ABSTRACT

The local women—miners' wives in the poorest part of town—were subject to constant pregnancies. They often told midwives they were not happy with this, and were distressed at the thought of another mouth to feed. They were expected to turn up in droves for the clinic's free contraception and the peace of mind it could bring them. The primary problem had been to get contraceptives to the women. An oral history project uncovered the simple obstacle that was keeping the women from the help they needed. This chapter presents a really vivid understanding of the sheer diversity of oral history projects being used to improve public programs locally and globally. It focuses on how narrators' solutions were also scaled up and applied elsewhere, in cycles of generative learning that spread policy solutions to other settings too. The chapter focuses on six escalating levels of influence that oral history can have on public policy.