[YSTV] Empowering Kids Through Kid Powered Media

Kid Powered Media (KPM) is a Delhi based NGO that provides education on important social issues to children in disadvantaged or slum communities. Partnering with nonprofits and NGOs that have established presences in various communities, KPM designs programs to help these organizations better address recurrent issues that they see affecting the lives of the children they serve.

True to their name, Kid Powered Media allows the children to decide the topics they discuss. Structuring the conversation around these self-identified issues has allowed KPM to address the most pressing challenges faced by the children in the communities in which they work. By addressing these topics based on the personal experiences of the kids they work with, Kid Powered Media ensures that each lesson resonates deeply and helps each child deal with the challenges they face.

Once issues are identified and a curriculum is designed to educate the children on these issues, the team at Kid Powered Media takes the learning process one step further. KPM works with the children to identify the most salient issues brought up by the children, and the ones that need more attention and community engagement. The children then write, direct, and act in short and feature length films that address those issues. These films are projected onto the big screen in the various communities where KPM works, using Delhi’s first mobile movie theater – a KPM car fully equipped with projector, screen, and sound system for the authentic movie experience. With their bright lights and loud noises, the films are able to draw what Alex describes as a “critical mass” within the community, and in turn facilitates awareness and community engagement with the challenges faced by their children.

The core of Kid Powered Media’s impact and success is their kid-centric approach to community issues. By giving a voice to these children, KPM is able to spark discussion around key challenges faced by communities, and look at them through a fresh perspective. Their emphasis on storytelling allows these children to discuss issues they otherwise would avoid, and to look at the problems they face every day from an outsider perspective. It encourages them come up with an ending to the story, and thus a solution to the problems they face.

At the Health 2.0 India conference last month, we connected with Kid Powered Media Founder Alex Heywood and Program Coordinator Jessie Hodges for an exclusive YSTV interview to learn more about their initiative.

Find out more about Kid Powered Media online or connect with them on YS Pages.