Unfortunately, even a highly developed country like the US isn’t strange to inner-city youths suffering because of poverty, murder, and drug abuse. Every ten seconds someone reports a case of child abuse. More alarming than this is the fact that such neglected kids are about nine times more likely to get involved in criminal activities after they reach their teen years.

But how can one help such marginalized communities overcome these barriers? Activism, school funding, investing in programs that bring opportunities to kids, informing citizens through different campaigns represent good ideas, but they don’t seem to be enough. How about using empathy as a strategy to make people aware of this issue? Would it work? If you are in any doubt, take a look at the current Youth Ambassadors‘ (YA) campaign.

Joining forces with global digital advertising and marketing company VML, the NGO created a book that features bedtime stories narrated by underprivileged kids,  Welcome to My Neighborhood.

The pro bono project introduces the reader to a strange combination of fluffy cartoon characters surrounded by real-life traumas. While the cover illustration depicts a joyful scene in which a kitten, a mouse, and a bunny are holding hands in a childhood dance, a series of details, placed at the corners of the image, pose as chilling clues about the book’s content.

This week’s #ThrowBrandThursday guides you through three different stories, all with a strong emotional message that will echo in your mind for some time. Inspired by real stories narrated by kids, the book’s lines reveal a dark world, in which children face drug abuse, domestic violence, and hunger.

The first tale shows a little mouse living with fear because of its ‘crack-head’ stepfather. The next one shows a kitten pretending to be full, giving its food to its mother. The last story shows a bunny getting sad because all of its three brothers go to prison. Not an ordinary kid’s book, is it?

The book lists children as authors, but it is not intended to be read to or by them. Actually, each of the vignettes was written in order to give adults a wake-up call. “If you can’t read that to your children, how can we allow them to live it?” asked Paige O’Connor, Executive Director of the Ambassadors.

The campaign was created to target policymakers, civic leaders, government agencies, and educators, and unfolded in front of their eyes in the form of a printed publication. Along with the disturbing colored stories, the organization kindly asked the audience to make efforts to end the kids’ horror by donating time, money, and, why not, power.

With zero media budget, the award-winning campaign had more than 50 million impressions, was mentioned in 30 media outlets, and most importantly, has led to an increase of up to 85% in the YA’s attendance rates. “This is exactly what I need to help my education initiative,” said Sly James, Mayor of Kansas City.

It only takes five minutes to read the book, which you can download from here, but it can help to change a life. Not to mention, the Kansas-based agency created individual videos for each of the stories: “The Good Man,” “Dinner Time,” and “My Big Brothers.” The one-minute-long videos feature illustrations from the book, while a kid’s voice narrates over the sound of a lullaby. It triggers empathy quite easily in each of us, giving a full sense of the experiences deprived youths have to endure on a daily basis.

Credits:

Client: Youth Ambassadors KC

Agency: VML Kansas City