Participation
Participating means to take part, which can be through expressing your own views, or listening to the views of others. It can mean working together and joining in.
Participation can take many different forms and can really make a difference. It can help you grow as a person, or help the lives of others. Young people can make real choices and decisions and take responsibility for them, sometimes with brilliant results. People often say that the future belongs to children – so the sooner we allow children to express their views and participate, the sooner we allow them to make a difference.
Participation can help the entire community. In a poor district of Brazil called Manaus, Maraiza (16) and Rafael (15) were among the first students to get involved with a project to clean up the Bodozal stream which ran through their neighbourhood. People who lived beside the stream threw their rubbish into it so that it was very smelly, unhealthy and flooded when the rain was heavy.
The young people realised that clearing the stream was one thing but keeping it clean was another. They had to explain to people why using the stream for rubbish disposal was harmful. To do this they had to use different methods for different age groups. For young children they put on a puppet show and with adolescents they used dance and drama. They went from house to house to explain the importance of keeping the stream clean but not everyone wanted to listen as they shifted the blame: “We don’t throw our rubbish in the stream, but our neighbours do.”
In April 2000 an important event happened which made the community stop and think. Heavy rainfall caused floods in Manaus but, for the first time, the Bodozal stream did not flood. The children explained to the community that it was because the stream wasn’t blocked with rubbish so the water could run away. Then people saw the importance of what the children had achieved.
Rafael and Maraiza are proud of their efforts. Rafael said he felt motivated and it helped him to improve himself; he even won a best student of the year award and got to spend a week in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, as his reward. Maraiza said she feels like a doctor as she is helping others by preventing disease through better hygiene, including changing the behaviour of parents in their homes.
The Mayor of Manaus congratulated all the young people involved in the project and asked them to march through the streets with banners. Now 17,000 pupils in 15 schools in the area are working on educating people about the importance of hygiene and environmental health.
Participation is not always about working with others, it can also be about helping yourself as an individual. Bega was born blind and lives in Brazil. For the first 15 years of his life he had no special care or education. Every day was bleak and empty as he waited for his brothers to come home from school and include him in their play. But it was one of his brothers, Alexandre, who helped change Bega’s life.
Alexandre had started going to an arts centre for children called Casa Grande. One day he took Bega along, and for Bega it was a new beginning. In the past year, Bega has learnt to play the guitar, harmonica and keyboard. He sings and plays like a professional. He also has his own radio programme on Casa Grande’s radio station. He has labelled all the CDs he likes to play so he can find them on his own. Soon he will go to the city of Fortaleza for a year to learn braille and skills to help him live a full life. Then he will return and help other blind children by teaching them at Casa Grande. He also hopes to be a musician and a composer.
Before Bega came to Casa Grande his future was bleak. He had few friends and no independence, his future would have been as a beggar. Now he has friends, many skills and interests and a bright future to look forward to.
When opportunities come our way, it is good to grab them with both hands. We can never know what difference it will make, to us or to others. Participation is a great way of taking control of our lives by doing something that gives us a chance to express ourselves and our ideas, whatever they may be.
Information taken from UNICEF UK publication, Discussing Global Issues: What is Participation?
Participation can take many different forms and can really make a difference. It can help you grow as a person, or help the lives of others. Young people can make real choices and decisions and take responsibility for them, sometimes with brilliant results. People often say that the future belongs to children – so the sooner we allow children to express their views and participate, the sooner we allow them to make a difference.
Participation can help the entire community. In a poor district of Brazil called Manaus, Maraiza (16) and Rafael (15) were among the first students to get involved with a project to clean up the Bodozal stream which ran through their neighbourhood. People who lived beside the stream threw their rubbish into it so that it was very smelly, unhealthy and flooded when the rain was heavy.
The young people realised that clearing the stream was one thing but keeping it clean was another. They had to explain to people why using the stream for rubbish disposal was harmful. To do this they had to use different methods for different age groups. For young children they put on a puppet show and with adolescents they used dance and drama. They went from house to house to explain the importance of keeping the stream clean but not everyone wanted to listen as they shifted the blame: “We don’t throw our rubbish in the stream, but our neighbours do.”
In April 2000 an important event happened which made the community stop and think. Heavy rainfall caused floods in Manaus but, for the first time, the Bodozal stream did not flood. The children explained to the community that it was because the stream wasn’t blocked with rubbish so the water could run away. Then people saw the importance of what the children had achieved.
Rafael and Maraiza are proud of their efforts. Rafael said he felt motivated and it helped him to improve himself; he even won a best student of the year award and got to spend a week in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, as his reward. Maraiza said she feels like a doctor as she is helping others by preventing disease through better hygiene, including changing the behaviour of parents in their homes.
The Mayor of Manaus congratulated all the young people involved in the project and asked them to march through the streets with banners. Now 17,000 pupils in 15 schools in the area are working on educating people about the importance of hygiene and environmental health.
Participation is not always about working with others, it can also be about helping yourself as an individual. Bega was born blind and lives in Brazil. For the first 15 years of his life he had no special care or education. Every day was bleak and empty as he waited for his brothers to come home from school and include him in their play. But it was one of his brothers, Alexandre, who helped change Bega’s life.
Alexandre had started going to an arts centre for children called Casa Grande. One day he took Bega along, and for Bega it was a new beginning. In the past year, Bega has learnt to play the guitar, harmonica and keyboard. He sings and plays like a professional. He also has his own radio programme on Casa Grande’s radio station. He has labelled all the CDs he likes to play so he can find them on his own. Soon he will go to the city of Fortaleza for a year to learn braille and skills to help him live a full life. Then he will return and help other blind children by teaching them at Casa Grande. He also hopes to be a musician and a composer.
Before Bega came to Casa Grande his future was bleak. He had few friends and no independence, his future would have been as a beggar. Now he has friends, many skills and interests and a bright future to look forward to.
When opportunities come our way, it is good to grab them with both hands. We can never know what difference it will make, to us or to others. Participation is a great way of taking control of our lives by doing something that gives us a chance to express ourselves and our ideas, whatever they may be.
Information taken from UNICEF UK publication, Discussing Global Issues: What is Participation?
Activities for Classes/Groups
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