Wadley is a young Nigerian girl who wants to go to school but like many Nigerian girls who grow up in poverty, she is told a formal education is simply not an option. Instead, she must make money by hawking wares on the streets. Whatever she makes will go to feed her family and eventually, marry her off. This is the narrative that EAI addresses through its partnership with Girl Rising, the global film campaign for girls’ education that was launched in 2013 and follows the lives of nine girls from developing countries who must overcome great obstacles to obtain an education and change their fates.

Wadley features in Da Bazar Mu (Our Pride and Joy), the Nigerian incarnation of Girl Rising, that uses country-specific details that EAI garnered from experts such as Save the Children’s Child Expert Dauda Mohammed and Saudat Abubakar, Nigerien Television Host and Voice of the BBC Radio Drama in Hausa. Broadcast to 80 million viewers of the AREWA24 TV channel, her story along with that of other girls from the Girl Rising film has sparked big changes in the community in favor of girls’ education, proving once again that stories can change lives.

“The Da Bazar Mu program has really entertained and educated me, especially the episode about Wadley. I thought she showed so much courage in her story. This motivated me to speak out on behalf of a neighbor whose situation was similar to that of Wadley’s. I pleaded with her parents to send their daughter to school and even made them watch the program, which led them to send her to school. They were really impressed with the program.” – Ummulkhairi from Katsina state, May 9, 2017

“A lot of people have sent their children to school thanks to watching the Da Bazar Mu program and we are very happy about that.”-March 29, 2017

“Da Bazar Mu has taught us a lesson and has inspired us to believe that those of us from the rural areas should send our female children to school to get an education, even though we never had the opportunity ourselves.”-  Abba Ibrahim from Bauchi State

EAI’s staff also worked with the community to produce six vignettes focused on six themes relating to the cultural norms in northern Nigeria. These featured Nigerian girls utilizing Nigerian-relevant narratives and actors that were presented by a girl producer, in yet another example of the importance of a community-led approach to content creation. Here is an excerpt of one those vignettes.