By Martina Gant, CEO at Child.org
Earlier this year, we introduced Lela, our illustrated, fictional pregnant teen character.
We worked with the very talented Naddya Adhiambo at Nalo Studios to develop Lela, her mother Riziki and her Community Health Promoter (CHP) Esther, as a step towards improvements to our storytelling.
The introduction of Lela is part of a wider shift in Child.org. Behind the scenes, we’ve been making changes to address biases, unequal power balances and looking not just at what we do, but how we do it.
We’re not alone in this; it’s a movement across the sector, with international agencies and institutions reflecting on their biases and implementing changes to actively decolonise their approaches to development work and research, and to shift imbalances of control and privilege.
Reflexivity at Child.org
For several years now we have been looking introspectively within Child.org. We know we haven’t always gotten our approaches right. Historically, like many of our peers, it could be argued that some of our work promoted white-saviourism and voluntourism. Having been with Child.org for over 15 years, I can say with confidence that the intentions behind our activities and decisions have always come from a positive place, with the aim of improving the impact and scope of our work. But of course, the end does not always justify the means.
Lela
And so, over recent years, we have made an open commitment to educating ourselves and to improving our approaches. This includes addressing the balance of Kenyan and UK voices in our work, and shifting all of our programmatic decision making to Kenya. In doing so we’ve built a Kenyan team of brilliant professionals, who are responsible for shaping and directing our work.
We have developed a new strategy to take us to 2030: for this we took a holistic approach, engaging the whole team because the people that deliver our work know it best. The entire team was able to input how we want to shape and grow our development and ambition.
This year we’re expanding our board from five to seven, with a priority focus on improving Kenyan representation within our governing body.
Ethical Storytelling
Ethical communications is a part of this process. It’s essential for organisations like ours to tell the stories of the communities we work with. We have to explain why work like ours is needed, and how our work impacts people’s lives.
But in doing so, it’s too easy to compromise the autonomy of potentially vulnerable people, and for poor communication to mean that people’s good will is exploited, intentionally or not. Anyone with experience of visiting Kenya will know how willing people often are to have their photo taken. However, ensuring understanding of how those photos will be used and shared – and in what context – is very tricky, even without a language barrier.
Over the past two years, Hattie and Lucy N have been through an extensive process of developing our new Ethical Image Policy to ensure we can improve the way in which we collect stories. We have a rigorous process that our team must follow, ensuring that participation is not expected, nor does it impact our future working with those individuals. Opting out is always an option!
Riziki
How does Lela fit into this evolution?
We developed Lela, Riziki and Esther to enable us to tell the difficult stories that we hear from the regions we work in, without risk of compromising or inadvertently exploiting the people willing to tell their stories. They are the ‘why’ Child.org exists, and how Team Mum makes a huge difference to women and their families across Kenya.
Some of the stories we learn about are uncomfortable for us to hear, and to tell. But they are a reality for many women across the world. We want to tell those stories but we don’t want to inadvertently negatively impact the lives of those willing to share them.
Everything you see and hear relating to Lela and her family are stories we’ve been told by women or health workers in Kenya. We want you to know how your support can help us to make a difference, but you do not need to know exactly who said what. Sharing personal experiences publicly could have the potential to impact women’s experiences of healthcare, or community relationships. We want to protect those women, and have the creative freedom to share their stories without potential for harm.
A commitment to change
This does not mean that we will never share another case study. We will share the stories of the people who deliver our work and, in some cases, the stories of those that need our work. The processes we go through to collect and share those stories are done in a mindful and transparent manner. Those whose stories we are telling will have a detailed understanding of how and why we are sharing their lived experience, providing us with informed consent to share with our networks.
Child.org has not always gotten it right, and we will continue to learn and grow from our mistakes. We continue to be cognizant of the people and places we work in and to be intentional about how we share our work. We are committed to continued reflexivity in our work and to ensure we’re open to continued change and improvement in our individual and collective output.
Esther
We hope you enjoy meeting our three heroines, Lela, Riziki and Esther. It’s through women like these that development happens: they are changing the lives of women and babies born into circumstances beyond their control.
We are always open to hearing about what we’re doing right and how we can improve. Let us know if you have any feedback or questions about our approaches.