Media Products

Films on the Taru Entertainment-Education Project in India

		Taru Comes to Abirpur 10’ 33” This short film details the effects of listening to Taru, an entertainment-education radio soap opera, in Village Abirpur of India’s Bihar State, including the starting of a village school for underprivileged children, empowerment of young girls who now wish to delay marriage, finish their education, and work hand-in-hand with their male counterparts to bring about positive changes in their community.

		Taru Has Changed My Life 7’ 41” This short film details the remarkable story of 17-year old Vandana in Village Kamtaul of India’s Bihar State, who after listening to Taru, an entertainment-education radio soap opera, models her life after the serial’s main protagonist. Vandana speaks on behalf of young unmarried women in India’s Bihar villages, serving as an activist for gender equality.

		Our Script Our Show 12' 46'' Taru was a entertainment-education radio soap opera named after its key female protagonist and aired from February 2002 to February 2003. The weekly broadcast of the radio serial also included promotion of on-the-ground reproductive health clinics in 25,000 villages. Although serial dramas are not new to India's airwaves, the close partnership with a service provider that serves as a model in health care delivery in the storyline, provided a new framework for behaviors and actions promoted through the drama.

Three Films on Positive Deviance and Child Protection

		The first film, Reflections on Positive Deviance by Monique Sternin, offers a first-hand account of the philosophical and practical groundings of the Positive Deviance approach. Monique Sternin, co-pioneer of the PD approach and director of the Positive Deviance Initiative @ Tufts University offers her insights on topics such as underscoring the wisdom of ordinary people, the discovery of already existing solutions, the emphasis on practice, community ownership, the role of the facilitator, and relationship-building. Reflections on Positive Deviance by Monique Sternin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ad9suSYL6RU

		The second film, hinges on the wisdom of a Javanese proverb: “Let go of the tiger’s head, but hold on to the tail.” The Positive Deviance approach was piloted successfully by Save the Children in Gadungsari, a community of East Java in 2003 and has since been expanded to other nearby villages. The film shows some of the challenges young girls and their families face in order to make an honest living in rural Indonesia. Former Save the Children staff person, Titing Martini, and local government official Pak Kasmadi share their experiences with the project, highlighting the small, seemingly insignificant practices used by Positive Deviants that have made a difference in reducing girls’ trafficking from the project’s inception to the present. Let Go of the Tiger's Head, But Hold on to the Tail http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsvKaege0Cc

		The third film, The Music Catches Me and We Rise Again, is a field-based account of Positive Deviance as it was used in Northern Uganda to address the successful reintegration of formerly abducted child soldiers and vulnerable mothers after over 20 years of civil conflict. Upon escaping or being rescued from abduction, girls who had been victims of the treacherous acts of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) were faced with an unwelcome return into their former communities. In order to survive, many girls resorted to transactional sex. But amongst them there were outliers who did not. They are the Positive Deviants. In this film, girls and their mentors share the everyday practices and behaviors that helped them defeat the odds. The Music Catches Me and We Rise Again http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfu1Z4PuGFg