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Submit your entry for the 2022 Making a Difference Awards

The ESOMAR Foundation’s annual Making a Difference Awards are now open for entries. Our annual Awards are a chance to applaud and reward the best examples of Market Research making a difference to the world’s Charities.

Through these awards, the ESOMAR Foundation aims to raise awareness of the impact of great research on the work of Charities, by offering a platform for these stories to be heard.

All Charity case studies, whether they are international, national or local and in any sector, are encouraged to apply.

WHY YOU SHOULD ENTER THE COMPETITION:

  • It encourages excellence, educates and motivates the industry to produce great research on and for Charities
  • The last 2 years have been a particularly difficult time to conduct research – especially for Charities – tell us how you responded to the challenge and what you learnt
  • Share your work for mutually beneficial inspiration and learning
  • The competition will highlight ‘Making a Difference’ case studies to increase the impact of market research in building a better world!
  • Your work will be promoted throughout the year on all our platforms
  • Win a category and an award
  • Winners get recognised at the ESOMAR Congress to be held in Toronto on 18-21 September, the biggest global event in the market research industry
  • It’s a fun, challenging, and exciting way to share your work.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

  • All Charity cases are welcome whether they are international, national or local!
  • You may showcase any innovative and insightful research work
  • There is no limit of entries per author
  • Each case-study must have a separate application
  • If you’d like help from a research expert writing your submission, we can find a willing volunteer in your country

LOOKING FOR INSPIRATION?

Check out the previous Making a Difference Competition winners

IMPORTANT DEADLINES:

  • 17 June – Deadline for submissions – DEADLINE EXTENDED! -> 6 July
  • 18 July – Announcement to the winners
  • September – awards presented at the ESOMAR Congress

SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY!

 

Will you make a difference also this time?

The 4th edition of the Making a Difference Awards is on its way! In just three weeks we will start reviewing the entries for these awards. We expect no less than the excellent case studies which won in 2020! The 3 winning cases were brilliant, strong and inspiring examples of research ‘Making a Difference’.

IN 2020 we aligned the best case stories with the UN SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals).

SDG #3 – Good Health and Well-Being: A case study on public perceptions of schizophrenia

SDG #5 – Gender Equality: A study on the lives of typical rural Indian women aiming to understand the social norms, practices and relations and reveals the reasons that prevent them from achieving economic advancement

SDG #4 – Quality Education: A story on bullying at school and how effective market research contributed in making a ground-breaking difference, changing laws and altering perceptions

In summary, an excellent, thought-provoking and inspiring selection of case studies demonstrated the real value that research can bring to the Not-for-Profit sector in all areas of life.

Will you make a difference also this time? Inequalities and crises all over the world call for better handling of mankind. You can help bridging gaps and supporting the work and dedication of the many NGOs who are there to make a difference. We look forward to listening to your stories!

SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY!

 

Submit your entry for the 2021 Making a Difference Awards

The ESOMAR Foundation’s annual Making a Difference Awards are now open for entries. Our annual Awards are a chance to applaud and reward the best examples of Market Research making a difference to the worlds Charities.

Through these awards, the ESOMAR Foundation aims to raise awareness of the impact of great research on the work of Charities, by offering a platform for these stories to be heard.

All Charity case studies, whether they are international, national or local and in any sector, are encouraged to apply.

WHY YOU SHOULD ENTER THE COMPETITION:

  • It encourages excellence, educates and motivates the industry to produce great research on and for Charities
  • Share your work for mutually beneficial inspiration and learning.
  • The competition will highlight ‘Making a Difference’ case studies to increase the impact of market research in building a better world!
  • Your work will be promoted throughout the year on all our platforms
  • Win a category and an award
  • Winners get invited to present at the ESOMAR Insight Festival, the biggest global and digital event in the market research industry
  • It’s a fun, challenging, and exciting way to share your work.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

  • All Charity cases are welcome whether they are international, national or local!
  • You may showcase any innovative and insightful research work
  • There is no limit of entries per author
  • Each case-study must have a separate application
  • If you’d like help from a research expert writing your submission, we can find a willing volunteer in your country

LOOKING FOR INSPIRATION?

Check out the previous Making a Difference Competition winners

IMPORTANT DEADLINES:

  • 15 May – Deadline for submissions
  • 30 June – Announcement to the winners
  • September – presentation at Insight Festival

SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY!

 

MaD Award Winners Session

Another record-breaking year; another record-breaking challenge for the jury. For the third edition of our Making a Difference Award Competition we have received a high number of quality entries, up 13 per cent on last year’s total. The jury had a very difficult job and found it challenging to select the winning case studies, as all of the projects were of incredibly high quality.

We aligned the best case stories – the Award Winners – with the UN SDG’s (Sustainable Development Goals) so that we can see the effect on progress with the goals in multiple areas. The 3 winning authors and their NGO counterparts took the virtual stage at the ESOMAR Insights Festival on three consecutive days. Their sessions were brilliant, strong and inspiring examples of research ‘Making a Difference’ and as a result were extremely well received by the audience. We’ll tell you what you’ve missed!

The first session featured the winners of SDG #3 – Good Heath and Well-Being: Çigdem Penn [Xsights], Elif Elkin [Abdi Ibrahim Otsuka Ilaç] and Haldun Soygur, MD, PhD [Federation of Schizophrenia Associations] with the brilliant case-study “Public Perceptions of Schizophrenia“. The study demonstrated the need for creating a difference to stop the stigmatisation of mental health patients, a corporate social responsibility perspective – through the collaboration of a pharmaceutical company an Non Governmental Organisation and a Research Company.

Prof Haldun Soygur from the Federation of Schizophrenia Associations

For the second session had covered the following paper ‘Providing earning capability and opportunity to rural women’, by Indu Upadhay, of Ipsos India and Sheela Iyer from Light of Life Trust India. They are the winners of Making a Difference – Gender Equality (SDG #5). The study touched the lives of typical rural Indian women, it aimed to understand the social norms, practices and relations and reveal the reasons that prevents them from achieving economic advancement. It identified ways in which the leading local NGO – The Light of Life Trust (LOLT) can address these barriers and increase women’s enrolment in its program as well as successful transition to employment. We certainly believe the project made a difference since it helped women fulfil their foremost aspiration of achieving greater financial security! Not only did Indu and Sheela put together an extraordinary case-study but an amazing presentation as well. 

Snapshot from their amazing presentation

The last day of the Insights Festival was for the winners of Making a Difference – Quality Education (SDG #4). Mariam Ghabrial from Marketeers Research and Johnathan Crickx from UNICEF Egypt delivered an exceptional presentation titled “How market research created words and changed worlds”. This is a story of how effective market research contributed in making a groundbreaking difference, changing laws and altering perceptions. The audience was shocked to hear that before the campaign there wasn’t even a word for bullying in Egyptian Arabic. A diligent mission that would have never been possible without UNICEF as well as national and creative partners. 

Aya is one of the faces of so many young people that decided to publicly take a stance against bullying

In summary, an excellent, thought-provoking and inspiring session which demonstrated the real value that research can bring to the Not-for-Profit sector in all areas of life. The winning case-studies and and the rest of the commended entries will be featured on this space in the coming months, so keep an eye out!

Making a Difference at ESOMAR Insights Festival

From Monday almost 5000 market researchers from all corners of the world have taken the virtual environment and registered for ESOMAR’s annual industry get-together. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on people’s lives and societies across the world and the ESOMAR Congress made no exception. The physical connections were replaced with digital ones under the umbrella of the Insights Festival, a truly global data and insights summit.

The winners of our third edition of the Making a Difference Awards will take to the stage to showcase how the best of research has made a significant difference to Not-For-Profits. The session will include 3 different presentations:

How Market Research Created Words and Changed Worlds with Mariam Ghabrial, Client Engagement Manager, [Marketeers Research] and Jonathan  Crickx [UNICEF]

Mariam Ghabrial has been working at Marketeers Research for the past five years, believing in the power of research, providing consultations that are pillared with strong market research to help empower businesses. Before treading into the world of market research, she explored the advertising industry. An experience that contributed to her passion for communication which helped her navigate better through the next steps in life.

Her words: “Adding my deep interest in psychology to the mix, it all comes back to the magnificence of the human mind and I believe finding the best way to communicate is a quest I embarked on, leading me to one of the accomplishments I’m most proud of … Utilising research to breakthrough cultural barriers and derive powerful communication messages that makes a true difference in the world, which I am looking forward to sharing with you today.”

Jonathan  Crickx is the Chief of Communication for UNICEF Egypt since July 2017.

“I am covering all aspects of communication and advocacy, from press releases to field visits, documentation of programme activities and social media. One of the most interesting aspect of this is the social and behavioural change campaigns we are leading in Egypt. Before that, I held similar position for the European Union in Palestine and Afghanistan. In a previous life, I was a journalist for the Belgian public TV news channel RTBF for 11 years. I am married and the lucky father of a wonderful 8-month-old boy. I enjoy listening to music, kitesurfing and diving.”

Pro Bono Research for Light of Life Trust: Providing earning capability and opportunity to rural women, Indu Upadhyay [Ipsos] India; Sheela Iyer [Light of Life Trust (LOLT)] Indi

Indu Upadhyay is a graduate in social anthropology and psychology. With a strong background in the study of human culture and behaviour, she is passionate about applying a people-centered approach to solving real world problems. Indu has a penchant for statistical research coupled with two years worth of experience in the market research industry. Her paper was featured as well in the local Research Got Talent competition in India.

Sheela Iyer has a major in Physics and a Post Graduation in Computer Software and Applications and was working in the software industry when the bug to do something meaningful stung and she switched to the development sector. It’s been over 5 years since she has been working with the Non profit, Light of Life Trust and is completely addicted to the feeling of contributing to the work to impact and transform lives for the common good of society.

Public Perceptions of Schizophrenia with Çigdem Penn [Xsights], Elif Elkin [Abdi İbrahim Otsuka İlaç] and Haldun Soygur, MD, PhD [Federation of Schizophrenia Associations]

Çiğdem Penn is an experienced researcher with twenty years of expertise in both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. She is well versed in both high-profile and international projects. A graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science, Çiğdem started her career in management consulting and focused on change management and resistance to change. She then moved into market research and worked in two of the largest agencies in the UK. In 2006, Çiğdem started her own research consultancy, Xsights in London and opened the Turkish branch in 2010. She has been delivering results-driven research and consultancy projects ever since, both in Turkey and internationally.

Çiğdem is a member of ESOMAR, the Market Research Society and the Turkish Researchers Association and is the founding president of the Turkey and Nepal Business Council. Çiğdem has lived in Kathmandu for three years consulting with the United Nations, is now based in Turkey. Çiğdem Penn, a mother of three, is a frequent public speaker and an occasional columnist. She speaks French and English fluently.

Elif Elkin was born in İstanbul and graduated from Robert College and from the Chemistry Department of the Bosphorous University. She had her MBA at the Yeditepe University. From 2001 she held various positions in sales and marketing departments in Deva, one of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies in Turkey. In 2007 she was appointed General Manager and continued this role parallel to her position of Executive Vice President of Marketing & Sales in Deva until she joined Abdi İbrahim in 2009.

Elif has been serving as the General Manager of Abdi İbrahim Otsuka Pharmaceutical since January 2017. She is 40 years old, married and has 3 children named Bora, Nehir and Mira.

Prof. Haldun Soygur is the Chairman of the Board of the Federation of Schizophrenia Associations, of which he is also a founder. Believing in the value of close cooperation between service providers and service users in the provision of mental health services; From the beginning, he worked in the organisation of schizophrenia patients, their families and mental health professionals all together. He ensured the establishment of the Blue Horse Cafe (Mavi At Kafe) where schizophrenia patients work. He is still actively engaged in the correct recognition of schizophrenia in society, the fight against stigma and discrimination, and to offer the best possible treatment and rehabilitation opportunities for patients with schizophrenia.

During his tenure as the Clinic Chief at the Oncology Training and Research Hospital Psychiatry Clinic, where he founded and worked for ten years, he pioneered the establishment of the psycho-oncology discipline, consultation-liaison psychiatry services and the provision of mental health services for oncology staff. He served as the Head of Psychosocial Support Unit of the Cancer Advisory Board of the Ministry of Health for two years. He published as an editor Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders, Schizophrenia Treatment Guide, Basic Psychopharmacology. For the community, he published the books of Schizophrenia: Voices, Faces, Stories and Sleepless Children: Schizophrenia Articles.

If you are registered at the Insights Festival make sure you do not miss the the Making a Difference sessions.

Safe Village Programs – Preventing Child Trafficking in Rural India

My Choices Foundation is a Hyderabad-based NGO dedicated to ending violence, abuse, and exploitation of women and girls in India. They address two prevalent forms of gender-based violence – domestic violence and child trafficking – through Operation PeaceMaker and Operation Red Alert.

Operation PeaceMaker works in Telangana through thousands of empowered community women, legal teams, programs to empower young girls and encourage men to become allies in ending gender based violence. Operation Red Alert works in rural India to prevent child trafficking through a prevention-based program.

There are between 3 – 20 million commercial sex workers in India. To understand the behaviours we want to end, comprehensive research was required on what drives decisions to:

  • force girls/women into trafficking
  • make men willing to pay for sex

The aim of the research was to understand these contextual factors and the roles of specific emotions and behaviours that enable these decisions. The objective of the research was to apply learnings from cognitive neuroscience and behavioural economics to understand and influence the behaviour of at-risk families and men who buy sex. This reflected a gap in terms of the current understanding of issues.

This research was conducted with the aim of preventing trafficking by sensitising, alerting and empowering at-risk families in source areas, and to stem the demand by changing the behaviour and attitudes of men at destination areas. Key considerations during the research were to ensure that the findings and insights can easily be extrapolated into applicable interventions on the ground.

Our idea of justice is summed up in this: “Pulling drowning people out of a river is compassion. Walking upstream to find the reasons they are falling in, is justice.” My Choices Foundation decided to start with research and commissioned Mumbai-based Final Mile Consulting to conduct this research paper, which won the 2016 ESOMAR Excellence Award.

The first stage of research comprised of field visits to develop an understanding of the context, through direct interactions with at-risk families, stakeholders, migrant workers, influencers and decision making environments.

Due to social stigma attached to the issue, these conversations alone could not reveal the full picture, therefore interviews and discussions were conducted with NGOs, government agencies and stakeholders involved in different aspects of trafficking – prevention, protection and prosecution. Learning from various programs deployed and prior research conducted was also a part of the research methodology and the key output of these stages was a set of hypotheses for understanding and changing behaviour.

This research used EthnoLab™, a FinalMile proprietary research technique that involved a game that simulated the real-world context of the participants to solicit real-world reactions and behaviours. This game was the medium through which context, emotions, and mental models that influence the behaviour of at-risk families and urban clientele were studied. This was followed by an interview session designed to elicit emotions and was a crucial element in gathering insights and information about personal experiences and perceptions of trafficking and purchasing sex.

The main achievement of the research is the development of the Safe Village Program (SVP), designed to help people at all literacy levels in villages understand human trafficking and collectively prevent it from ever occurring in their villages.

Aimed at targeting intervention, Operation Red Alert (ORA) of My Choices Foundation partnered with Quantium Analytics to build a tool based on multiple sets of data to map villages highly prone to trafficking. Using this data, we conduct two-day SVPs in high-risk villages in 8 states in India: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, West Bengal and Rajasthan.

To initiate discussions on trafficking amongst children, we created a comic book translated into the vernacular language. To ensure children have retained the message, we scripted a skit on a family experiencing trafficking, which the children re-enact. It is customized to local cultural beliefs and easily resonates with the audience to be more effective.

Members of the village are given the Red Alert helpline (1800 419 8588) which responds to cases of human trafficking. Furthermore, ORA appoints volunteers called Nodal Teachers who watch over vulnerable children and reiterates the message of being alert; and Rakshaks to report urgent cases back to ORA and partnering organizations – thus ensuring the sustainability of the program.

The impact of this research on anti-trafficking NGOs is identifiable through our network of 90+ partnering NGOs which traverses state borders, i.e. a network specialized in its local geographies. In 2019, our first Anti-Trafficking Forum which brought together our NGO partners in India, Bangladesh and Nepal facilitated cooperation amongst organizations committed to ending cross-border trafficking.

Since 2016, ORA has reached over 3,400 SVPs through our research based anti-trafficking program, and we are getting closer to increasing awareness on trafficking to ensure that all children are safe from human trafficking.

About the Authors: 

My Choices Foundation is a Hyderabad-based NGO that works to give women and girls in India the choices to live lives free from violence, abuse and exploitation.

 

BREAKING THE CYCLE – Increasing uptake of HIV testing, prevention and treatment among young men in South Africa

In South Africa, adolescent girls and young women make up around 2/3rds of new HIV infections yet men account for slightly more than half of AIDS deaths. 

Whilst women are infected at a greater rate, the AIDS deaths do not follow the same linear pattern which suggests men often find out about their HIV status later (when iller) or do not take treatment compared to their female counterparts.

Population Services International (PSI) is a global NGO that implements social marketing programs on behalf of International Development donors in the healthcare sector. PSI works closely with private and public sector funders to bring life-saving products, clinical services and behavior change communications to empower the world’s most vulnerable populations to live healthier lives.

The Bill and  Melinda Gates Foundation approached PSI to understand the reasons which prevent some men from engaging with HIV services and design interventions to help better support these men. The primary objectives were to understand how to encourage men to test for their status more regularly, and how to ensure that positive men link to treatment within 30 days.

PSI partners with Ipsos, a global market research company and Matchboxology, a South African design firm to research and design interventions.

The long term intended recipients of the research results and interventions are the health delivery partners in South Africa who have been consulted throughout.

Understanding South Africa’s young men

The study started by framing the wider context of men’s lives and how HIV fits within it. To do this, researchers used an ethnographic approach in which trained moderators spent up to 1 day with 18 different men living in high-risk areas of South Africa to understand what daily life is like.

Following this, researchers spoke to 58 men using a semi-structured qualitative ‘journey to vaccination’ discussion guide, to understand men’s experience of HIV services and identify drop-out points.

Using both of these qualitative inputs, a questionnaire was designed, and 2000 men were surveyed. The analysis segmented men according to their underlying attitudes and behaviors, to tailor messages and interventions for harder to reach groups of men.

The research team worked closely with PSI and Matchboxology to ensure insights were well understood and humanized to design against. They did this using a number of methods such as bringing actors to play the roles of the different segments, and the use of video/ verbatim from the qualitative.

Matchboxology then used the segmentation to recruit men from 2 identified challenging segments and brought them to a co-design workshop. Together, the men and designer’s prototypes interventions to pilot in the field. This will be the next step of the process.

Increasing the uptake of HIV testing

Whilst specific interventions are being designed and tested, the insights alone have greatly advanced thinking behind how to approach young men in South Africa. Previously, men were thought to be stubborn and indifferent, but what the research highlighted is that the young men were scared and vulnerable but rigid gender norms prevented them from being able to share such emotions.

This has meant that rather than using fear-based communications, to try and scare men into testing (which is counter-intuitive), healthcare programmers should find other ways to engage with men. Men tend to see HIV as a death of life as he knows it, even though widely available HIV medicine means HIV is no longer a death sentence. For men living in tough conditions, testing for HIV does not represent a release, it only represents more stress.

As a healthcare providing community, we are actively looking to find ways to reframe testing as a positive and reduce the perceived burden of a positive diagnosis and this research has helped us make a major shift in how we think about men’s attitudes towards HIV.

About the Authors: 

Ipsos:

Sunny Sharma

James Bell

Melissa Levy

Jemma Reast

PSI:

Nina Hasen

Shawn Malone

MaD Award Winners Session

Kai Jimenez of United Nations Population Fund

We had many excellent entries for our Making a Difference Competition this year – selecting the best for the Awards is a very difficult task – so much research is being used so well to make the world a better place! Though that doesn’t mean, of course, that our task is done – there are still many stories of aid money being spent badly and/or ineffectively. Research still needs to be more widely used to ensure good outcomes.

We aligned the best case stories – the Award Winners – with the UN SDG’s (Sustainable Development Goals) so that we can see the effect on progress with the goals in multiple areas.

For SDG #3: Good Health and Well-Being we had a study on ‘Towards an Open-Defecation-Free Clean India’, by  AV Surya and Saptarshi Guha of KANTAR. Perhaps not for the squeamish, this study demonstrated the need for long term monitoring and measurement to measure progress – cultures are not changed over-night – this is a 5-year programme! And also the requirement for on-going qualitative work and ethnography to overcome barriers to adoption – which change over time.

AV Surya and Saptarshi Guha of KANTAR India receiving the MaD award

SDG #16: is Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, and we had a presentation on ‘Social Media to Strengthen Political Participation of Young People in Nigeria’, given by Anu Mohammed and Chibuike Utaka, of BBC Media Action – an excellent demonstration of how to use social media to engage youth in a subject that they were really quite apathetic about. Let’s face it – it’s difficult to engage young people in politics and voting in European countries – much more so in countries where the political climate is extremely challenging!

Gender Equality (SDG #5) was represented by a paper ‘Breaking the Silence: Uncovering Truths about Gender-Based Violence in Mongolia’, by Kai Jimenez, of UNFPA Mongolia. This was an extremely large and high-quality study designed to demonstrate the reality of a subject that no-onwants to acknowledge or talk about in Mongolia. In fact, the lack of information meant that most people could deny it existed! Kai’s UNFPA study showed the truth and started the conversation, which is the beginning of change.

We were also very pleased to include a study from the developed world. For SDG #4: Quality Education we had a Study of Young People with Dyslexia presented by Christian Vestergaard Sloth, of EPINION. Which showed that Dyslexia, if not diagnosed early, and supported well throughout the education system, can lead to very poor life outcomes even in a country like Denmark! Everyone deserves a quality education – people with dyslexia have the same levels of intelligence as everyone else – so the fact that they tend to do less well in life, means there is a failure somewhere in the education system, which should be addressed.

In summary, an excellent, thought-provoking and inspiring session which demonstrated the real value that research can bring to the Not-for-Profit sector in all areas of life. The session ended with the awards ceremony sprinkled generously with the local tartan. 

The warmth and interest received from the audience validates our belief that promoting the use of research is the right thing to do, to make the world a better place.

Speakers at the end of the Session

Identifying nudges for the growth of women in Rajasthan, India

The story of an enigmatic woman across a state border

In July 2018, we set out across to the state of Rajasthan, miles away from Mumbai, the concrete jungle. After a three-hour road journey from the main city, we reached Bhap, a little-known village in Western Rajasthan.  It is home to approximately 10,000 people of which only 4000 are women (Census, 2011).

We were here to undertake an assignment under the banner of ‘The Community Program’ (TCP) by the Market Research Society of India (MRSI).

The TCP is MR industry-funded program for young researchers to give back to the community by providing research and insights to not-for-profits that cannot typically afford it. [Other excellent case studies from TCP are Driving Change in Behaviour Management and Government Policies for the Disabled vs. Ground Reality].

The assignment was for Women Serve, a not-for-profit, operating out of Western Rajasthan, India. The NGO has been working towards advancing the status of women in six different villages specifically in the district of Paholdi.

The brief was simple – the organization was looking to establish a community park which would provide a safe place for women to improve the quality of their life and that of their family by learning various skills. This community park would also serve as a medium for women to exchange ideas and grow personally.

An answer to the key questions – Would a community park be welcomed by women and what would be the possible triggers and barriers to participate?– would then serve as a template for action for other villages where Women Serve would run the program.

When we got down to our ‘drawing board’, we realized that for Women Serve to make the right decisions about various interventions, it was essential for us to look at the woman in Bhap through a holistic lens.

This comprehensive lens was used throughout the designing and execution phases of the study. Thus, we broke up our research objectives into the following

  1. Identify the needs and motivations of women
  2. Identify their deep-rooted belief and aspirations
  3. Identify activities that she could engage in at the community park

Furthermore, our study was designed in the following way:

In our one week in the village, we did 30 qualitative interactions – a mix of group discussions as well as one on one interactions.  We also gave shape to a quantitative questionnaire, right on the field – basis our learnings from the interactions – and performed 130 interviews representing all layers of the society in the village.

For e.g. several communities i.e. castes inhabit the village – a reality that became prominent once we were on the ground. It was critical for us to get a representative response – since one’s caste dictates the way of living in the village. For instance, the higher one is in the caste ladder, the more likely one is to receive education. These are dimensions could have been easily missed had we not spent the time with the villagers.

Due to our holistic and dynamic approach, we were able to observe nuances that otherwise one would possibly skip on. For example, all our qualitative interactions happened at the woman’s house – giving us the opportunity to observe her home life and her interaction with her family members. For instance, we were able to pick up on her hesitation to admit her TV viewing patterns in front of her in-laws and husband.

We also met with influencers in the village – the head of the village (Sarpanch) as well as the hostel warden to understand the workings of the village from a third person’s perspective.

Our study provided us with key insights that gave the organization some new directions and helped make some reiterations on directions they wanted to take.

 

It is important to note that the stakeholders of the NGO live in big cities and the key sponsor is in USA.  Our research brought to life the context that otherwise would have been difficult for the NGO.

The Bhap woman since her birth is a burden to her family. Thus, being married off in her childhood – sometimes even at birth. Education is out of the question. Her life is spent catering to the needs of her family, within the four walls.

Given this social context, she lacked the self-confidence to even step out of the house, much less dream. Dreams and aspirations are words that did not seem to belong in their dictionary.

In her complex reality, her only solace is engaging in the activity of sewing. The activity is so deep rooted in her life that one can find evidence of it when one visits homes in Bhap – you will often find them displaying their work to visitors.

The impact of the activity was one of our key learnings from the study. Along with cultural rootedness, it also allowed her to work from the comfort of her own home. Moreover, most women saw it as a possible source of income. One of them said to us, “My neighbor is uneducated like me. But she knows stitching so she earns 3000 a month”. Thus, this was an avenue for her to increase her confidence and help her stand on her own two feet (financial independence) in the truest sense.

Moreover, through our quantitative learnings, we found that this activity as part of the community park was highly endorsed by women for the above reasons and more – it was an activity that was acceptable in the community and no one would raise any questions if she left her house to pursue and excel at this activity.

Knowledge sharing sessions as part of the community park was another action step for the organization. After a day’s work women are often seen visiting each other. This opportunity could be utilized to share stories and learn new skills.

Thus, the study provided key nudges that would push the boundaries slowly and steadily for the women of Bhap and go a long way in making sure that Women Serve is able to make dreams and aspirations a reality for the coming generation.

 

About the Authors:  Niyati Taggarsi, Research Executive, Ormax Consultants, India

(The study was done in collaboration with Madhur Mohan, Research Manager – Kantar)