The document describes a Design For Change project carried out by children from Hyderabad to raise awareness about the problems of gutka consumption and cigarette smoking. Over the course of several meetings, the children brainstormed problems in their community, developed a play to educate others, and performed their play at a local school and at Golconda Fort, attracting audiences of 50-100 people. Despite challenges in coordinating their efforts and initial nerves about performing, the children successfully brought awareness to these issues in their community through their play.

1. ‘The Red Poison’
DFC at HCHW, Tolichowki, Hyderabad

2. Kids :
K Shiva 13 yrs
D Raju 13 yrs
K Sai Kumar 12 yrs
A Teja Kumar 11 yrs
Mallikarjun Ready 14 yrs
Jahangir Pasha 12 yrs
Ganesh Kumar 11 yrs
B Praveen 13 yrs
S Sai Prakash 12 yrs
P Prashanth 14 yrs
A Shiva Kumar 15 yrs
K Suryam 13 yrs
Mentors :
Isha Gupta 9703082294
Spatika 9603919945
Gaurav Tamrakar 9642508693
Sahil Arora 9701355960
Ankur Gupta 8008202787
Satish Karibandi 9989541303
Madhulika Gurazada 9000840831
Padmaja Chinta 9703805276
Sindhu Vasireddy 9642493669
Anupam Bansal 8008209595
Mohammed Yazer Khan 8374307375
Mayank 9581330033

3. Problem : Gutka Comsumption and Cigarette Smoking
HCHW kids ready to take the DFC ride
Sept 03, 11’ Week 1, Day 1(Saturday):
Setting the Vision
The introduction of DFC (Design For Change) and of what we were all headed to in the coming few weeks required a
demonstration much similar to the one that describes the dynamics of the airplane flight. It meant as if explaining a
scenario somewhat like - the earth had caught fire and we all needed to learn how to fly to elude this fire. In fact we’re
all gradually burning up in the fire of problems, big or small, in our own worlds. We explained them that a problem can
be as small as a bite of the mosquito or as big as Child Labor. We helped them understand that any problem, if
properly dealt with, can be solved. We meant to explain that our ideas are the fuel, the determination our thrust, and
we don’t need the wings to fly. But all this couldn’t be explained in the way I’ve done here. So, to exemplify, we asked
them to IMAGINE that they were the magicians who had all the power in the world to do anything they wished, to be
able do anything that could make a difference to their lives and others’. When we told them that it was a competition at
a really big level and they could win a lot of exiting prizes, we were all up and ready for it as if suggesting that they
were all ready for the flight. So, we asked them all to come up with their problems irrespective of whether they seemed
difficult to be solved or not.
Sept 04, 11’ Week 1, Day 2(Sunday) :
Below is the list of some problems that they came up with.
Problem : Prashanth took the initiative to talk about concerns like air
pollution, water pollution, the use of plastic bags and population. He talked about the causes of water and air
pollution; the different methods to save water. Then, he illustrated the harmful effects of the use of plastic bags.
Observation : His problems may have been very generic, but the manner in which he explained
everything suggested that he really wanted to bring about the change.
Problem : Prashanth again… He talked about the improper functioning of the govt. schools and
hospitals. He explained how the irresponsible and casual attitude of teachers towards students is affecting their
education.
Observation : He was well heard by all other kids as if they too were strongly with him on this one.

4. Problem : Suryam also talked about the problems of water pollution,
air pollution and sound pollution. He then talked about the deforestation and its effects such as global warming.
Observation : He had a unique perception of how deforestation is caused.
Problem : Suryam again… He talked about the improper drainage (leak in pipes) near their hostel
which causes contamination of drinking water. He also talked about the problems withhanging electricity pole
wires in their locality causing fire in the trees.
Observation : We found him talking about problems closely related to them and their living. It was good to
see that he like some of the others came up with a problem in which he himself was one of the major stakeholders.
Problem : Suryam again… He talked about the animal extinction. He also talked a little
about improper vaccination of street dogs roaming in their locality and how this affected the people over there.
Observation : Surprisingly, his solutions to the problems were amazing. He even talked about preserving the
DNA of different species to prevent their extinction.
Problem : Sai Prakash – The naughtiest of all. He spoke about the
burden he experienced in studies and the amount of homework given; the length of answers that the required to write
in exams. His main concerns was irregularity and lack of sincerity of teachers; classes not conducted properly and
regularly causing a lot of burden in the form of homework leaving no room for self-study.
Observation : He mentioned that they had already complained about the attitude of students and have raised
their concern to the Principal but nothing was done.
Problem : Sai Prakash again… He talked about the kids who were adopted and were not treated properly
by giving some examples of his friends.
Observation : He wanted them to come back but found himself helpless.
Problem : Shravan Ganesh and Praveen came up with some
random ideas like rich should help poor.
Observation : We wished we could discuss everything with them in details, but the time had to allow us to do
that.

5. Problem : Shiva came up with the idea of stopping consumption
of drugs by children. He even apprised us of the fact a few boys were addicted of pan masalas and other harmful
drugs by boys in streets and in schools also.
Observation : He stressed upon spreading awareness among boys and stop this somehow.
Problem : Teja came up with a very honest problem that in winters
they feel cold… that the clothes and blankets available are not enough and that in summers he felt very hot. :)
Observation : He is generally very shy. But looking at the other kids speak, he too gained some confidence.
Some of us may not have understood a word (don’t know Telugu) of what they said except a few words of Suryam
when he talked about the red blood cells, the solid nitrogen and the DNA… OMG! but we never gave an impression that
we did not. It was important that they felt that they were heard by all of us.
It was an amazing first week of interaction with all the kids as we now look forward to having even more fun in the
coming days.
A Surprising Saturday
We were a little circumspect about whether the kids remembered anything about DFC discussed in the previous
weekend or not, if a break of 5 week days had eroded the soils of the very foundation we laid. I realized how much
self-motivation was needed to then motivate these little hearts and to persuade them to keep working to make a
difference. But much to our surprise, we found a lot of kids already pumped up and raring to take off. No
sooner than we asked them about whether they had any ideas of dealing with the problem that they
came up with their ideas of awareness like making posters, doing a small play(Nukkad Natika) and even
awareness through media. Satish went on listing all these ideas and more while we were left amazed at
our discovery that they had thought it through the problem much more than anybody of us(volunteers)
there. After a really good and effective session of brainstorming, we asked the kids to start working on the play, if
possible(it was already 8pm in the evening), so that we had something to start over quickly on Sunday.
A physically exhausting but a mentally refreshing Sunday
All MAD classes in Hyderabad were cancelled due to Ganesh Visarjan activities. But we realized that we were going to
fall short of the set deadlines and could not afford to play the waiting game here. On a Sunday when 6 volunteers
would have turned up in case of a usual class, instead 8 volunteers turned up to spend their holiday in helping
coordinate with the DFC activities. With the only week left ahead for the implementation phase, it meant that we only
had that one day of time to fulfill all prerequisites of execution.

6. Here we go
Bleary eyed Satish and I made it to the center at around 10:30 to find that all the others had already made it. We were
very curious to know if the kids had started preparing for the play. When we asked them about it, they begged for a 10
minute discussion among themselves before they could show us something they prepared. They were all too excited
about it which made us feel happy and relieved that they had done some homework. But we knew that it was not an
easy thing to do to be able to effectively communicate the message. After about 15-20 minutes when they were ready,
we asked them to show what all they had prepared, if anything. Although they made a lot of mistakes initially, some
were too shy and others unclear about how to follow up, but to our astonishment yet again, we found their play very
wonderfully laid out and really good to be worked upon easily. Though it took them around 40 minutes to complete all
their scenes after all sorts of confusions but it gave us a fairly good picture of what message they meant to convey with
their act. Their initial act was followed by many rounds of practice and inputs from almost all volunteers to improvise.
Breakfast cum Lunch
It was 2 pm and the status of our stomachs wasn’t good. And more importantly, the status of the DFC implementation
preparations wasn’t good either. I had 4 pieces of Milk Bikis biscuit at least, Satish told me that he hadn’t even have a
single drop of water down his throat since the morning. Eventually, we all had our breakfast cum lunch at Subway. As
Gaurav realized that the job at hand couldn’t be left unfinished, he along with Satish and I made an important decision
of staying back with the kids to continue with the preparations after we were over with our subs at Subway.
Putting the act together
Not only did the situation demanded us to work harder but more importantly, we were going to make the students do
the same. Consequently, we didn’t find all of them active in the proceeding sessions of practice as some got casual
about it and some were tired. So, I tried to step up and help them recall and rediscover who the stakeholders were and
how big was the stage and that the voice couldn’t be left unheard. But as I found all this too difficult to convey, Satish
stepped in to complement with his conversation in Telugu with them. Gaurav and I had no idea of what he was telling
them, but we could easily discover the change that his conversation with them made to their attitudes. They were all
pumped up again and made serious attempts to improvise as suggested by us. As the number of mistakes started
coming down, the initial 40 minute play was refined to a 10 minute wonderfully depicted drama.
So, we ended up spending nearly 10 hours with the kids on a Sunday which is equivalent to more than a month’s
classes for a volunteer, making it 5 times the usual fun. In fact, I realize that we did need to go an extra mile here and
all this would be worth down the line.
These were the questions that we all left unanswered on Sunday :
- Will we be able to do something about the posters?
- Will we be able to implement the awareness campaign at schools?
- Will the principal give us the permission to hold the play?
- Will the students be able to perform under pressure due to nervousness?
Monday(12-Sep-2011) – The Turning Point
The kids were up for a surprise on Monday courtesy – the restlessness and anxiety of both Satish and Gaurav. Both of
them surprised the kids by turning up on the Monday night itself sending out a message to everybody else that it was
high time that all of us pulled up our socks. The purpose of their visit on Monday was to get an update on the posters

7. and the play rehearsals. The kids were watching the movie when they (Gaurav and Satish) entered but by now it was
time for their turn to surprise both of them. As per the last discussion with kids, we had asked them to come up
with 3 posters to start with, so that more could be worked on later taking the reference. But the kids came up
with 9 beautiful posters instead of just 3 depicting their pursuit of excellence and their eagerness to get
going. This marked the end of preparations and the beginning of the execution.
Implementation(DO) Phase 1 – Government High School, Manikonda(13thSep)
We knew that we couldn’t wait till the weekend for the implementation and there were reasons aplenty for such
thoughts. Besides there were hurdles of apprehensions and uncertainties about whether all the efforts put would reap
something or not. So, we(Satish, Gaurav and I) managed to take some time out of our office hours to visit the kids’
schools. Now, how we managed to escape the office work may just be unimportant but what was very important at
that stage was our meetings with the Principals of the schools. Fortunately, we got the permission to hold the kids’ play
in Govt. High School the same day itself. Out of the team of 10 kids participating in the play, 7 of them study in
Pratibha School. So, this meant that it all now was dependent on our meeting with the Principal of Pratibha School. Not
only did we have to take the permission for holding the play in that school, but also that those 7 kids be allowed to be
taken to the other school for the play there. Though we were asked to wait for 30 minutes before we could meet the
Principal of Pratibha School, but it all went well after that. We were allowed to take the kids with us to the other school
and to hold the play on the coming Saturday. As we escorted the kids to the other school, all of them got pumped up. A
short introduction of what the kids were up to followed by a 15 minute wonderfully laid out play lifted all of us present
there.Despite no final rehearsals, they had not forgotten a single line in the play. Technically, there were
no discoverable pauses in their speech; they were loud enough to be clear and acted brilliantly. Personally,
I felt very confident and proud. They showed it to us there that they were ready for bringing about the
change and that they were ready to do the play at other places too.

8. Implementation(DO) Phase 2 – Golconda Fort (17thSep Most Challenging Day)
With the Telangana Bandh in Hyderabad, it was almost certain that we were going to be left helpless. We missed the
opportunity of implementing the play in Pratibha School on Saturday. But the unforeseen proved to be a blessing in
disguise. As the idea of doing it in a public place such as Golconda Fort was given birth, the students were up for this
challenge. But this was going to be much more challenging. In school, things can be kept under control, with authority
and easily so, while in a public place such as Golconda Fort, it was different. Primarily, for students it meant that they
had a wide variety of audience to cover there and I was sure that this aspect was going to play its part here by making
them a little nervous. Secondly, there was a possibility of some people getting offended as most people in that region
were consumers of Gutka. For both these hurdles to be crossed, it was important that the kids put up a really good
show. I wasn’t sure about them(the kids), but by then I was very clear in my mind that had I been one of them, I
would have been horrible. But then, good things happen to good people. And these kids were much more than just
‘good’. At a place like Golconda, where people would generally be interested in the history of the place, they were
rather finding their play interesting. By putting up the play in a louder(typically Nukkad Natak) tone, they
managed to attract a good amount of attendance. We got a really good response from the audience. While
some were pleased to see the drawings on the chart papers, most of the others appreciated the effort of the kids by
their spells of applauses. As we were getting late for the Saturday class, the kids did a quick rally on their way
outside the Fort. And this way by covering almost half of Golkonda Fort with Skit ( 5-6 times ) and a rally we
managed to create awareness among people ( 6 years to 80yr)
And this marked the successful completion of the project "The Red Poison".
Photo Album Link
http://s1213.photobucket.com/albums/cc476/mad_hchw/The%20Red%20Poison/