STORY PREVIEW

2021

My body, my sanctuary

Ivory Private School

Khartoum

MENTOR

Marina George Rifaat

Step 1 FEEL

List the challenges or problems in your surroundings (school,neighbourhood etc.) that bothered you.

1. Political upheaval and tension in the community. - People want change and the transitional government is very slow in making real changes happen in our lives 2. Poor infrastructure - Damaged roads that flood whenever there is heavy rains - Daily electricity cuts - Poor internet connection 3. Mental health - People feel depressed about the living conditions 4. Mental health of women and girls - Women and girls have low self - image - Women and girls have negative views about their bodies - Women and girls have low self-confidence because of poor body image

State the problem chosen to work and why.

Mental health of women and girls - Women and girls have low self - image - Women and girls have negative views about their bodies - Women and girls have low self-confidence because of poor body image

Who were the people affected by the problem? What were their primary concerns?

The female students in our school felt that there are too many pubic messages that force women and girls to have negative feelings about their bodies.

Step 2 Imagine

List ALL the different solutions you came up with.

- A social media campaign that promotes positive body image through visual and text messages - Putting up posters in the local supermarkets to raise awareness amongst female shoppers - Having regular discussions with female students and women in the community to have a space to voice our feelings - Invite professionals to provide free mental health talks about importance of positive body image

Which solution from those listed above did you choose to implement and why?

We felt that because this is a complex issue we needed to start with raising awareness to help women and girls feel comfortable to come forward and talk about these issues that are usually not discussed openly. We decided to start with raising awareness about the issue and though a social media campaign and posters in the local supermarkets to work towards our long term plans to take care of mental health of women and girls in Khartoum through the promotion of positive body image in discussions and workshops.

Step 3DO

Describe very briefly the process of implementing your solution(s).

1. We used our WhatsApp group and met on Zoom to discuss and choose different actions to focus on for the social media campaign. 2. We chose different tasks to create an Instagram page. Israa came up with the name Talia designed the logo Noon found open source images Mazy and Israa designed images Hanim and Talia launched campaign on social media accounts (instagram) and already have 65 followers Noon sending out messages to teachers and the public every day to join our campaign 3. Israa and Hanim created posters and Putting up posters in the local supermarkets

What was the result or impact of your project?

Teenage girls are now more aware of their rights and are able to stand up for themselves. They are also empowering other female adolesents to follow their lead.

How many people were impacted by your solution(s)?

120

What did the impacted people have to say about your project? Provide 2 quotes or testimonials:

"I am 24 years old and till now I have problem accepting my body" "This issue literally starts since childhood"

What challenges did you encounter while implementing your project, and how did you overcome them?

Internet stability Daily powercuts Inaccesible roads Political uncertainity Lack of a stable school calendar

How long did it take to implement your solution?

15-30 Days

Which global goals does your story align with?

Good health and well being

Please explain briefly why do you think so?

Girls tend to harm themselves and have low self-esteem if they are sent negative messages with regards to their body image. Their self image becomes distort and they suffer grom illness such as anxiety, depression, anorexia nervosa or even suicidal tendencies.

Step 4 SHARE

How did you share your project with your school and community? Who did you share your project with? What was their response?

We addressed our academic principal and we spread the message to different teachers and students. We also hanged flyers in public(supermarkets) and approached females (specifically potential mothers and teenage daughters)