Youth participating in Club Espoir
“And that’s why it’s important to wash your hands!” a 10-year-old OVC confidently declared in front of all forty of his peers at Club Espoir.
About once a month, children in the OVC program attend Club Espoir, a three-hour block of time where they are allowed to leave their troubles behind, to spend time with friends, to sing, to dance, to play games. It is a rare occasion when so many children of all different ages are in the same place outside of school. How do you plan activities that are interesting and exciting for everyone? How do you make sure children are learning at the same time? Club Espoir must strike a delicate balance between fun and education. Because the Togolese education system often promotes rote memorization and passive observation over creative thinking, innovation, and participation, Club Espoir tries to step outside of that box.
The OVC team has been actively thinking about how to maximize both participation and learning during the clubs. Recently, after a flash of inspiration, they took the theme “Health and Hygiene,” defined four smaller subtopics (such as hand-washing and the importance of taking ARVs every day), and gave each subtopic to a randomly formed group of eight or so children. Each group was charged with taking the theme and creating a short skit. There was only one rule: everyone must participate.
The results were brilliant. Children came out of their shells, stepping into roles they had defined themselves. Each group performed their skit, creating a realistic scene that concentrated on relevant educational lessons, while at the same time adding humor and laughter and joy to their roles. The audience of children sat on the edge of their benches, engaged and laughing and clapping at all the right moments.
It is clear that true empowerment starts from encouraging vulnerable populations—especially youth—to participate, to create the messages their peers need to hear, to take charge of their own future and future of their community. As I’ve seen firsthand, when we empower children, we will all be surprised and inspired by the brilliance of the results.