{"id":2220,"date":"2022-09-09T12:34:54","date_gmt":"2022-09-09T12:34:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/taratw.com\/?p=2220"},"modified":"2023-04-28T13:28:17","modified_gmt":"2023-04-28T13:28:17","slug":"who-owns-the-story-passing-the-mic-to-the-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/taratw.com\/who-owns-the-story-passing-the-mic-to-the-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Passing the mic to the community"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What benefits does an NGO reap when they have its community tell its own stories? <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Researchers Jess Crombie and David Girling set out to answer this question through a visual storytelling experiment conducted in partnership with Amref, the largest NGO based in Africa. The precise research question posed was:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“How do audiences respond financially and emotionally to stories of poverty controlled and created by the image \u2018subjects\u2019 in their own words, as opposed to fundraising materials designed by an INGO?<\/mark><\/em>“<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essentially taking the power out of the hands of the NGOs and giving it to the people in the stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Girling, Director of Research Communications at the University of East Anglia, initiated the research project and partnership with Amref. He then invited Jess Crombie to participate due to her experience researching and writing The People in the Pictures: Vital Perspectives on Save The Children\u2019s image making.  <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project centered on empowering community health workers (CHWs) in Kibera, Kenya to document stories of their work. Jess and David worked with local photographer, Natalia Jidovanu, to deliver a 5-day workshop<\/strong> that trained CHWs to produce their own stories. Provided with cameras and storytelling knowledge, the CHWs documented their work<\/strong> and assembled a narrative<\/strong>. These stories were then sent to half of Amref\u2019s UK donor base, in lieu of the CEO’s letter containing a fundraising appeal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patrick Malachi, one of the participating CHWs, produced several photos of people in the community and notably, features himself only once. He narrates the experience of working with elderly people, posing questions directly to the reader, such as, \u201cHave you ever encountered an elderly person who is lonely, frustrated and sick?<\/em>\u201d Never in Patrick\u2019s narrative does he request funds. In a webinar<\/a> where Girling and Crombie present the project, Crombie notes, \u201c[Patrick\u2019s] tone is passionate and caring but also quite raw and emotional<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is a spread of Patrick\u2019s first-person storytelling featured in the fundraising pack sent out to half of Amref\u2019s UK donors:<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

For comparison, here is the other fundraising pack featuring a portrait of Patrick alongside a letter penned by the Amref CEO:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the CEO-penned narrative, Patrick and the community he serves is only mentioned by name once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what happened when the pamphlets were sent out?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n