Project Detail
ETPA Foundation introduced the concept of Mottainai Grandma in schools through storytelling sessions and other activities in the state of Jharkhand. The spirit of Mission Life is echoed by the idea of Mottainai which conveys a sense of regret over waste and encompasses the spirit of the 4 R’s – Reduce, Recycle, Reuse, and Respect the environment.
Mottainai Grandma is a Japanese children’s picture book that is creating awareness of environmental and hygiene issues. This book features the world-famous character ‘Mottainai Grandma’ which propagates and promotes environment-friendly lifestyles and the importance of reducing the wastage of various resources. It refers to a situation in which something of value is being wasted or used without careful consideration. Hence the concept of ‘4R- Respect, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’ was introduced to the children.
The storytelling session was implemented in the states of Delhi, Haryana, and Gujarat covering 105 schools and reaching directly to 3525 children in the age group of 09-12 yrs. One of the innovations of the project was the colourful Caravan which focussed to inculcate reading habits among school children and visited those schools where storytelling sessions were conducted.
Apart from this, some special events were conducted during the project implementation phase.
- Mottainai storytelling session inside a stationary Delhi Metro train
- Poster exhibition at Japan Foundation, New Delhi, that showcased various colourful posters made by children depicting their understanding of Mottainai.
The impact assessment division of JICA conducted an evaluation to know the result of the intervention assessing the changes in knowledge, consciousness and behaviour related to hygiene and environment among the children. Please find below the implementation strategy of this project.
Step1
Storytelling sessions by professional storyteller who introduced the concept of Mottainai to the school children & teachers in a very efficient manner.
Step2
Teachers who became storytellers at school along with some co-curricular activities were conducted to sustain their interest.
Step3
The children themselves became the storytellers and tried to depict the concept of Mottainai through innovative role plays.
Challenger
Need more volunteers to provide psychological way of reaching young audience
As we need to propagate the core values to young audience, hence need experienced and qualified volunteers from psychological and educational fields, finding such kind of volunteers is a big challenge.
Result
The outcome of the project was that it was a positive experience for the children listening to the storytelling while learning about hygiene and environmental protection. The children understood the concept of 4R and in some schools took the initiative to practice the Mottainai in schools. The project provided the holistic overview of health, hygiene & surroundings to the kids.
Timeline: June 2023 – Dec 2023
Target group: Children in the age group of 06-14 yrs
Approach: Social Behaviour Change Communication
Location: Delhi NCR, India
Category: Environment Protection
Activities:
1. Storytelling session with children on the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Respect the resources.
2. Role Play/Storytelling by the Community Children.