Our Partnerships

 

Nairobi school visit: HIV Workshop delegates test out their puppet skills with puppet trainer Ron Binion and star-of-the-show Kibing

Workshop delegates at a Nairobi school with puppet trainer Ron Binion and star Kibing

 

No Strings manages its budgets as efficiently as possible. So to reach a maximum number of children and communities, we work with major international organisations and their local partners.

These bodies support the development of all our films, overseeing committees of experts to agree on key message content and review development. They also lead dissemination, ensuring the attendance of senior field staff at our in-country workshops who can then lead trainings themselves in a cascade system, so a maximum number of staff is able to reach the most vulnerable children and communities.

Among our main partners are Catholic Relief Service (CRS), the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Save the Children, Oxfam, Action Contre la Faim (ACF), Unicef, Trocaire, and Plan International.

 

 

LOCAL PARTNER PERSPECTIVES

 

Ferdinand Pascual, Division Supervisor, Rizal, Department of Education, Philippines:

Screen Shot 2013-04-29 at 11.56.51The Tales of Disasters is an excellent way of making children more safe. The children enjoy it very much, they look forward to taking part, and it really goes in. What’s more, it’s easy to motivate staff to use it because it’s fun. Five of us attended a No Strings training of trainers workshop; those five then trained more trainers, and through them, around 5,000 teachers.”

 

CRS psychologist, Haiti: 

Haiti school

“We learn through play. A puppet can put children at ease, either in a group or one-to-one. While they are playing with the puppet, children talk about important messages, like things they can do to make them feel better, and the magic inside them, the underlying theme of all the films for Haiti.”

 

 

Mohammad Arif, Deputy Director, OMAR (Organisation for Mine Clearance and Afghan Rehabilitation), Kabul, Afghanistan:

Mine Demo“Children watch ChucheQhalin and don’t even realise it’s an educational film, though afterwards, they remember the messages vividly. It’s a much more interesting and effective way for children to learn than to present messages through pictures or long talks. We use it a lot, both in outreach work with our mobile cinemas, and on our television station. We reach thousands of children on an ongoing basis.”

 

Laida Matian, Panday Kalinaw Peace-Building Initiatives, Mindanao, Philippines:

Ling Ling puppet“Though the Two Gardens peace film was designed for children, we also target adults. We get a very positive response from them. They get the message loud and clear without being offended because puppetry as a tool is non-threatening. We go to Christian and Muslim schools, especially where children are directly affected and traumatised by the conflict in their communities, and where prejudices have been implanted in their minds. Discussing the film helps children arrive at more positive values, and slowly instills in them the culture of peace. We have trained more than 100 facilitators to use the film with puppetry, and we receive many, many invitations to do more. Younger children respond very warmly to our hand puppets. For some who have seen much violence, the puppets become friends they rely on. Now I tell people I’m a puppeteer, which makes me very happy!”

 

George Ochieng, Child Therapist, and founder of SlumChild, Kenya:

George puppets“There is a high risk of abuse in the slums around Nairobi, and children need to be empowered. It’s important to be able to get children to talk about things and offer advice to each other, while you are there to guide them. The Kibing! films are a perfect tool to help us do that. They are powerful, because they talk about important things in a way it’s easy to deal with, but which lead to good discussions and help young people to disclose.”