SID-US selects a Creative video as a Lightning Talk winner, 2 others receive honorable mention

By Michael J. Zamba

A video about engaging early grade readers in Pakistan through a comic-book style supplemental reading guide was selected as one of three winners in a contest run by the Society of International Development—US during its annual conference May 26.

The video, written and narrated by Creative’s Nadya Karim-Shaw, highlights how the USAID-funded Pakistan Reading Project tried a new way to reach readers ages 9 and 10, particularly girls. They produced a series of comic books focuses on fictional characters, Sheeba, and three private detectives (two girls and a boy with a backpack).

By investigating community issues, the team (along with a donkey and a dog) take readers through history, geography and other topics. Released in 2018, the series had more than 2 million readers, said Karim-Shaw, a Senior Technical Advisor at Creative. Sheeba and the Private Detectives was produced through the Pakistan Reading Program in cooperation with AzCorp.

SID-US sought submissions of “Lightning Talk” videos about a topic or issue related to global development, with each video running no longer than five minutes. Karim-Shaw’s video was one of three selected by SID-US judges as finalists, which were shown during the organization’s Washington, D.C., conference on May 26. In addition to Creative, a video by FHI360’s Habtamu Buli and a piece by Abt Associates’ Sarah Romorini and Yuliya Rakhimova were selected as finalists.

Two additional Lightning Talk videos by Creative were selected as honorable mentions and featured on the SID-US Lightning Talk page. Mariellen Jewers, Associate Director of Creative’s Center for Migration, presented a video called “Virtuous Migration,” and Yasmina Sarhrouny, Chief of Party in Burkina Faso, entered a film called “Dance of the Telegrams.”

SID-US (formerly SID-Washington) is the largest and most active chapter of the Society for International Development (SID), an international network founded in 1957 to serve as a global forum dedicated to sustainable economic, social and political development. Creative is a member of SID-US.

See videos below:

“Sheeba and the Private Detectives” by Nadya Karim-Shaw

“Virtuous Migration” by Mariellen Jewers

“Dance of the Telegrams” by Yasmina Sarhrouny