Stories of Change

Some of the most inspiring Design for Change stories of 2014 were -

BENIN – Fighting Against Forced Marriage.

Helene’s story has been one of the most moving stories of change that DFC has received. In a village where girls are forced to get married, Helene chose to take a stand for herself and her peers and speak out against this practice. With the guidance of FAWE Benin and mentor Tome Constant, not only did Helene successfully convince her own family and the family to condemn this practice, but she also traveled all the way to Ahmedabad, India to share her incredible story at the Be The Change Celebration 2014 and left the audience with goosebumps.

Watch her story here.

PORTUGAL – A Story Tale for All

6^th grade students of the Escola Eugenio de Andrade in Portugal realized that the magic of listening to stories was absent for their peers who could not hear. To bring this experience alive, these students identified a popular Portuguese children’s story, narrated it in sign language and recorded it on video, thus gifting the experience of ‘listening’ to a story to all their friends.

Watch the video here.

COLOMBIA – Where Our Culture Lives On

Jean and his friends at the Etnoeducativa Bilingue Inga Mocoa School were very sensitive of the fact that their generation was losing touch with traditional Inga culture of their ancestors. With all their collective 17-year-old optimism and determination, Jean and his friends created systems and designed a curriculum through which their younger peers could experience and inculcate their culture and language. As he shared his story at the Be The Change Celebration with a unique wisdom and sensitivity, the audience knew that the future of the Inga culture was in incredibly capable hands.

Watch his story here.

CHILE – A ‘CAN’teen for All!

11-year-old Daniela, Christian and their friends from the George Chaytor English College in Temuco, Chile, took on a problem that they faced in school everyday – the older and taller students would monopolize the school canteen and the younger ones would go back empty handed, not even reaching the counter. In their wonderfully spirited re-telling of their journey at the Be The Change Celebration, Daniela and Christian shared the most important lesson they had learnt in the process – “In order to get respect, you must first give respect.“

Watch their story here.

CAMEROON – Having a BALL!

Sister Vicki and her 5-year-old kindergarten students at the Ecole Maternelle Saint Joseph Manyanet Yaounde-Cameroun proved to the world with this fantastic DFC story that you are never too young to be a design thinker! With a systematic, democratic process that many adults could learn from, these children chose to address the problem of not having a football to play with. With their wonderful brainstorming and prototyping, it was only a matter of time before they succeeded!

Watch their story here. 

DENMARK – Come As You Are

15-year-old Astrid, Camilla and their friends at Skorpeskolen in Helsingoer, Denmark found themselves feeling insecure about how they looked because of the images of ‘beauty’ as portrayed in the world around them. To show their friends and the world that real beauty lay on the inside, they organized a fashion show encouraging the friends to “come as they are” and flaunt who they were and not what they wore.

Watch their story here.

PERU – Christa McAuliffe School

“In reality, today, education has to do with creating, not repeating, not memorizing. Design for Change enriches regular school curriculum.”

The Christa McAuliffe School in Lima, Peru believes deeply in the idea of Design for Change and the tremendous power that DFC has. The Principal, Sara Mendoza, describes how DFC has been comprehensively integrated in her school and the impact she has seen.

Watch her share her thoughts here. 

ISRAEL – Jury Process

Behind identifying the standout stories from every Design for Change School Challenge, is a dedicated, exceptional jury which analyses the DFC project through multiple lenses following a rigorous evaluation process.

Meet the wonderful 2014 Jury panel from Israel and have a listen to what they look for in the stories that come to them, and their thoughts on Design for Change.

Watch the video here -