Child-led Organization

PSS-Forum Victoria Fall 2015

CHALLENGE

How can we reach a fairly good number of children AND provide a fairly good quality of psychosocial support? Or: how to bring quantity together with quality?

Part 1: Dealing with the Loss

1: We will know each other and become a group2: Breaking Through Isolation and Developing Group Identity3: Feelings Associated with the Loss of a Loved One4: Seeing the Link Between Feelings and Situations5: Dealing with Feelings of Sadness and Helplessness6: Dealing With Feelings of Anger and Frustration7: Coping with Stigmatisation and Discrimination: Children’s Rights and Responsibilities

Part 2: Dealing with the Future

A: I Have Changed and Will Continue to ChangeB: Wishes and GoalsC: How to Solve Problems and Attain a GoalD: Yes-NoE: FriendshipF: I am a Special and Precious PersonG: Keys for Coping in the FutureH: Party and Celebration Time

(ONE OF) THE POSSIBLE ANSWERS

To find an organizational model which tips in existing resources of the beneficiaries, mobilizes and develops them> provide psychosocial support THROUGH an organizational model

Policy Paper for an “orphans organization”

Some arguments in the policy paper • Participation of children in the decision-

making: agency instead of representation• Victimization – building of a positive identity• Impact of AIDS on the concept of childhood• Self-Help Organization• Condition for group intervention approach• Prevention

What kind of resources we wanted to use?

“Anthropological” resources• Children are spontaneously “social” • Children are curious and open • Children like to try new things

Cultural resourceStrong feeling for the collective

Cross-cultural analysis of the significance of “self-esteem”(1)

“self esteem” : “okwehamini” (to trust yourself) “okwesiga” (to trust yourself and others)

Concepts related to “self-esteem”. “okulinga” and “okwedai” (to be proud), “okwebona namanya” (to know something), “okwebona” (to feel good in something), okwehulilage (to feel contented).

Cross-cultural analysis of the significance of “self-esteem”(2)

“obumo” (unity, to belong together, to support each other), “okwambagana, okujunagana” (mutual support), “kukolerana” (to exchange support), “okwendelana” (to wish something for somebody – mutually), “okugonzangana, okwendagana” (to love each other – mutually), “kwehamo” (to help each other, to cooperate), “okwesigangana” (to trust each other), “okushoborolangana” (to explain to each other, to advise).

Child-led organizations in Nshamba

• Training (leadership, bookkeeping, project planning, agriculture, animal keeping)

• Income generation and savings (VSI-Bank) • Organization: Youth Facilitators • Self-defense for girls and PiaD for boys• Educational support • Etc.

Quantity

VSI: about 1’500 TatuTano: about 1’500

BUT WHAT IS WITH THE QUALITY?

Impact evaluation (2005) by Glynis Clatcherty and Prof. David Donald

Sample

Project group VSI (13-18 years old): 108 Project group Rafiki Mdogo (9-12 years old): 108TOTAL : 216 (since two years in the VSI/RM)

Control group 13-18 years old: 1089-12 years old: 108TOTAL: 216

Outcome Indicators

• Social support network • Emotional stress• Self-confidence • Future orientation • Survival knowledge (HIV-AIDS)• Income generation • Coping skills

1. Social network

• PG showed consistently more specific named peer friendship compared to CG

• PG friendship involved beside practical support emotional support, social skill development and sense of identity

• PG established significantly more adult relationships which contributed to a wider connection to the community

Social network PG

Social network CG

2. Emotional stress

Quantitative: Reynolds Child Depression ScalePG 13-18 years: score 20.67CG 13-18 years: score 33.50

PG 9-12 years: score 20.43CG 9-12 years: score 41.93

Qualitative: PG: Less stones in the basket

Emotional stress (13-18)

Emotional stress (9-12)

Em otional Stre s s (9-12)

Condition ef f ec t: F(1)=15.36, p<.001

V ertic al bars denote 0.95 c onf idenc e interv als

Projec t Control

Condition

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3.Confidence

• PG described much more solutions or attempted solutions

• PG showed a greater variety of strategies for solving their problems

• CG showed a sense of powerlessness

4. Survival Knowledge (HIV/AIDS)

• Significant difference between PG and CG

5. Future Orientation

• Quantitative date showed little differences in terms of goals

• PG showed a more detailed understanding what they would need to do in order to achieve their goals (greater internal locus of control)

6. Income Generation

3 cluster selected Mean individual income :PG TZS 6’857/=CG ZTS 2’230/= Expenditures of all 3 clustersPG: capital: TZS 77’700/=, savings: TZS 35’500/=CG: capital: TZS 16’300/=, savings: TZS 8’780/=

7. Coping skills

• PG mentioned a wide range of skills in agriculture, business, sporting, social and emotional coping skills that they learned in the last two years

• CG were limited to a narrow range of skills that they have learned in the last two years

Non-comparative date:Community perception

• Caretakers, elderly and community leaders see the VSI-members as hard working and well behaving

• They see that they have many friends and are supporting each other

• Community perceives them not anymore as a “victim” but as a contributing member to the community

Conclusions of the evaluators

• The tool is effective in meetings its goal of key dimensions of resilience building

• The tool is wholly participative • The children perceive the outcomes as

meaningful

Potential of a CLO: Self-defense

Challenge: How to keep / increase the quality of the acquired knowledge of the SD-techniques

Weekly training meetings in 23 clusters (including 6 Primary- and 6 Secondary Schools) with assistant trainers

Potential of a CLO: PSS

Challenge: how to reach 1’500 children for “direct, external” PSS-support (not provided indirectly through the model of CLO). Solution:- We formed groups of 25-30 children - 92 older TT-members (2 per each group) have

been selected and trained in 7 topics which they facilitated to the groups

The 7 topics

• What are the strengths (and weaknesses) of our group?• What are my individual strengths (and weaknesses) and

their role for my group?• Sexual and reproductive health • HIV and AIDS• Is TT developing competences for the future? • How to deal with difficult feelings?• What is a good separation from my family?

Potential of a CLO: PAMOJA

Challenge: How to extend (individual) prevention to a social or institutional level? Objective: People will commit 1. Not to harm the body of children and youth2. To support victims of violence

Implementation

1. Cluster decides to join or not2. Election of a committee3. Committee selects 3 sub-villages per cluster4. 2 SD-girls and 2 PiaD-boys visit the chairperson

of the sub-village and request the cooperation5. Small research in each village about level of

violence 6. Start of the mobilization

Badge

What makes the tool producing energy?

Assumption 1 is based on constructivismThomas’ theorem “What is perceived as real is real in its consequences”. If a child perceives the TatuTano as a possibility of a change towards the better then energy will be channeled in this direction and the child will in reality improve its conditions which will act again as reinforcement for further change.

What makes the tool producing energy?

Assumption 2: “LTP – Long Term Potentiation”Synapsis form networks in our brain. More a network is activated more efficiently it

will be tied together and will transmit stronger signals. There is a “development from the initially tiny ‘nerve-path’ to more and more solid roads and finally to broad and veritable high-ways” (Huether)

Neuronal network

What influences LTP’s

Different factors seem to influence the production of LTP’s among them • the frequency of being activated • the success which is followed by the

activation.

Speculating a step further: From efficiency to identity

Gulio Tononi: “Consciousness is integrated information”Consciousness originates always then when data are interlinked in a certain complex way – and at that occasion blend into a inseparable conglomerate of information.

Thank you