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Name of organisation: Child Rights Information and Documentation Centre (CRIDOC)
Address: P. O. Box X204, Post Dot Net, Crossroads, Lilongwe, Malawi
Tel: +265175009
Fax: +265175005
E-mail: info@cridoc.net
Website: www.cridoc.net
Contact name: George Mwika Kayange
About the programme
CRIDOC was established in November 2003, but most of our activities were started after we got officially registered as a non-profit organisation in 2006 under the laws of Malawi. Since then, we have established child rights clubs in schools through which we disseminate information and raise awareness about child rights among children through interactive debates, drama, etc.
We also have a youth/resource centre at our secretariat where children come to access various kinds of information. However, the centre exists in our locality which is in the capital city (town) where children learn/discuss issues affecting them, including human rights, HIV/AIDS, reproductive health, climate change, etc. We have challenges in rolling out the same program into the rural areas due to resource constraints.
Child-to-Child activities
CRIDOC was established in Malawi to create access to information on child rights or related issues through research, documentation, ICT, education and other media and communication channels. Our main aim is to raise awareness among children about issues that affect them in particular, and society at large. Issues may include HIV/AIDS, reproductive health, right to education, etc.
Encouraging child participation
We engage and mobilise children to take part in debates and several other activities through the child rights clubs which we have established in various schools. We have two manuals which we use (developed by the Malawi Human Rights Resource Centre (MHRRC) - http://www.humanrights.mw . MHRRC has produced and published a Source Book and Teachers Guide on Child Rights being used by stakeholders. We first provide the club patrons a thorough orientation on how to use the manuals. CRIDOC has never used the version of the step approach developed by Child-to-child when implementing our activities as we are yet to explore it. (We have not been aware of it until now.)
Involvement of schools and communities
There are currently 12 schools within Lilongwe which are involved in this project and numbers are growing.
Before establishing child rights clubs, we consult with the head teachers in each school and orient them on the need of having such clubs; we explain to them the aims and objectives of such clubs and how what the children are going to learn would be linked to their day-to-day lives, their school life, etc. In future, we have plans to roll out some of our activities into the communities where parents and out-of-school children can participate and equally benefit; currently, we have only developed project concepts detailing how such vision will be achieved.
So far, we haven’t involved parents in our school clubs (due to resource constraints), although plans are there to do so.
Evaluation
We monitor through the periodic reports we get from the club patrons (i.e. selected teachers who look after the clubs).
We also from time to time physically visit the cubs and participate in the activities.
Children are involved directly by interacting with them during monitoring; but parents have never been involved so far.
The Child-to-Child approach has resulted in increased awareness on the part of children of issues affecting themselves... we have received encouraging feedback from the patrons (teachers) on how the clubs have assisted them. The most significant weakness though is the absence of parents so far who have not been involved due to logistical challenges.
Delivery of Child-to-Child
Teachers have been trained/oriented on how to strategically use the manuals in order to effectively conduct various activities during scheduled interactions with club members. CRIDOC staff conducts the training/orientation assisted by one or two experts from our partner organisations. The trainers received their original training through short courses offered both locally and internationally, as well as through self-taught (i.e. research).
The content areas/topics of the training sessions include the following:
• Introductory explanation of the rights of the child
• Civil Rights and freedoms,
• The rights of the child in the family
• Primary health care and child abuse
• Education, leisure and cultural activities
• Special protection measures
Some of the activities/approaching used include role plays, questions and answers, class discussions, group work and reporting, field work, case studies, etc.
Child-to-Child Materials
We are still exploring new ways and materials we could be using to enhance our work in the area of Child-to-Child activities in school clubs
Date: October 2009
Source: George Mwika Kayange, CRIDOC
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