Week 2: Understanding Perceptions and Demographics
Last week was all about a field research road trip to Thies and Kaolack with the goal of understanding each branch’s operational capacity and the perception of YMCA programs. This was achieved by interviewing participants, government partners, volunteers and staff about YMCA programs.
Among the most memorable moments were a stop at the national center for the blind where we conducted a focus group about YMCA Senegal programs and a visit to a health centre in Thies where teachers with disabilities implement a YMCA educational program teaching a variety of subjects including French, Arabic and Tailoring.
Defining and Measuring
Over 62.5% of Senegalese citizens are 25 or younger. The implications of this unevenly distributed population structure are far reaching as it diminishes the available tax base and increases the cost of programs such as education. Think the “baby boom” bomb that we hear so much about but in reverse.
Finding government funding can be difficult in this context. In one instance I asked a regional government manager of health education how much her budget was to provide health care information in their region and with a laugh and a smile she replied “$0”. Foreign funded programs and individual donations and program participation fees are key to the operation of NGOs in Senegal.
Below is an excerpt and slide from the communication plan I am working on that outlines some other key statistics to define and measure the issues at hand.
Losing the sense of “home”- Urbanization is a global trend but has been quickened in Senegal by a longer than average dry period. This has forced the population of many agricultural villages to migrate into the city. The urbanization rate in each year for the last 5 years has been about 3.5% per year. From my interviews there is a sense of a loss of home in the grand sense. That is although people may have houses, there is a loss of a sense of place and belonging. Historically this has been a theme expressed in art and music in other mass city migrations cross culturally. See the American Dust Bowl in the 1930s for example
- Potential opportunities: This narrative can be interpreted as the voice of the client. Efforts should be made to position the YMCA as a place where one can re-find this loss of home through community building activities. This message appeals both to volunteers and participants in programs and is exactly what the YMCA does! To achieve this volunteers could be trained in the mission of the idea and how it relates to this sense of loss. One can take the same message to promote the YMCA programs through a potential marketing campaign along the lines of “Chez YMCA”. YMCA Home.
Internet strategy - The internet has been one of the main driving forces for change in this world but only 1 in 10 of Senegalese people have access. Nonetheless the internet is Senegal’s doorway to the world and is of utmost important in achieving it’s fundraising goals. Currently the internet strategy seems to face inwards, with much of the content developed for local audiences. There are also capacity issues, ranging from internet connection availability to the lack of a functioning online donation platform.
- Potential opportunities (local): Although internet use statistics are low. The YMCA should maintain local branch involvement through Facebook pages as internet usage will grow in the coming decade especially with the development of projects like internet.org . A best practices document and content templates should be developed to guide volunteers at the branch level in charge of internet communications.
- Potential opportunities (national) : At the national level both the Facebook page and web page can be geared towards the international audience. An organized update schedule could be created to ensure regular updating. To capitalize on the upcoming international meeting of African YMCAs an electronic donation platform will be essential.
Girl power - One of the first issues encountered particularly with the Act 2 Live project was that there is a large difference between male and female participants. This issue has come up in public town hall discussions and shows up in the Act 2 Live program statistics. One branch reported yearly that out of a total workshop participation of 2,150 only 406 girls participated. One explanation offered by my colleague is that there are just less females than males when it comes to the country’s homeless youth which is a primary source of program participation. Results will have to be corroborated with the participation rates of other programs.
- Potential opportunity: If there is a gender gap between program participation of females and males. It could present an opportunity to find new members. The gender ratio is close to 1 in Senegal meaning that a large part of the population is not being served. Suggestion include female only program discussions and reaching out to women’s advocacy organizations. The average family has about 4 or more children therefore promoting female focused programs to existing male participants may increase the chances of sibling word of mouth
Islam: Senegal’s population is 94% Islamic. Within the branches there is some collaboration with community groups but this varies from branch to branch.
- Potential opportunity: Highlighting the diversity and inclusiveness aspect of the Y when constructing what message to communicate. Reaching out to existing islamic community groups and networks to promote YMCA programs such as literacy
The last week has been a whirlwind of learning, experiences and sweating! (it is about 40 degrees in Kaolack. Whew!). The mosquitos also ate me alive, which made it very hard to keep the camera still as I tried to film for a video were working on! I am back in Dakar now but this weekend I hope to see Goree Island which houses a museum dedicated to understanding the Atlantic Slave trade.
Until next time!
Pablo Rojas
(*Many of the statistics found in the article were taken from the world factbook. A great source of national statistics which profiles all countries)
Week 2 – Understanding Perceptions and Demographics
Week 3 & 4 – Ile-de-Goree ancient ocean beds and the little differences/
