Equal Tasks, Equal Dreams
La Unión Norte, El Salvador | Equal Tasks, Equal Dreams - Calapa Unidos | 2025
¡Hola!
We are Calapa Unidos, a youth movement challenging gender norms that limit girls' opportunities. In 2025, we launched our second campaign: "At home, we all share household tasks equally." Guided by evidence showing that 83.4% of girls aged 9-14 regularly perform household tasks while 47.7% of people believe girls should only attend school if not needed at home. That’s when we knew that we had to spark conversations about shared responsibility so girls have equal time for play, study, and dreams.
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17 to 24 years old
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The Right-Sized Problem
Household tasks are traditionally assigned more to girls aged 9 to 17, limiting their time for study, play, and personal development. This inequality reinforces gender stereotypes that prevent girls from reaching their full potential. Without family-level intervention, these patterns perpetuate across generations.
What We Did
Over four months, we brought our message directly to families across nine districts through community events, creative storytelling, and national media outreach.
Offline Impact
Community Family Events: Delivered nine family engagement events reaching 573 people directly, using interactive activities to promote reflection on equitable task distribution. Families participated in creating "Pelusín," our campaign character made from wool and glue, sparking non-confrontational conversations about household responsibilities.
Pelusín Educational Story: Used storytelling to convey key messages through our campaign character, making the issue relatable for children and adults. Participants reflected that "household tasks should not fall solely on girls, but should be shared among everyone in the household."
Women's Soccer Tournament Integration: Reached 169 additional people by incorporating campaign activities into a community women's soccer tournament on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
Campaign Jingle & Choreography: Created an original song and dance that reinforced messages about shared responsibility, performed at community events and broadcast on local radio.
Family Household Task Planners: Distributed 375 planners plus 1,330 promotional items (t-shirts, caps, umbrellas, posters) featuring campaign messages, giving families practical tools to organise responsibilities equitably.
Online & Media Impact
Social Media Campaign: Reached 71,450 people across Facebook and Instagram with 147,581 views, 3,018 reactions, and 171 shares through 24 posts showcasing campaign activities and messages.
National Radio Coverage: Broadcast campaign jingle 135 times on local radio stations (La Fabulosa and Limeña), reaching an estimated 100,000-185,000 people over 15 consecutive days.
Television & Radio Interviews: Shifters served as spokespersons on regional television program Buenos Días Oriente and local radio stations, reaching audiences across eastern El Salvador with messages about shared family responsibility.
Campaign Impact
771 people directly engaged through community family events across nine districts
285,000+ people reached through radio and television media coverage
14 youth Shifters (9 girls, 5 boys) strengthened leadership, communication, and advocacy skills
Initial attitudinal changes evidenced by families expressing willingness to question traditional practices and review family agreements about household task distribution
Words from the community
One father, Hugo, reflected:
As a father, I see that boys today are part of household activities and are trying to implement and join in sharing household tasks and taking more initiative to support the activities that their mothers normally did."
A mother, Patricia, noted:
"The focus of the campaign is very important; it is what happens in our homes, as it focuses on the fact that we should all collaborate in household tasks."
Camila, 12-year-old Shifter:
"At home, we learn that household tasks should not be left to just one person, but that everyone can share the household tasks. Participating in SHIFT makes me feel that my voice is heard and that my opinions matter too. I can express my ideas without fear, listen to others, and join our voices together to achieve something greater."
Genesis, 13-year-old Shifter:
"One of the most important promotional tools is the family household tasks planner, because it allows us to organize ourselves better. Our campaign is aimed at parents and caregivers, because they are the ones who manage everyone's time at home, and it is important that this can be done equally. When we believe in ourselves and work together, we can transform our families, our community, and the future."
Guadalupe, Representative, Mayor's Office of San José de la Fuente:
"I would like to congratulate the Shifters for designing thi”s wonderful campaign, from which we have learned a lot. One of the things I have taken away and learned, and which I take as a commitment, is to divide household tasks equally between my daughter and my son. According to their age, both can participate and collaborate with us at home."
This story was lovingly curated by the SHIFT team with the help of Claude (Anthropic) based on submitted source materials from our Fun Adults and Shifters.
