"Paddy field is greener than before. Our income from chicken raising and selling has also improved. Coffee beans are  strong and plentiful. Though being discouraged sometimes when chickens died in a large number or when the coffee trees are killed by frost, but we have learn a lot of  new and useful  things…”

      All of the above stories will be re-told by the villagers of Muoi Noi and Bon Phang Communes after three years of participating in the project. The stories are going to be compiled and documented by SRD in the next two months. Let’s wait for these stories!

      From August 27 to August 30, in order to guide the community to write the storyline of their families and their own after three years of joining the project, SRD held four discussions and exchanges with 65 people (54 women, 11 men) who are representatives of the villagers in 8 project villages of Muoi Noi and Bon Phang Communes, Thuan Chau district, Son La province. This is one of the activities in the process of documenting the results of the project “Agro-biodiversity conservation and development for poor communities in response to climate change - Son La Province - VM059”, which is funded by Bread for the World and Manos Unidas.

     During the guidance and discussion hours, the expert and the community shared their views on the concepts of change and change in development, on the structure on which a story be based, and on some notes to remember when writing story. They also spent a large amount of time to practice writing and sketching their own stories on the day of the discussion. Lots of laughter, active and enthusiastic participation of both experts and the villagers created interesting discussions and sharing. The stories that the villagers write themselves will be collected and aggregated after 15 days. The expert and staff of SRD will give comments to the villagers to complete the stories and will compile into preliminary documents, supplement information/illustrations, organise the meeting to get comments from the villagers and the partners in Son La before printing.

     Due to the discussions and instructions being carried out under the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the SRD Centre strictly followed the regulations on the number of participants (only 15 to 20 people per meeting) and fully equipped medical masks, antiseptic water for the entire participants.

      The following are some pictures taken during the discussion and instructions for writing stories of change.

An overview of the instruction

Discussion in groups and practicing on how to write stories of change