Mayu's Storybook Collaboration by ami duet
Back in March, Vera Aqua Vera Vita (VAVV) completed a collaboration project with Viz for Social Good who provided many aesthetic, impactful, and interactive data visualizations for VAVV’s work in the Piura Region. That is why when two individuals in the Viz for Social Good community reached out to VAVV’s Founder and Executive Director Jacob Niemeier wanting to do more, VAVV was beyond delighted to have them continue the work with their own spin!
Anne-Marie Dufour and Inbal Rief or, as they have coined themselves, the ami duet, have designed and created a new educational website for understanding the water crisis in Piura, mainly following the fictional life of a young girl named Mayu who is from the community of Cerro de Leones in the Piura Region.
The duet had unique ideas on how to make an impact, quite different from earlier Viz for Social Good projects.
“Our idea was to visualize the story of seven communities and VAVV activity in a coloring book style, with educative illustrations.”
The ami duet chose to do this by following and explaining the difficulties in Mayu’s life - from missing school because of hours spent retrieving water to being sick due to that water’s contamination - all in a way that is easily accessible and digestible.
The page is geared towards youth much like Mayu, using many images, simple language, and definitions for more complex words and phrases. It also highlights all 7 communities VAVV will be serving over the next couple of years and includes printable coloring books for each community each with data specific to the community, so that the youth have the option for a more interactive experience that can be brought into the classroom or a youth group. The data portrayed in these dynamic illustrations was pulled from the comprehensive assessment surveys VAVV had administered to understand the needs, evaluate the problems, and prioritize in what order each community will be served.
The hope is that down the line, this webpage and the coloring books will be translated into multiple languages for a global campaign giving youth and teachers the resources to be educated on these important, life-threatening issues all while inspiring changemakers.
Additionally, the page will be constantly updated with the most current information about VAVV’s work in each community; as work is completed for a community a new section of that community’s image will be colored in and animated on the website, creating an evolving and interactive site. The best part is that the interactive website has something to offer everyone, not just the youth!
“We hope to color many wonderful communities by spreading awareness of the global water crisis and helping VAVV reach their goals,” the ami duet wrote on the new webpage. “Join us, we are just getting started.”
VAVV owes a huge thanks to the ami duet for volunteering their time and talent to help visualize the need for clean water, and the path to its solutions. Learn how to get more involved in putting the global water crisis in the history books here!
Like the designs on the website? Need help visualizing data for a good cause? The ami duet is your team. Contact them at theamiduet@gmail.com or in any of the social accounts linked above.
