Children Lead the Way

Children Lead The Way

Child Centered Community Development (CCCD) in Action

Child Participation Groups in Guinea Bissau

Some comments on ChildPro from community members in Bafata and Gabu, Guinea Bissau:

“It is as though we have been in another world, since the children started their GPI activities .”

Mother of a GPI member, Canssamba, Guinea Bissau.

“It is as though we were on a long and difficult journey and the children have come along and carried us for a large part of the way .” Elder, Geba, Guinea Bissau.

“It is as though the children have just helped us leap over a large number of problems in the community and brought us out on the other side .” Father of a GPI member, Cans- samba, Guinea Bissau.

“50 years of NGOs have not obtained these results .” GPI Facilitator, Geba, Guinea Bissau.

Page 1 Preface

At the beginning of the liberation struggle the founder of the movement for Guinean independence, Amilcar Cabral, proclaimed: “The children are the main flowers of our struggle. They are what we are fighting for”.

After independence the flowers Amilcar Cabral dreamt of flourished. They in turn now struggle to support their grandchildren (Aliu, Fatumata and others ). These are the very children who have chosen to take part in Child Participation Groups.

The Child Participation Group Project aims to create space where children can express their opinions and participate actively in issues related to their own lives. In so doing the children make valuable contributions to the communities to which they belong and prepare themselves for responsible citizenship based on respect for human rights, democracy, non-violence and gender equity.

In a country like Guinea Bissau where children under the age of 18 constitute more than two thirds of the population, creating space for the active participation of this part of the community and taking their contributions on issues related to them into account, is imperative.

Plan International in Guinea-Bissau, as a child centered development organisation, has tried to introduce approaches that allow Guinean children, more specifically the children from regions of Bafata and Gabu, to find space to enjoy, practise and experience the full responsibilities of citizenship.

The results have exceeded all expectations. More than simple participation, the children have increasingly committed themselves as instruments for the development of their own communities by initiating and developing a number of activities leading to the creation of better living conditions. It is important to stress that it is the children themselves who are the main agents of change within their own communities as they participate actively in the projects which they have designed and created themselves.

The levels of confidence of the children, their ownership of the processes and their capacity to solve problems have amazed all the adults with whom they have come into contact from the communities benefitting from the project. In fact adults have clearly stated that they never believed that their children could show such potential and contribute so amazingly to changing attitudes and strengthening the basis for sustainable development.

The Child Participation Group Project and its unquestionable success proves clearly that when the opportunities are provided to children they can contribute significantly not only to their own well being but also to the well being of the whole society.

Ingrid Kuhfeldt Representative of Plan International Guinea Bissau

Page 2 Table of Contents

Preface…………………………………………………………………………...…………………………..………….....2 Introduction………………………………………………………………...………………………..……………….....4 What is ChildPro?...... 6 How did it start?...... 6 What are the children doing?...... 9 Promoting health………………………………………………………………………………..………….….…..9 Promoting education and gender equality……………………………...…………………....……..13 Promoting self sufficiency and autonomy…………………………………………………..…….....16 Promoting a healthy environment (harmony and unity)…………………..………………….16 Promoting child participation in community activities…………………...……………...…….16 Planning and monitoring their own activities…………………………………….………………...16 Impact of the GPI Project………………………………………………………………………………...……….17 Changes in the children………………………………………………………………………...……..………17 Changes in the communities…………………………………………………………….……………...... 19 Changes in the parents and other community members………………………...…….……...21 Costs and numbers of children/communities affected……………………………...…………..22 Difficulties encountered…………………………………………………………………………………….……….23 Factors making this methodology particularly effective………………………………….…………24

Page 3 Introduction

According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child , all children have the right to participate in all decisions affecting their wellbeing (See Articles 10, 12, 13 and 15). However, this right to participation has proved one of the most misunderstood and the most difficult to guarantee, even though it is considered the right most likely to ensure that children’s other rights are fulfilled. In this document, we shall see how the children of Guinea Bissau have been working in their child participation groups (GPI) to promote their rights to health, education, self-expression, equality or non-discrimination, birth registra- tion, a healthy environment and many more.

Within Plan programmes, there have been many attempts to encourage the participation of children in community development, particularly since Plan’s adoption of Child-Centred Community Development (CCCD) as its rights-based approach to development.1 Indeed CCCD is not possible without the active participation of children.

One of the most successful efforts in this regard, ChildPro, has been used in various Plan programme countries, where it has shown its ability to prepare children well to participate and to deal with many of the obstacles to effective child participation in community activities.

ChildPro was first introduced in Guinea Bissau, in 2006/7, when 39 communities, out of the over 700 communities, in the Bafata and Gabu Regions, where Plan works, were selected and agreed to take part in the first project. A second project, in 2009/10, is setting up child participation groups (GPI) in another 31 communities in Plan’s project area (Bafata and Gabu Regions), bringing the total up to 70 GPIs.

These groups have all achieved incredible results, and it is some of these efforts and results which are recorded in this document. Parents, community members and children, as well as Plan staff, are very happy with the results as can be seen in the comments 2 below, e.g. here are the comments we received from female parents and community members in Gã Fati, which give an idea of the range of activities carried out by the children and their impact:

“This (project) is very important to us. There has been a large change in mentality in the children, and the children set a good example. They have also produced a change in their parents’ mentality and positive improvements in the village.

They have cleaned the village, reducing the cases of malaria, and encouraged pregnant women to attend antenatal care, cleaned the water sources, encouraged people to drink clean water, and cleaned the well. They have taught the children to wash their hands properly with soap, and made sure that they are all clean and tidy before going to school. They encourage all the parents to send all their children to school and check most of the above regularly.

1A rights-based approach aims to ensure the respect of all (human and child) rights for all the people and children in the programme area. 2A recent external evaluation confirmed the successful results achieved, and many of the quotations here were collected during that evaluation Page 4

Every Saturday, they check the toilets and if they are not clean, insist on these being cleaned properly. They check the water supply and make sure that this is all in order. They have taught us that the toilet bucket should not be used anywhere else, plastic cups are more likely to carry disease, how to check the mosquito nets, etc. They are very polite and pass important information by example, e.g. sweeping the house, rather than just words. When the children work in the village, the parents work with them, e.g. cleaning, etc.

If they find a dirty child, they wash them completely and advise them on how to stay clean and always to wear clean clothes.

They have cultivated peanuts and sold some to finance their activities. They have also kept some as seeds for next year.

The children check the stock for other projects (to make sure that everything is accounted for) and there is good co-operation with the teacher and chief of the village so that the children now have their part in community decisions.

There is no more violence between the children in the village.

They have also been raising awareness in the neighbouring villages. The parents have given 100CFA to cover their food when they do this, or provide them with food to take with them.”

Plan staff have also noticed many changes which benefit their programmes:

These activities support all Plan programmes, especially Health. The children have raised awareness through drama and other means on early marriage, FGC (Female Genital Cutting), gender equality (especially in terms of schooling), and hygiene. In this way, they are promoting community development. Maria Irene Gomes, Health Advisor, Plan-Guinea Bissau.

The children’s activities support all Plan programmes – school health, school attendance, water and sani- tation, as the themes chosen by the children are often those which the programmes are designed to resolve.

There is improved hygiene, rubbish disposal, use of mosquito nets. The adults are more aware of children’s issues. The children are more responsible and many are more confident, have higher self-esteem and are less shy. They show more initiative, and have learnt to identify and solve problems in their communities. Many more parents would like their children to participate in the GPI (some because of the ma- terial gains but some also because of the children’s gains in skills and knowledge). Ena Gomes, Education Advisor, Plan-Guinea Bissau.

The children’s skills have been increased and they are much more aware of their rights and duties. Children are much better treated in the communities now. This has been a process as there was some initial resistance on the part of the adults but over time this has improved. The children have also learnt how to express themselves to adults in the community in order to get their messages across. They have learnt to approach adults in an appropriate way to obtain good results. Relations have improved between adults and children and among the children themselves. The hygiene in the community has improved and the children’s self-esteem has increased.

There was initially a lot of resistance to the children expressing their opinion but their views are much better accepted now, because they adapt all their messages to the context, and the culture of the adults to whom they are speaking. There is still some resistance but their participation in community development is slightly improved . Maria Irene Gomes, Health Advisor, Plan-Guinea Bissau. Page 5 In these communities in Guinea Bissau, we can now really talk about child-centred (even child-led) community development. The children are leading the process, suggesting changes to improve their own lives and those of their community and getting adult support to carry them out, improving relations and the respect of child rights in their communities, helping their communities improve health and hygiene as well as education, while creating harmony and unity. They are now allowed to express their opinions to adults and the adults listen to them and take their opinions into account.

What is ChildPro? ChildPro is an approach to working with groups of children which helps them learn about their rights and responsibilities, and enables them to promote the respect of child rights in their communities.

Participation is a key element in the ChildPro Approach, which takes the children’s viewpoint into account in projects designed to improve the conditions in which they live and involves them in all stages of community development processes. Participatory processes reinforce self-esteem and self- confidence, and thus aim to build up the children’s capacity to develop their full potential (see Plan’s Mission Statement).

The ChildPro approach requires children to express their views freely, to develop confidence in them-selves and to learn communication skills in a systematic way. At the same time, it is aimed at making adults aware of the ability of children to share as equals in the problem-solving process within the community. ….

The activities developed through this approach have the following objectives:

• Increased awareness of child rights among parents and children themselves; • Increased child participation in community development activities; • Increased ability within Plan to facilitate child participation as a standard practice in all stages of programming. 3

How did it start? Ingrid Kuhfeldt, the current Country Director of Plan-Guinea Bissau, had seen remarkable results produced with ChildPro in Honduras, and felt that the same could happen in Guinea Bissau, if it were given a chance. First the idea was introduced to the Plan Country Management Team, who agreed to try it. Initial discussions were then held with community members, including children, to explain the project and obtain their understanding, agreement and support. After these discussions, 31 communities in the Bafata Region and 8 communities in the Gabu Region agreed to take part.

In each of these communities, 30 young people/children 4 (15 boys and 15 girls), aged between 12 and 18 years, were selected to belong to the child participation group or GPI.

Criteria for selection of GPI members: • Being an active participant in class activities • Parent’s agreement for child to be part of the GPI • Representation of the different communities that send their children to the Dutadjara Commu- nity School. Teacher, Dutadjara Community School

NB. To avoid discrimination/favouritism only one child per household was allowed to join.

3ChildPro Training Manual 4The general terms “child” and “children” are used here to refer to any person under the age of 18 years, as in the Conven- tion of the Rights of the Child. However, the project involves children between the ages of 12 and 18, many of whom should more correctly be termed “young people”. Page 6 In each community, an extensive training programme then took place. Several training sessions were held: for Plan staff; the 30 selected children (15 girls and 15 boys); community members; the local teacher(s); the local Plan Community Development Facilitator (CDF); local volunteers; and a man and woman, selected by the children as adults they could trust, and known as the mother (“Mai”) and father (“Pai”) of the group. 5 This training lasted five days, although not everyone needed to stay for the full five days. The children, “mai”, “pai”, CDF, teacher and volunteers being key figures were present for five days.

The “mai” and “pai” have proved key figures in the success of the programme in providing continuity and guidance for the children as well as a link for the group with the adult community members. When the “mai” and “pai” of the Dutadjara GPI were asked how they saw their role, these are their replies:

• As the GPI Father and Facilitator , I make myself available to answer any questions the GPI members have on how to approach the elderly members of the community, and how to invite them to attend their meetings, setting a date for general cleaning, organizing their Friday meetings and raising awareness on the importance of GPI.

• As the GPI Mother and Facilitator , I counsel them on issues related to dealing with the female members of the community.

At the beginning of the training, the aims and objectives of the project were fully explained to each group and some time was spent gaining the adults’ understanding and support for the children’s activities. Everyone, particularly the children, was given a thorough grounding in child rights, responsibilities and participation.

Figure 1: Children receiving training on child rights

Some time was also spent discussing conflict, conflict resolution and the importance of good relations within the group and the community. This aspect has proved very useful in helping the children create unity and harmony among themselves and in their communities.

5For details of these training sessions, see ChildPro Training Manual Page 7

Conflict Resolution Training During the GPI training, the children learn how to identify and resolve conflicts in their communities.

First, they discuss what a conflict is and then the children are asked to identify places where conflicts occur in their community. The trainers note the places mentioned by the children and then ask the children to describe the various kinds of conflicts which can occur in the places mentioned and to suggest ways of resolving these.

After these discussions the children are divided into three groups. Each group prepares a sketch showing a conflict situation and how this conflict is resolved.

In plenary, the children discuss the sketches and the proposed solutions. Each child expresses his or her opinion on the sketches presented.

In short, this is how the children are encouraged to think of ways of resolving everyday conflicts in their communities. Elber Nosolini, ROC Advisor, Plan-Guinea Bissau.

The children then identified the most important problems in their communities. A thorough community diagnosis was done and a map prepared showing positive and negative aspects of the community. On the basis of this and the children’s knowledge of their rights and responsibilities, they prepared an action plan for the following 12 months, and prepared to put it into action.Since the training, each group has met regularly to plan its activities in line with its action plan and to prepare a new action plan on com- pletion of the old one. Activities are planned on a three-monthly and monthly basis to ensure that everyone is completely involved in all the activities. These are not new action plans, but more detailed ver- sions of the original one, as and if necessary.

Figure 2: Children discussing issues in their community Figure 3: Community map prepared for the village of Buntussum

Figure 4: Children with their community map showing good and bad points of Ga-Faty Page 8

What are the children doing? The activities of each group depend on their action plan and therefore vary between groups and communities. These action plans are based on the problems identified by the children in their communities and their awareness of child rights. Although there are some differences between the various groups, there are many things in common and activities planned by the various groups generally aim to improve children’s health, education, protection and participation.

For example, when the female community members from Galugada were asked what they had noticed the children doing, they replied:

• They help with the work being carried out in the village; • They attend community meetings and, often suggest good ideas; • They visit compounds and assist in cleaning each house and the latrines; • They check the water jars to ensure that they are clean and that the water is filtered and cov- ered; • They advise people to cover their food, and boil water if it is not clean and avoid bush fires; • They raise awareness about malaria, explain the importance of sleeping under mosquito nets and check if people actually use mosquito nets; • They check that all pregnant women go to prenatal consultations and that all children are regis- tered, vaccinated and enrolled in school.

And here is the list from the GPI in Gã Tauda: • The Child Participation Group conducted door-to-door sensitization of the community members on (1) child rights, (2) hygiene, (3) child protection, (4) gender equity, (5) the need to trim the trees and, (6) the need to club together FCFA 25 i.e. US$ 0.05 per child per week for the Child Participation Group fund that was used to build a kitchen in the school;

• We cleaned the community in and out (this includes the outer perimeter to avoid and control

bush fires); • We also clean the school, the borehole and the solar panels on a regular basis; • We water our vegetable garden every day; • We disinfect the family latrines;

The Child Participation Group of Gã Tauda has organized the cleaning of ten neighbouring villages: Sintchan Botche, Sindjola, Banta El, Sintchan Saliu, Badiana, Sintchan Farba, Madina Cuta, Cumuda, Simbonque and Bonco. Children of GPI, Gã Tauda

Here are some of the main activities of the GPI in Guinea Bissau: Promoting health • Cleaning their communities and homesteads . Aware of the harmful effects of poor hygiene and waste disposal, the children have been cleaning their communities and neighbouring communities with adult support. This includes helping to improve hygiene in their own homesteads and those of the whole community.

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“We clean the village and raise awareness in our village and neighbouring villages about cleanliness and the importance of keeping toilets clean. We visit houses and check on the state of the toilets, rubbish, mosquito nets, cleanliness of children and their vaccinations and encourage anybody ill to go to the health centre. We encourage pregnant women to go for ante-natal care and advise adults about resolving conflicts in the village .” GPI members, Galugada.

“We have been cleaning the village, school, water sources, disinfecting latrines. We also raise awareness from door-to-door about hygiene, child protection and gender equality, here and in 10 neighbouring villages. We started a school garden but the soil is not very good and there was not enough water. We make regular savings to pay for whatever is required, e.g. school kitchen .” GPI members, Gã Tauda.

There are children from several neighbouring villages who come to school in this village and the chiefs from those villages are invited to meetings in Galugada. The children inform them of the subject of the meetings, e.g. the right to play, forced marriage. They inform the other villages and the whole community of what was said. The children replicate their activities in the other villages (their cousins, uncles, and other relatives live there.) The village is very happy – the children are united and so are the adults, thus the whole community is united. Facilitators, Galugada.

Figure 5: Children and adults cleaning the village together

• Checking the homesteads in their communities for cleanliness. The children have started a weekly competition in their villages to identify the cleanest and healthiest homestead, in terms of general hygiene, food hygiene, use of mosquito nets, clean drinking water, children’s vaccination, antenatal care, ill people being taken or sent to the health centre or hospital. The winner each week is announced on the local radio. The children sing the national anthem in the court- yard of the winning family and present them with the national flag, which they can display for the week.

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Figure 6: Winning household with the national flag

There is a hot competition in the community to be the week’s winner with the result that there have been several positive changes in the community, e.g.:

• Reduction in diarrhoeal and other infectious diseases; • Increased use of ORS; • Increased numbers of consultations at health centres; • Improved nutritional status; • Fewer cases of malaria, due to use of impregnated bed nets; • Increased awareness of good hygiene practices among children and adults . Maria Irene Gomes, Health Advisor, Plan-Guinea Bissau

The Community Health Project

There are very close links between the GPI and the Community Health Project, because, in many communities, many of the problems cited by the children in their community diagnosis are related to health. In several cases, the same children are involved in both projects.

The GPI training and activities have increased the children’s confidence and ability to raise awareness among the other children and the adults, which allows them to encourage behaviour change in the whole community and to do their community health work more effectively. Thus these two projects work together very well, producing a powerful synergy which is very beneficial to the children and communities involved.

Plan began implementing a Community Health Project in Bafata Region (East Guinea Bissau), in 2007, in order to reduce the very high rates of mortality and morbidity in the area, by involving children in the spread of good health practices in their communities.

Page 11 The children visit all the households in their communities and pick out the cleanest and healthiest each week. They check the general cleanliness of the household, the latrines, the kitchen, the mosquito nets, water containers, whether or not ill people are taken to the health centre, pregnant women attend antenatal care, children are vaccinated.

This project has produced very satisfactory behaviour changes among the adults as well as the children in their communities, as the children involved in the project have verified in their weekly and other visits to the homesteads.

“During a visit to Candama, we noticed that the children did not wait until Saturday to carry out their home visits. In fact, they explained that it was better to visit on other days in the week without warn- ing, as this allowed them to choose the winning household more accurately, based on their everyday cleanliness, rather than just that on Saturdays when they were expecting the children’s visit.”

Figure 7: The children prepare their medical kit for home visits in the community

“In some communities, the children have found various ingenious ways of checking the true situation in households. For instance, they often make surprise visits to check mosquito nets for holes, as well as who uses them at night, e.g. the children or their parents. They also check the water containers to make sure that the children and not just the adults drink safe drinking water.”

This project has obtained very positive results at community level, thanks to the efforts of the children who have raised the adults’ awareness of good hygiene practices. The religious leaders are also using their influence to ensure positive results and this has increased the communities’ ownership of this project.

Changing behaviour is a slow process which can lead to very satisfactory results through the involvement of the children at every stage. Today’s children are tomorrow’s adults so the Community Health Teams always allow other children to accompany them on their home visits.

“During a community meeting in Sintcham Alanso, the Imam, who taught at the madrassa, spoke very positively about this project, on behalf of the community, saying that it had produced a huge behaviour change in terms of good health practices, e.g. people would now leave their work and return home to use the latrine, as they were now aware of the dangers of defecating in the open air, and would also take some drinking water with them to the fields rather than just drink from local ponds or streams. They had also learnt to wash their hands properly (not all in the same bowl of water as they did previ- ously) in order to avoid disease.”

“The Imam from Lenqueto stressed that the project upheld the Koran’s instructions on hygiene and child protection.” Page 12 Maria Irene Gomes, Health Advisor, Plan-Guinea Bissau.

Figure 8: Children checking mosquito nets Figure 9: Children checking households for hygiene

Figure 10: Child-friendly latrine

• Keeping themselves and their clothes clean : The children’s personal hygiene has greatly improved. Many children wash their clothes themselves at the weekend so that they are clean for school on Monday. Many adults mentioned that the adults were also more careful about their appearance and hand-washing with soap, as a result of the children’s good example.

If they find a dirty child, they wash them completely and advise them on how to stay clean and always to wear clean clothes. Mother, Gã Fati .

Promoting education and gender equality • Encouraging more children go to school, especially girls: School attendance and enrolment have greatly increased. The children now go to school of their own accord and no longer need prompting from their parents to do so. They study much more willingly and with better results. The GPI children encourage all the children in the village to go to school, particularly the girls, as they are against any form of discrimination, and they encourage the parents to pay the teachers’ salaries when these are paid by the community, in the case of community schools. They have also put pressure on the community to increase the number of classrooms in the schools so that the children can continue their education in the village rather than in the nearest big town. In some cases, they have helped to build new schools and extra classrooms. In some communities, the parents were also attending literacy classes, encouraged by their children. Page 13

GPI members learn how to raise the awareness of other community members, including their peers. They convince the other children not to eat unripe mangoes to avoid stomach ache. Female community members, Gã Fati.

All the children go to school. There is less conflict between us and between us and our parents. We are more aware of the importance of cleanliness and drinking clean water (filtering), getting rid of stagnant water and washing our hands. Our opinions are respected more and we are no longer obliged to leave school and collect cashew nuts during the harvest. GPI members, Galugada.

They run to school on time and girls also ask to be enrolled in school. The children have developed a lot, more than we could imagine. The children orient their mothers. Mother, Geba

They seek light to study. At the weekend they wash their clothes to make sure that they are spot- less when they go to school. They help their mothers and allocate time for homework, play and other activities (time management). There is less conflict between school education and family education and all the children go to school. Father, Geba

The children participate more in general and their school work corresponds to their abilities in each case. They try harder. (Teacher). Pata Bana

Good education for the children helps them develop their potential, encourages the adults to contribute more. The children’s home visits (with hangers-on, i.e. some of the children who do not belong to the group but would like to) have made the families more concerned to reach certain standards. Male community members, Pata Bana.

• Raising awareness on the importance of school, gender equity, girls’ education, hygiene, good health, good, clean food and drinking water, ante-natal care, early marriage, forced marriage, conflict resolution, etc.

As a result of their efforts, pregnant women go for pre-natal care and the adults are more willing to participate in cleaning the village. GPI members, Galugada

Role-play and drama are among the most popular and well-received methods used by the children to raise awareness in the community on various issues that they want to address, e.g. early marriage. Here is an example of a role-play designed to encourage girls’ education and discourage forced/early marriage, presented at the 2010 Children’s Carni- val. It concerns two neighbouring families with equal numbers of children .

They have been able to sensitize the entire neighbourhood on their rights and duties, hygiene and the importance of waste disposal. Facilitators, Binalu.

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In the first family, there are two children, a boy and a girl, but the father would not let the girl continue her studies because he wanted her to get married. The father received a cow and some money from her future husband. The mother had no say in this matter and the girl was forced to get married.

In the second family, there are also two children but the boy helped his sister so that she managed to finish her studies. However, before she did so the father abandoned the family and his children. After finishing her studies abroad, the daughter returned to live with her mother. She had a new house built for the mother and helped to make her more comfortable.

One day the neighbour who had forced his daughter to marry came to visit and asked her how she managed to own this nice house. The mother informed him that her daughter, who had refused to get married, had built it for her. He began to regret having forced his daughter to get married.

The father of the second family, who had abandoned his family, arrived home ill one day, but was received by his children as though nothing had happened and he begged forgiveness of the daughter and the whole family. Maria Irene Gomes, Health Advisor, Plan-Guinea Bissau.

Figure 11: Children showing role-plays as part of awareness-raising campaigns Figure 12: Children using dance and theatrics as means of raising awareness among the general population

We present a sensitization program in “Radio Comunitário de Bafata” (Bafata Local Community Ra- dio). Children in GPI, Binalu.

• Set a good example. Their behaviour in terms of personal and community hygiene is exem- plary and they encourage everyone to maintain the same standards. If the children see anything that they feel is not as it should be, they discuss this with the person concerned or with the community, depending on the situation, and encourage everyone to be clean and tidy and treat others with respect.

The other children are very keen to belong to the GPI too and participate in many of the GPI activities in the community. The GPI children inform them of everything they have learnt and what they are doing, so that they do not feel excluded and can also behave in a good way.

The GPI children organise meetings with the other children to transmit what they have learnt, but these children need to receive the training to bring them to the same level of understanding as the first group. We women would like the children to receive enough training so that they can train other children. Women community members , Pata Bana

This GPI influences all the other children and the others also help with any work to be done. Father, Geba. Page 15

Members of the Child Participation Group have earned a higher status in our neighbourhood and have been positively influencing the other children in the neighbourhood to emulate them. Male parents, Binalu.

Promoting self-sufficiency and autonomy • Income generating activities to fund their GPI activities, e.g. growing peanuts, rice, vegetables, etc. The children’s activities do require some resources and the children have gone to great lengths to obtain these themselves. Some groups have set up small savings schemes, to which they each pay a weekly contribution; some grow and sell peanuts, rice, vegetables, etc. to raise some money. The money acquired can be used to cover incidental expenses, e.g. school materials and stationery. However, they would like more training in market gardening and animal hus- bandry to improve their incomes. Their independence is very striking and again a good preparation for the future.

Promoting a healthy environment (harmony and unity) • Conflict resolution: During their training the children learnt about conflict resolution and were encouraged to bury their differences. Many of them have managed to do so and now encourage the adult community members to do the same. They convince the adults that conflict is costly and that it is better to sit down together at the earliest opportunity, discuss the problem and find a solution than to fight. Their increased ability to express themselves confidently also helps them avoid conflict and many adults and children commented on the increased unity and harmony within families and the community in general, as well as among the children.

Better behaviour and relations between them – they encourage each other now, whereas they inhibited each other before. When they are working, it seems like a party and the other children join in. Male community members, Pata

• Helping in construction work. When the need arises, the children have helped in building schools, multi-use centres and other buildings, required by the children and the community. They carry sand, water, stones, etc. and monitor the progress of the work.

Promoting child participation in community activities • Calling and participating in community meetings and action. The children are now able to call community meetings to discuss any community problems that they feel need to be tackled: i.e. they are playing an active part in community affairs. They are identifying problems and resolving them with the help of the whole community. As these activities have resulted in improved health, education and living conditions for the communities involved, there is no doubt that they are leading some of the development processes in their communities.

Do you participate in the meetings held by the adult people of the community? Yes we do and, when we take the floor, they listen to our opinions. Children, Binalu GPI

Planning and monitoring their own activities • Planning and monitoring their own activities. They themselves meet regularly to plan their activities, revise their action plan or renew it when it has been completed and discuss the results of their activities.

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Figure 13: Children meeting to plan the week’s activities

Impact of the GPI Project

In assessing the impact of the GPI project, we have already looked at some of the children’s achievements above, but we would also like to mention some of the remarkable changes noted in the children, their parents and their communities, as a result of this project. Changes in the children:

Changes in the children There is a big difference. They know more and have more experience. Their behaviour has changed, they are more disciplined, organised. They are able to organise activities, such as cleaning and horticulture. Their relations with their parents have changed and they now enjoy their right to participate with their parents in expressing their opinions . Father, Geba .

The children in communities with GPI are much more confident and feel more comfortable expressing their opinions. They are more developed and there is much more harmony or unity among them. They know their rights and responsibilities. They are allowed to participate in certain adult meetings, and can call a meeting with the adults to discuss any problems that they identify. The adults accept their ideas and opinions. They feel able to participate in the development of their communities. They are able to identify their problems and look for solutions . CDFs, Bafata.

Yes, they collaborate with adults. They present the flag to the cleanest compound. They all go to school. The teachers do not beat them anymore. They are organised, which they were not before. They call the elders and report on what they have seen. They sensitize on STDs/AIDS, early marriage, in the community and at school. They encourage girls’ education and they are cleaner. 6 They assimilate their lessons well (more competent) and participate well in class. The children fulfil their responsibilities. They are much more responsible; do not stay out late at night. They ask forgiveness if they misbehave. Girls go to school and delay marriage. They help the school principal by advising the other children to dress cleanly and behave correctly . Facilitators, Galugada .

6 The other children who do not belong to GPI are less clean, but the GPI encourage them to improve their Page 17

Yes, there have been substantial behaviour changes. We like school, we wear shoes, we sleep under mosquito nets, we don’t like being dirty and don’t play in the rain any more. We know our rights and get on better together and with our parents, who no longer beat us. Children, Gã Tauda.

We know our rights. We are more comfortable at home, have different relations with our parents and converse with them now. We have more time to play and rest and need time to study and participate in the group activities. Parents send us to school and we participate in many different ways in the community. Children from Geba

Again the changes may vary between communities, but the parents and communities in general are very happy with the changes in the children that they reported, including the following:

• They know their rights and duties; • They are cleaner and their clothes are clean and neat;

There have been improvements in personal hygiene, dress and shoes, eating habits. They speak politely to everyone and advise them on many issues, including STDs and AIDS. Facilitators, Gã

• They all go to school;

All the children go to school, even the 3-6 year-olds go to the kindergarten. Before the parents had to force the children to study whereas now they do it themselves and we are all very happy about this. The children even encourage their parents to go to literacy classes. The mothers went first and now the fathers have also started to go .

We continue our schooling and take it seriously. There are good relations within the group. We respect older people and ourselves as well as the other children. All the children go to school if their

• They are better behaved, politer, more respectful of adults and each other; • They are more able to express themselves in private and in public and talk to everyone politely; • More obedient and disciplined – time management has improved, and they appreciate the time for play and the time for other activities; • Relations between them are better – there is less conflict; • They have learnt to organise themselves; • They can call community meetings to discuss anything they would like dealt with in the community and can express their opinions at such meetings;

We have seen many changes in the community. Now children participate in community meetings and contribute to the decision making process . If the children see something unacceptable in the community, they call the community together to a meeting to resolve it. Facilitators, Priame.

• They are involved in income generating activities to support their needs including GPI activities, showing both autonomy and spirit of enterprise. Page 18 In effect, there are enormous changes in the children’s behaviour as summarised by the children of Galugada GPI: • We attend classes all day every day; • Each child is a model of cleanliness in their own house; • We are more responsible and accountable; • We filter water before putting it into the jar; • We try to eliminate all still water; • Relationships have improved among the children and between children and adults.

And the children of Gã Tauda GPI:

“Both boys and girls have changed since we joined the Child Participation Group:

• We did not know any of our rights but now we are all familiar with our rights and duties; • We used to skip classes for lack of awareness of the importance of education. Now we not only attend classes regularly but have also become studious; • We, the girls, used not to go to school, but now we have made the case and are allowed to go to school like boys; • It used to be normal for the children to walk bare-footed but this practice has discontinued since we raised people’s awareness that shoes protect our feet from filth and sharp objects that are on the ground; • The relationships among the children and between the children and adults were not the best until we learned to be polite to each other and to the adults in the community; • We used to be helpless before our parents when they beat us but now we know how to remind them politely of our right to be corrected without being beaten.”

Changes in the communities

• The communities are more harmonious and united; • The communities are cleaner and tidier – better rubbish disposal; • Communities feel that they are no longer being left behind;

The community now knows about children’s rights and responsibilities. They are developing and are less behind. Communities participate and the families and parents need to change too. Our health is better – there are less diseases, such as cholera, malaria, diarrhoea . Parents, Binalu.

There has been a change of mentality concerning child rights and responsibilities. The GPI children have raised awareness in the community about the importance of school, health issues. The children have learnt to identify their problems and propose solutions, local solutions if possible – the community is finding its own resources to help with this, which reduces dependence. There is a new appre- ciation of the things the children propose, e.g. cleanliness, vaccination, increased enrolment in school and better school results. The children develop their potential and develop their own and neighbouring villages. Their achievements have really surprised their parents. Although the community expected conflicts with their cultural and religious traditions and customs to arise, they have

Page 19

No more early marriages and girls are allowed to go school as well as boys. The adults now allow the children to participate in discussions that lead to important decisions in the community, like building the community school, reviewing the division of labour in the community so that boys do not only assist their fathers with field work but their mothers and sisters with house work. Facilita- tors, Dutadjara.

The Binalu Neighbourhood was barely known in the town of Bafata, but since the Child Participation Group was founded here, the event and their other activities have been reported on the Bafata Community Radio, which has created interest in our children and community.

People say that our neighbourhood has become cleaner and healthier, since the inception of the Child Participation Group. There have been fewer cases of cholera and malaria reported. Male parents, Binalu.

Ena Gomes (Education Advisor, Plan-Guinea Bissau) describes the differences between the communities with a GPI and those without as follows:

“The children participate more and adults are more aware of children’s issues. The children play more, are cleaner and more creative. The communities are livelier.

For example: In one community, many adults complained about the children going out at night to discotheques, so the GPI had a discussion and found a solution to this, which protected the younger children, while allowing the older ones to go out sometimes.

There is less child abuse, less gender discrimination, better prenatal care; communities accept the children’s presence on some occasions, where it would not have been accepted before. This may just mean that the children are allowed to listen but this is the beginning of the process.

In effect, GPI can lead to projects in the community which are in line with CCCD”.

Here is Maria Irene Gomes’ (Health Advisor, Plan-Guinea Bissau) reply to the same question:

“Yes, there is a large difference between the communities where there is a GPI and those where there is not, in terms of health and hygiene, as well as behaviour. We have been using the same technique for community health, selecting a group of 30 children (15 boys and 15 girls) and training them in passing important health messages. If there is already a GPI in the community, we work through that, but if not, we form a new group. Gradually the GPIs are also being extended to more and more communities and so this “health club” would receive more intensive training in child rights/duties and participation.

The choice of two community members (mai and pai) to accompany the group and support them in the community has proved a very effective entry point for the children.” The clubs should be extended to more communities and the sustainability of the activities needs to be ensured .

• There is less discrimination, particularly against girls:

Page 20 Changes in the parents and other community members

Parents used to send their children to collect nuts during the cashew season, but this has been discouraged through the Child Participation Group sensitization activities.

It was not a common practice in our community for people to wash their hands before and after meals. Now they wash they hands with soap or ash as a result of child led community awareness.

The pregnant women used to skip prenatal consultations. They now attend prenatal consultation as a result of the increased awareness on health issues. Children, GPI Galugada.

• They appreciate the value of the children as individuals; • They know about child rights and try to respect them;

Parents know and respect children’s rights and are happy with their children’s participation. The homes compete for the flag. They allow children to marry who they like as long as they behave properly. Facilitators, Galugada.

• They listen to the children and accept their opinions;

We now sit with the children and discuss things with them to find the best solutions. We could not do this before. They manage to organise themselves for festivals such as 1 st and 16 th June. They do many practical things such as cleaning the school, collecting water. Parents/Community members, Priame.

Before there was a Child Participation Group in the community, our parents would neither listen to our opinion nor show us respect, but now that the Child Participation Group has been conducting sensitization campaigns and behaving properly, our relationships with our parents have improved remarkably. They attend the children’s meetings and participate in the community cleaning activities . GPI group members, Galugada.

• They send their children to school and are even asking for pre-schools; • They are cleaner and dress better (ashamed to be seen in public if not properly dressed); • Less illness (due to better hygiene) and fewer health problems; • Fewer forced/early marriages; • Less conflicts between the adults, including couples, and between adults and children; I now have a new vision. I can now advise children on ways to behave and avoid conflict. The children are able to advise community members on the futility of conflict and the “mai” now feels able to advise community members on how to resolve conflicts too. Before the Chief had to mediate all these conflicts but now he has some help. We now appreciate the importance of clean water and school. Mother from Pate Bana.

Page 21 • Less corporal punishment of children.

When asked what contribution the children make to life in the community, some female community members from Gã Fati replied:

“They share their views with us on issues that have to do with life both in the household and in the community. Our children contribute to changing behaviours. They have convinced their parents not to leave their female children uneducated. They help us to show the right papers at the police check points and fill out forms at the health centre.”

The GPI facilitators in Binalu were asked what they had learnt as a result of facilitating the club and replied as follows: “We have learnt that the children are able to raise awareness on hygiene related to keeping the entire neighbourhood and latrines clean and eliminating still water.

We also learnt that they are able to organize a tournament that raised the profile of the neighbourhood in the District of Bafata.”. GPI Facilitators, Binalu.

In summary, the relations between adults and children have much improved, as the children have learnt to dialogue with others and are relating to the adults and to each other better. This ability to express themselves has reduced the violence between the children, between adults and children, and even between adults. At the same time, the parents are finding them more obedient and respectful, which also leads to improved relations.

The children have been able to raise awareness on topics like treating children well and in general inform the adults and other children of their rights, while fulfilling their own responsibilities. This has lead to greater respect of child rights throughout the community with improved health and educational status, better child protection and indeed child participation. All this is an excellent preparation for good citizenship, democracy and the children’s own futures as parents and community leaders.

In calling community meetings to discuss anything that they feel needs dealing with in the community they are making a considerable contribution to the development of their communities – this is clearly Child-led community development (CCCD). Costs and numbers of children/communities affected In the Bafata and Gabu Regions, Plan is working in a total of 751 communities. Of these, 70 (9.32%) already have functioning GPIs trained in ChildPro.

The estimated population of children in the communities with GPI in Bafata is 35,298, of which 1500 (4.25%) are GPI members. Similarly in Gabu, the estimated child population is 10,140 and the number of GPI members is 600 (5.92%). However, in all the communities involved, the whole community and in particular the remaining 33,948 and 9,900 children benefit indirectly from all the above-mentioned factors as well as being involved in the work of the GPI groups.

Page 22

No of com- Estimated child No of children No of children bene- munities with population members of GPI fitting indirectly GPI Bafata 50 35,298 1500 (4.25%) 33,948 (96.20%) Gabu 20 10,140 600 (5.92%) 9,900 (97.64%) Total 70 45, 438 2100 (4.62%) 43,848 (96.50%)

In some communities the GPI have been in existence for four years, with the result that many of the members are now outside the age range for the group, and many have moved to other towns or communities to continue their studies. . Very few have left because they were not enjoying the activities (as can be seen in the following table) and there is a great demand for places in the clubs. Each of the young people who have left has been replaced by another young person.

No of commu- No of children Total no of children who have left the GPI nities with GPI members of Region GPI Through Moved to Too Total lack of another com- old interest munity Bafata 50 1500 (4.25%) 0 84 26 110 Gabu 20 600 (5.92%) 0 7 0 7 Total 70 2100 (4.62%) 0 91 26 117

The cost per training (30 young people, etc.) is about US$1500 (per community) or US$50/child, for the children who belong to the GPI. However, the whole community benefits indirectly, gaining opti- mism for the future of their children and their community, improved health and education, improved relations within the community, and better understanding of child rights and child participation, for this small amount.

Difficulties encountered

As with any project, especially one being introduced for the first time, there have been some teething problems and other difficulties, some of which are already being resolved, but are worth noting to help others attempting similar programmes:

• Some communities have taken some time to understand the children’s activities, but this is gradually improving. • In some communities, lack of support from the communities in the community work has disap- pointed and discouraged the children. • In some cases, the adults felt that the children were taking over their responsibilities and were happy to sit back and assume that the children would do everything without any adult support. In such cases, discussions with the communities were necessary in order to clarify that the children could only work with adult help, and that the role of the children was to indicate problems which needed to be solved, and then work with the community to solve them. • Some children and facilitators have left and been replaced, and therefore the replacements needed or in some cases still need training. • New Action Plans have not always been prepared on time, either because the children are not able to do this on their own or even with the support of the facilitators. Extra training is Page 23 still needed for this. • Unfortunately not all the CDFs are following and supporting the GPIs sufficiently to identify any problems as they arise and this can delay the solution of such problems. • Several groups lack cleaning and agricultural tools and materials, although many are carrying out income generating activities to meet such costs; • The children need training in many income-generating activities to increase their autonomy and achievements. As income-generating activities are being attempted by many groups and are a very good preparation for the children’s future, this is to be encouraged.

Factors making this methodology particularly effective

• Five day training which provides the children with a solid foundation and group spirit; • Initial training of 30 children from a village or villages close to each other creates a critical mass so that they can have a strong impact on the village. • Involvement of the community in advance, as well as at the beginning and at the end of the training, to obtain their understanding of the process and what the children have been doing and are going to do. This has ensured very good parental and community support while avoid- ing many obstacles and misunderstandings. • Emphasis on rights which provides the children with a good basis from which to start their work and a justification for insisting on certain things; • Emphasis on responsibilities which encourages the children to behave in a very responsible way; • Emphasis on respect for the rights of others helps children behave better in general but particularly with each other and their parents, something which is making the parents very happy and encouraging them to support the children’s other activities; • Emphasis on children learning to express their views and opinions, which allows them to explain what they are doing and why, leading to better understanding and acceptance of their activities as well as parental and community support. • This ability to express themselves also avoids the recourse to violence, which leads to less argu- ments between them and the resolution of conflicts through discussion, the advantages of which they have also convinced the adults of the community so that they also now look for peaceful solutions to their differences. • Selection of a “mother” and a “father” of the group by the children ensures the orientation of the group by people that the children themselves trust, and provides a link with the adult community. The “mother” and “father” in question are also learning a lot and acquiring important skills through this process. • Involvement of the teacher provides excellent training for him/her, which can improve and reinforce all his/her subsequent class work. • This methodology provides a good basis to which other activities, such as Child-to-Child (health education), media (photography, radio, theatre, drawing), etc. can be added.

The changes in the communities’ mentality and behaviour can really be considered child-led community development. I hope that this will continue and expand as it is clearly giving new hope to many communities that they are not being left behind, while building children’s skills, confidence and attitudes and preparing them well for their futures as active and responsible citizens.

I can only hope that this programme continues to expand both within Guinea Bissau and elsewhere.

Page 24 All Children have Rights

Right to be protected against any kind of discrimination Right to life Right to a name and a nationality Right to identity Right to live with his/her parents Right to be protected against illicit child trafficking Right to express his/her opinion in matters that concern him/her Right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion Right to freedom of expression Right to freedom of association Right to protection and privacy Right to access appropriate information Right to protection against neglect, physical or mental voilence Right to special protection and assistance from the government if necessary Right to special care for disabled children Right to medical health care Right to social security Right to an adequate standard of living for a child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development Right to education Roght to enjoy his/her own culture, to profess and practice his/her own religion or right to use his/her own language Right to rest and leisure Right to be protected against economic exploitation and child labour Right to be protected from the illicit use of narcotic drugs and their trafficking Right to be protected against sexual exploitation Right to be protected against sale of, or traffic in, children Right to be protected against any other form of exploitation Right to be protected against torture and deprivation of liberty No child under 15 should be incorporated in any army Right to the fundamental guarantees, juridical or any other assistance appropriate to his/her defense

Plan Guiné-Bissau Avenida Eduardo Mondlane Caixa Posta N˚ 597 www.plan-international.org BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau