ChalkTalk: Talk by adolescents trends from heart of India

It was eight adolescents speaking about their self learning and how do they see sustainable development goals in reality in and around Itarsi in Hoshangabad, in central part of India.

The talk was live on Facebook on their page titled voice of children of Madhya Pradesh, You tube and live on twitter handle @anil5. This was held in Pathrota village which falls under Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh. 

Titled as #ChalkTalk, adolescents spoke their heart out on the theme of UN SDG or United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This was undertaken on Nov 19 as part of celebration of World Children's Day part of UNICEF's theme #kidstakeover where adolescents took their 'piece' on social media.

Sandeep Mehto of NGO Bharat Calling said: "Many of us may falter when we talk of SDGs on the exact numbers or what do they mean for us, but for these kids,they knew it. They are learning it by seeing them in and around their villages near Itarsi in Hoshangabad district, central part of India."

"The children are exploring realities of SDGs which impact children. We are working on SDG number 3,4, 5, 6, and 12, which directly impact children and are relevant in and around us."

"We with support from UNICEF Advocacy and Communication Unit has made them simple and understandable for adolescents," he said.

"It is a  journey in which all of us adolescents, we as NGO, UNICEF, communities and our leaders are part of it and contribute to it.

"Adolescents are raising issues to leaders around us," Mehto added.

The talk was titled by them as #ChalkTalk and was among top ten trends in India that day in India on twitter. This was part of work by UNICEF and Bharat Calling in Hoshangabad district to help make voices of adolescents visible.

Chalk Talk children went live on social networking sites, like You Tube, Twitter, and Facebook page. Eight of these children shared issues they are working on like clean water, and sanitation, responsible consumption and gender equality.

The children are termed as SDG Champions, One of the talks by SDG Champion Mohit emphasized on SDG Good health and well being. On the other side, Anamika spoke on Gender Equality and shared her experience on meeting the third gender and urged everyone to meet them at least once in their lifetime.

"We were able to motivate people in the locality to get united for cleanliness and we were successful in coordination with the Municipal corporation and now we have a garbage collection van at the doorstep," she said.

Excited Mehul shared his experience on Clean water and sanitation which has a strong component of leadership. In a similar way Saurabh and Shivangi spoke about different SDGs and their action program along with personal transformation.

Anil Gulati, Communication Specialist, UNICEF, Madhya Pradesh who was with adolescents,who conceived this idea with the team of young people said that Chalk Talk was a platform for children to share their views on the efforts they are putting on issues which impact them and on the eve of world children's day, which talks of action by children for children.

"The team consisting of designer Kokila Bhattacharya, You Tuber Akash Nema,Photographer Varun Namdev, Abhishek and Satish with adolescents who were champions, NGO Bharat Calling, and UNICEF made this happen," shared Sandeep Mehto.  

Jaskaran Singh, digital strategist, social media expert who supported this talk, said Bhopal or Madhya Pradesh does not trend in social media often in India, but something so simple, positive,yet powerful, from rural Madhya Pradesh, trended, which was fascinating to see.

#Chalktalk rocked and hopes this will continue.