Molded by Stories: How Clay Art Is Giving New Life to a Beloved Drama in Nepal

In Nepal’s Far West and Karnali provinces, stories once broadcast over radios are resurfacing — not just through soundwaves, but through sculpted clay, shadow puppetry, and shared community reflections. PMC-Nepal’s rebroadcast of its 208-episode radio drama Mai Sari Sunakhari (“Orchid Like Me”), originally aired from 2016 to 2018, has become something richer than a replay. It has become a new model for how entertainment-education can deepen its impact through participatory, community-centered engagement.

The rebroadcast launched in September 2023 across 10 districts, airing each 15-minute episode four times per week on ten community radio stations. But what set this project apart was everything that happened around the broadcast: listening clubs, shadow plays adapted from the storyline of Junimaya — a character facing child marriage — social media campaigns, school-based listening activities, and a celebrity YouTube chat show that brought the drama’s themes into mainstream conversation.

“In the Far West, where internet is limited, radio is still the most accessible tool — and these programs can truly drive transformation,” said one male listener from Dadeldhura.

Clay as Conversation: Making Stories Tangible

One of the most innovative components wasn’t part of broadcast. Included in the project’s qualitative evaluation, PMC-Nepal introduced clay art within Focus Group Discussions and Key Informant Interviews across six districts: Surkhet, Dailekh, Kalikot, Achham, Doti, and Dadeldhura.

“Clay art is a powerful tool for allowing participants to give meaning to their feelings and other expressions that are sometimes hard to interpret,” explained Rajan Parajuli, Country Director of PMC-Nepal. “It’s also a good tool for reflective exercises — we wanted our listeners to reflect on the drama and their lives.”

Each focus group included a participatory modeling activity where listeners created symbolic clay sculptures. These weren’t art projects — they were deeply personal stories, molded by the hands of people who had seen themselves in the characters they listened to. A bird in a cage reflected the loss of Junimaya’s independence after marriage. A flower represented her strength and resilience. A character named Upasana was sculpted to represent independent womanhood and self-confidence. A group of figures showed the power of community dialogue to prevent child marriage.

A female participant made a figure of a bird in a cage to represent Juni Maya, symbolizing how her independence was lost after marriage.

A female participant created a flower to represent Juni Maya’s strength and resilience. Despite her hardships, she moves forward with great willpower, like a flower.

A male participant created Upasana to represent a self-confident, independent woman who works hard, endures criticism, and builds her confidence without relying on others.

“Sometimes questions limit the scope of answers for participants,” Parajuli said. “Using clay art as a tool in the qualitative evaluation allowed people to reflect on impact the way they feel. It was particularly helpful for people who are hesitant to speak up in focus groups — and it helps adolescent girls and women to express more.”

What the Evaluation Revealed

The qualitative study found that Mai Sari Sunakhari had succeeded in its core mission: shifting behaviors and attitudes in the target communities. Listeners across the districts reported reduced acceptance of child marriage, greater support for girls’ education, improved gender dynamics within households, and more open discussions about family planning and reproductive health.

“I really like the show,” shared one woman from Dadeldhura. “Especially its message about the dangers of child marriage, which reflects my own experience — I was also married at a young age. Because of that, I already have two daughters, and since my eldest is now a young woman herself, the show has helped teach her how to avoid the same pitfalls I faced.”

Male participants engaged more actively in challenging gender norms, while women and girls felt more empowered to express their perspectives and participate in decision-making. “My neighbor’s sister reminds me of Upasana,” said a male listener in Doti. “She’s faced struggles with her husband and work but stays strong and keeps moving forward. From her story, I’ve learned I can also encourage my own sister to stay focused and resilient.”

A New Model

The clay art methodology gave PMC a novel evaluation tool — one that allowed communities to process and express change in tactile, symbolic ways that traditional survey instruments cannot capture. Combined with radio rebroadcast, shadow plays, digital content, and school-based listening, the project offers a model for how entertainment-education can evolve: meeting audiences across formats, deepening engagement through participatory methods, and producing evaluation insights that are as rich as the stories that inspired them.