressed,  "This  is  because  after  I  have  told  my  story  I  feel  peaceful  and  free  inside.  Whether  in  my  heart  or  mind,  I  feel  peaceful."  That  resonated  with  other  girls  as  well,  "Yes  I  believe  I  told  my  story  as  it  should  be  done  because  the  people  I  was  telling  my  story  paid  attention,  when  you  tell  your  story  from  the  heart,  you  feel  freed  and  relieved,  "  Clarisse  shared.      

 That  sense  of  internal  peace  also  translated  to  a  shift  in  their  relationships,  as  shared  by  Benita,  "My  relationships  with  people  are  not  the  same  as  in  2013,  I  feel  freer  with  them  and  it  is  the  same  with  them  they  are  free  with  me  because  I  have  changed.  Before  I  used  to  walk  with  no  confidence  in  me  but  after  I  told  my  story  I  felt  like  I  had  changed."    

 • Confidence  and  Respect:  When  people  tell  their  story  and  get  feedback  from  others,  their  

confidence  grows.  This  happened  for  the  girls  who  experienced  the  digital  storytelling.  In  telling  their  stories  to  the  trainers,  their  peers,  families,  community,  and  stakeholders,  they  got  positive  feedback  about  what  they  had  accomplished.  They  received  admiration  for  the  success  they  had  achieved.  At  the  same  time,  girls  got  recognition  from  their  peers.  One  of  the  girls,  Agnes,  captures  it  well,  "They  treat  me  like  a  very  important  person  because  they  wonder  how  I  was  able  to  do  it  while  some  educated  people  are  not  able  to  do  it  or  are  not  doing  it  but  me  who  did  not  finish  school  I  am  able  to  do  it  and  do  it  well!"    

 • Leadership  and  Influence:  The  girls  who  went  through  the  digital  storytelling  training  are  

all  unique  in  their  personalities.  Some  are  extroverted,  while  others  more  introverted.  In  spite  of  this,  all  those  who  went  through  training  have  emerged  as  leaders  in  their  groups.  "I  did  not  have  a  role  in  my  group  before  but  now  I  am  trusted.  I  have  been  chosen  to  be  president  and  no  one  else  could  lead  us.  Since  I  have  achieved  some  development  they  have  made  me  their  leader  and  I  can  even  lead  in  other  things,"  says  Elina.      While  the  process  of  the  training  may  have  nurtured  the  leadership,  there  is  also  evidence  that  storytelling  itself  is  an  effective  leadership  tool.  In  his  book,  Lead  with  a  Story,  consumer  research  executive  Paul  Smith  shares  what  it  takes  for  leaders  to  inspire  employees,  motivate  change  within  their  companies,  or  even  simply  connect  with  their  teams.  His  conclusion  is  that  in  many  large  companies,  the  storytelling  is  used  as  an  effective  leadership  tool,  so  much  so  that  some  companies  train  their  executives  in  storytelling.  

 • Voice  and  Visibility:  Digital  storytelling  also  provided  girls  with  voice,  not  only  to  tell  their  

story,  but  also  to  voice  their  perspective  on  their  lives  and  the  lives  of  girls  in  general.  It  provided  them  with  a  tool  to  capture  and  speak  out.  It  also  presented  new  opportunities  for  them  to  get  in  front  of  audiences  where  they  were  normally  invisible,  especially  for  this  set  of  girls  who  are  marginalized.  Because  of  their  experience,  the  girls  have  had  audience  with  mayors  and  international  development  organizations.  They  have  also  been  invited  to  national  conferences  to  share  their  story,  their  perspective,  and  their  skills.  This  has  given  visibility  to  girls,  both  their  challenges  and  what  they  are  capable  of.  

     

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       Conclusion:    The  digital  storytelling  component  of  this  initiative  was  introduced  both  to  facilitate  the  process  of  helping  girls  capture  and  share  their  stories  and  also  as  a  monitoring  and  evaluation  tool.  Its  power  lies  in  the  fact  that  digital  storytelling  is  the  coupling  of  technology  with  the  tradition  of  personal  narrative.  In  this  age  of  technology,  it  lends  itself  to  amplifying  girls’  voices  because  of  the  range  of  platforms  that  exist  to  disseminate  the  content.      What  is  powerful  about  its  application  within  this  initiative  is  that  it  gives  these  tools  to  a  population  of  marginalized  girls  who  are  often  excluded  from  such  technologies  and  platforms.  More  importantly,  it  provides  girls  with  the  power  of  shaping  and  sharing  their  own  narrative  in  their  own  voice.  It  also  makes  it  possible  for  that  narrative  to  be  heard  in  places  that  the  girls  would  not  otherwise  reach.    The  process  of  the  digital  storytelling  has  proven  to  be  more  powerful  than  its  original  purposes.  Preliminary  analysis  shows  that  four  unexpected  outcomes  resulted  for  the  girls  who  participated  in  the  process:  healing  and  connection,  confidence  and  respect,  leadership  and  influence,  as  well  as  voice  and  visibility.  These  four  broad  themes  were  particularly  evident  for  the  girls  who  went  through  the  digital  storytelling.      But  they  are  only  part  of  the  story.      The  overall  story  of  change  in  the  lives  of  girls  was  much  broader.  Evidence  from  the  digital  storytelling,  videos,  survey,  and  monitoring  data  show  that  girls  emerged  from  this  process  with  a  power  within,  power  to  act,  power  to  provide,  power  over,  and  power  with.  That  larger  story  will  be  captured  in  an  upcoming  digital  storybook,  “Girls  Empowered,  Stories  of  Change.”  While  the  story  will  capture  the  wider  change  in  girls  in  the  entire  initiative,  it  will  incorporate  the  digital  stories  captured  by  the  girls  themselves  to  convey  the  story.    The  digital  e-­‐book  will  be  completed  in  September  2014.