CENTRAL AMERICAN GIRLS
PROBLEM
We believe that the more people are exposed to the real, human tragedies behind these headlines, the more likely people would be indifferent about this policy and the less likely it would happen again. We needed to do it in a way that would cut through so much clutter and heated rhetoric. We needed people to look at this issue through the eyes of a child.
SOLUTION
The family separation policy enforced by the US government in 2018 created a chaotic situation at the US-Mexico border and a severely traumatic experience for thousands of people, many of them children. In a tumultuous political climate with heated debates over immigration policy and a sea of polarized news reports it was hard to hear the voices of the victims and what they have to say. This was an issue that mattered to and appalled millions of Americans, but it was one that carved deep in the hearts of the Latinx community. We felt the need to do something about it.
CREATIVE
We took inspiration by the wholesome storytelling style from a popular doll brand and we created four doll characters based on four real girls from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, who got separated from their families at the border: Adayanci Pérez, Daneli Villanueva, Leidi Monroy and Helen Godinez. We were able to keep track and document their journeys through the news and through the report of non-profit organizations that were helping these families reunite. We created stories like their trip from their country of origin to the US border, the time they got separated from their families, their experiences at the detention center, the immigration courts, etc. So instead of the happy, picture-perfect scenes you expect to see from a doll, you learn about the harsh reality that these real children had to face.
These stories lived at @CentralAmericanGirl. In addition, we designed an audiovisual exhibit where visitors could learn these stories through to the narrations of four little girls of a similar age as Adayanci, Daniel, Heidi and Helen.
