MATERNAL HEALTH
DRY
A social-impact film platform that helped bring child marriage, obstetric fistula, girls' rights and maternal health into public and policy conversations.
Pillar 04
Storytelling for Social Change
Stories can make hidden issues visible, deepen understanding and move audiences from emotion to informed action.
Our Difference
Film is not the end product.
It is one tool inside a wider social-impact intervention.
Extended Hands connects storytelling with screenings, education, facilitated discussion, advocacy, public campaigns and research so a story has a pathway to action.
Our Model
Story → Conversation → Understanding → Action → Learning
Every impact campaign is designed around what we want audiences and institutions to understand or do differently.
DRY Trailer
A story built to travel beyond the screen.
DRY became a platform for conversations about obstetric fistula, maternal health, child marriage and girls' rights.
The film's impact work included screenings and stakeholder engagement in Africa and internationally.
From Screen to Policy
A film that helped move a national conversation.
Following a high-level screening of DRY in The Gambia attended by the country's Vice President and other leaders, the film became part of the advocacy environment around ending child marriage.
Extended Hands uses film deliberately: not simply for awareness, but to bring communities, policymakers and institutions into the same conversation and create conditions for action.
DRY in Schools
Taking the conversation directly to young people.
These photographs document a school screening of DRY in Borno State, where students watched the film together as part of the Foundation's impact outreach.
Impact Platforms
Stories connected to real social issues.
Some platforms build on work already delivered; others are being developed for future impact campaigns.
TRAFFICKING PREVENTION
The Truth About Happiness
A film-led anti-trafficking platform designed around youth engagement, screenings, safe-migration education, digital prevention and research.
WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP
When Women Were Counted
A future history and leadership impact platform connecting women's historical agency with education, dialogue and contemporary leadership.
From Screening to Action
Watch. Discuss. Understand. Connect. Act.
A screening should not end when the credits roll.
Facilitated discussions, educational resources, referral information, community dialogue and research can turn a viewing experience into a structured social-impact intervention.
Selected DRY Impact Journey
From cinema to communities and decision-makers.
Selected milestones documented in the Foundation's DRY impact record.
2016ZambiaScreening for leaders and policymakers.
2016GambiaHigh-level screening attended by the Vice President and other leaders; part of the advocacy momentum around ending child marriage.
2017CongoPrivate screening marking the International Day to End Obstetric Fistula.
2017New YorkScreening and strategic meetings during the 72nd UN General Assembly.
2018AccraScreening commemorating the International Day to End Obstetric Fistula.
2018LouisianaDillard University screening and lecture during Ray Charles Week.
2019SokotoScreening for traditional, religious, policy and women leaders.
2019BornoSecondary-school screening in Maiduguri.
Development Support
UNDP supported the development phase of When the Women Were Counted.
In 2025, Extended Hands Charity Foundation received support from the United Nations Development Programme toward the research and creative development of the historical feature film.
The support helped establish a strong foundation for the project's next phase.
Evidence
Can storytelling actually change what people understand?
The Extended Hands Institute can study audience knowledge and attitudes before and after selected impact campaigns, helping us move beyond vague claims of “awareness.”
01BeforeEstablish a baseline.
02WatchExperience the story.
03DiscussFacilitate reflection.
04AfterMeasure change.
05Follow UpTest whether change lasts.
06ImproveUse learning in the next campaign.
Stories for Change