Team Sparrow: Raising awareness about child abuse
Team Sparrow is a social awareness generation project initiated by Adib Ahsan in September 2018. He graduated from UNITAR International University, Malaysia, this year. He came up with the concept for the project as a part of a social awareness creation programme at the university. "Child rape and abuse cases fueled my passion to work for this cause," shared Adib.
Team Sparrow has partnered up with My Body Is My Body, an organisation based in the UK, which produces online tutorials for children on different abuse prevention topics, as their ambassador. Adib and his team use the programme modules of My Body Is My Body for their campaigns.
The idea behind Team Sparrow's initiative revolves around discussing topics such as good touch, bad touch, physical abuse, consent and privacy, among many others, subtly through different events. These include a carnival with games and fun activity booths for children, parents and teachers. At the carnival, children can play animation videos on a large central screen, followed by an interactive quiz. During the quiz, they are asked ten questions after each video and are rewarded with prizes if their answers are correct. "The system of prizes ensures the children's involvement and complete attention towards the content," added Adib. The team arranged their first campaign in Tadika Genius Disayang, a Malaysian primary school, in October 2018.
They also organised an awareness campaign for students of UNITAR International University. It consisted of a 45-minute talk by individuals from shelter homes who work for victims of child abuse. "They shared many stories and taught us how we can help our younger siblings to prevent incidents of abuse," explained Adib.
Team Sparrow's campaigns in Bangladesh started from December 2018. Adib, along with his team, conducted a workshop at Local Education and Economic Development Organisation (LEEDO)'s shelter, Peace Home, in Washpur Garden City. LEEDO carries the mission of rescuing destitute children from the streets and placing them in their shelter, or reuniting them with their families. Many children at Peace Home have been exposed to abuse.
In April of this year, Adib and his team organised a carnival at Penfield School in Lalmatia, with 150 students from kindergarten to the fifth grade. The team also held two partnership events, an autism awareness day rally and a cultural programme, with Adib's mother's organisation, Society for Rehabilitation of Autistic Children. With more than 50 young volunteers in Bangladesh, Team Sparrow is well connected to current discussions revolving around child abuse. Their next carnival will be held in early October.