Introduction

In keeping with the Phase 2 AKN call for proposals, this project investigated modern slavery as a development challenge. As such we employed a community development approach to our research which meant adopting a capacity building approach through the use of training. During this capacity building element of the project, participants were introduced to the use of a Participatory Learning Workshops (PLWs) approach as part of their training in the use of Community Media-based Participatory Research (CMBPR) techniques.

Participatory Learning Workshops (PLWs)

To achieve this we employed an active learning approach  (PEARLS – Partnership Education & Action Research Learning Scenarios) designed by CM4K (Day, et al, 2014; Day & Mac’Ouma, 2018). The purpose of the capacity building approach we employed was twofold: 1) to train participants as community media researchers/practioners, and 2) elicit stories known to them about modern slavery. It is worth restating here that the project adopts a research methods for community  change (Stoecker, 2012) approach and employs participatory community development research processes to achieve this. Both scenarios were based on the outcomes of the community conversations that preceeded these Participatory Learning Workshops (PLWs).

Scenario-based PLWs

Two related scenarios were presented to the participants, all of whom were active representatives of local community groups. The outputs from the active dialogue of community participant groups are presented below. Throughout the project we have focussed on  capturing the voices of the community and, as such, it should be noted that each group worked at its own pace and addressed the scenarios in their own way. We wanted the workshops to reflect their thoughts, their beliefs, their culture and their perceptions and not be driven by us. This meant that not every group addressed the scenarios in the same way – this diversity made the group presentations  stimulating and at times, a little surprising.

It should also be noted that there were significantly more participants for scenario 2 than there were for scenario 1. This was due to the weather and responsibilities on the homesteads. For PLw 1 there were around 20 participants formed into 3 groups. In PLW2 there were over 40 participants who formed into 6 groups.

PLW1

You have been invited by a community to engage with them in discussions of problems relating to modern-day slavery as it affects their community, e.g. child labour, forced & early marriages, debt-bondage, human traficking and FGM. Discuss the causes of modern slavery; explore ways in which awareness of these issues might be raised; and consider how it may be addressed within the community. Which agencies might be involved? How could policy administrations assist in these processes and should they?

Causes of modern slavery?

Group 1 focussed mainly of early marriage and child labour during their discussions. They defined early marriage as being children (usually young girls) between the ages of 8 to 17 who are forced to ‘marry’ older man. They agreed that such practices usually occur among the Kuria, Massai and Kisii peoples in the region but it is also clear to us that such practices also occur among the local Luos.

A number of causes of early marriage were identified:

1. Poverty
2. Poor parenting
3. Orphaned children – often from HIV/AIDS households – seeking security or sold by family members
4. Where FGM is still practiced – young girls are viewed as adults and so the girl can be given or sold into marriage by the parents
5. As an escape from domestic violence and/or sexual abuse – often the child moves from one set of problems with people they know to another set of problems with people they don’t know
6. Lack of education/knowledge and information
7. Community (tribal) culture
8. Peer pressure

Child labour was defined as forcing a child, of any gender, who is under 18, to work in exchange for money, e.g. housemaid, tending herds of animals, boda boda riders

Causes of child labour were identified as:

1. Poverty
2. Family conflict/neglect
3. Poor parental care
4. School fees/dropouts,
5. Orphaned children forced to fend for themselves

Group 2 concluded that early marriages are caused by:

1. Poverty within families
2. Early pregnancies causing shame and stigma
3. Pressure from parents – often caused by ignorance and illiteracy
4. Orphans – lack of parental guidance
5. Lack of education

They listed the causes of Child Labour as:

1. Poverty – children put to work to bring in money
2. Lack of support within families to cater to the adequate needs of the children resulting in children engaging in casual labour in an attempt to meet these needs themselves
3. Lack of action from the administration on people practicing child labour

Group 2 also looked at child trafficking as an inter and intra location/county boundry issue, citing the following causes:

1. Barrenness among women
2. Poverty in families
3. Early pregnancies

It was also felt that the introduction of accessible events such as sports into the community would also assist in the struggle against hoplessness that often leads to early marriage, child labour and trafficking.

Group 3  focussed mainly on child labour and discussed the following causes:

1. Poverty – Children, who can’t afford school fees/uniform or whose family don’t earn enough for food are forced to look for alternative ways of survival and stop attending school. Often leading to ignorance among people in the community and a vicious cycle of child labour and early marriages
2. Cultural practices – Traditional beliefs such as women not being allowed to acquire property title deeds. Women at times might be chased away when they become widowed, forcing the children to find work to survive.
3. Lack of parental responsibility – Failure to attend to and provide for basic needs of children such as food, shelter , clothing, sanitary products.
4. Population increase – A homestead of a certain size in which the dwellers give birth to more children than is sustainable – results in children being forced to seek labour and being exploited as sources of cheap labour.

Group 4 (PLW2) – focussed on the identification of problems caused in the community by modern slavery:

1. School drop-outs
2. Early/unexpected pregnancies
3. Exploitation of vulnerable
4. FGM (culture)
5. Domestic violence

They went on to discuss the causes of modern slavery

1. Poverty (ignorance)
2. Peer pressure/influence
3. Outdated but still practiced culture
4. Lack of courtship among couples
5. Disagreements

How might the community address/combat modern slavery?

Group 1

1. Create time for & understanding of children and their needs among parents, especially young parents
2. Spiritual guidance
3. Advice to communities about health dangers of FGM and alternative rights of passage
4. Awareness raising of the damage these forms of modern slavery do – community media, chief’s baraza, churches, women’s groups meetings, funerals, community congregations

Group 2 suggested 2 main  ways of tackling the 3 forms of modern slavery under  discussion:

1. Educating the community on the effects of modern slavery
2. Exercising exisiting legal powers exercised against perpetrators

Group 3 identified the following methods for curbing child labour:

1. Creating awareness of modern ways of farming to reduce poverty levels
2. Empowering women to know their rights accompanied by the implementation and enforcement of such rights.
3. Engaging Chief Barazas to involve women and fight against discrimination
4. Parents to engage in economic activities in order to provide for basic needs of children
5. Make parents aware of the rights of children
6. Population control, e.g. family planning to be encouraged

Group 4 proposed the following solutions

1. Guidance and counselling
2. Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR)
3. Media content aired in local languages
4. Economic empowerment

Which agencies should be involved?

Each group identified similar agencies and organisation who should be actively involved in combatting modern slavery – whether it be through awarenss raising, education, social support or through the legal process.

1. Levels of government – national, county, etc.
2. NGOs and community groups
3. Churches & faith leaders
4. Community opinion leaders, e.g. Chiefs
5. Corporate companies, e.g. Safari.com
6. Media content aired in local languages
7. Inclusion in school curriculum
8. Community radio to produce programme content favouring local interests with local community members involved in programmes.
9. Once again the introduction of sports into the community was thought to be of value. It was not clear whether it was the activity or the clubs and organisations that would contribute but we suspect that it was both.

PLW 2

You are members of a community radio production team and have been invited by the community to explore ways in which the new community radio station might:

1. Help raise awareness of the problems of modern-day slavery in Migori County;
2. Campaign to effect social change (what issues need to be covered and how?); and
3. Organize content for community campaigns that contribute to solving these problems within the community.

What kind of programme content should be produced? How might community radio cover local events to produce local interest programmes. How might community stories be told on the radio in a way that has an impact on the community? Who should be approached to be involved in the programmes? Please add anything else you consider important in this scenario.

What kind of programme content?

Group 1 presented a wide ranging discussion of community radio programming in the context of modern slavery,

1. Agricultural programmes – these would provide information about and introduce modern agricultural production techniques and technologies in order to increase food production and improve food security.  They also felt that there should be regular ‘how to’ type programmes covering agricultural practices and giving particular focus on the development of agroecological zones. This was particularly popular amongst the young people with knowledge of sustainable development and the SDGs.
2. Entertainment – programmes that both entertain and inform. Here there were overtones of the old Reithian principles in the early days of the BBC, i.e. to inform, educate and entertain. Programmes that entertain whilst raising issues relating to the problems of modern slavery, such as early marriage, child labour and FGM, etc, it was felt would be popular and beneficial.
3. Programmes, especially for youth, that facilitate public awareness to youth on how to conduct themselves. It was felt that these could be linked to the organisation of youth tournaments as discussed previously.
4. Spiritual development – as a particularly religious people, Kenyans place great store in religion and faith
   
5. Content about traditional customs and beliefs that highlight the best of local culture and contribute to a sense of local identity whilst exposing its worst and most harmful aspects  to the scrutiny of public discourse.
6. Family life programming – the production of programmes that look at family life; changing values and aspirations whilst promoting responsibilities.
   
7. Advice for parents and guardians on how to relate, teach and train children in life and to eradicate domestic violence.
8. News programmes – that inform about issues relevant to the local community and raising awareness of modern slavery and informing about who is involved, why and how to combat it.
9. Children’s programmes – Invite children to the radio station where they can learn about the role and purpose of community radio. How to disseminate good information and how to conduct themselves – childrens poetry, memory verses, shairi, etc.
10. Community radio & local interest

Group 2 – identified similar types of programming:

1. Agricultural education
2. Health and lifestyle
3. Culture promotion
4. Private and public gatherings
5. Sustainable activities
6. Local advertising

Group 3 – spoke more generally but felt that talkshows and live outside broadcasts of local events were necessary.

1. Talkshows
2. Live coverage of local events
3. Involving experienced locals
4. Telling stories that relate to locals and that they might attach to directly

This group continued by discussing what the content of such shows should focus on:

1. Providing background to modern slavery in Kenya and the region
2. Discussing its effects on community
3. Considering solutions – invite professional views/locals
4. Creating employment/link employers to employees. This, it was felt, would counter the unscrupulous exploiters who take advantage of casual labour, especially child labour
5. Campaigns against antisocial practices by inviting Chiefs, police, etc
6. Community radio programming that can be used to focus on respecting the cultural diversity of different communities and bringing them together, e.g. Cham gi wadu
7. Occasional discussions about modern slavery – e.g. phone-ins
8. Development of talent through road shows and platform for training community reporters, researchers, station managers, broadcasters, etc.

How community radio might help

Group 2 suggested that community radio could – Create awareness of the problem of modern slavery by broadcasting content that reflects local culture, the locality and local languages. Create critical news relating to this community diseases, etc.

Furthermore it should be used to: 1) campaign against social problems by inviting religious leaders, counsellors, administrators, NGOs, community/local police and extension officers, etc., to discuss practices such as early marriage, child labour, child trafficking, sexual abuse, etc., what can be done about them and why they still continue to this day; 2) educate and inform the community on the negative effects of modern slavery.

Community stories impact

Discussing the significance and impact of telling community stories of modern slavery to the community, Group 2 emphasised the following:

1. Avoid going against culture – that is to say do not belittle  local traditions and identity but by the same token do not be scared to discuss publicly outdated and damaging practices and discuss alternatives, e.g.  Massai alternative rights of passage
2. Use local language to preseve a sense of identity and local culture
3. Promote cultural economy and practices

Group 3 stressed the importance of research. Identifying the problem and public perceptions, understanding, and opinions. Contextualise the problem and provide authoratative and informed content on causes and impacts, etc. (poverty/education), using first hand information wherever possible. The group felt strongly, that the informative role of radio should be used to create/use tailored programming. Local poster campaigns and advertising could be used to raise awareness of such programming.

NB Groups 4, 5 & 6 comprised quite a few people who weren’t present during PLW1 and it appears from their discussions that they did not to want to miss out on the discussions about modern slavery as a community issue. This didn’t become clear to the facilitators until they presented the thoughts of their groups in plenary. For that reason a bulleted summary of group 4’s flip chart presentation to the plenary session in PLW2 has been posted to the PLW1 scenario section above because it relates almost entirely to this scenario. Groups 5 & 6;s flip chart notations combine both PLWs 1 & 2 but it makes sense for them to be shown here, because whilst they note the problems and causes of modern slavery (PLW1) they present them in the context of PLW2, i.e. community radio’s role in raising awareness and advocating for change.

Group 5

When discussing how community stories might be told on the radio in a way that impact on the community, Group 5 argued that awareness of the following problems should be raised on community radio:

1. Forced marriage (common)
2. Child labour
3. Child abuse
4. Human trafficking
5. Debt bondage

That the campaign to effect social change should embrace the following:

1. Programmes in local language
2. Include the Chief’s Baraza to reach many people
3. Churches and faith institutions
4. Social centres
5. Organised events on specific modes of slavery
6. Encourage schools to include in the curriculum and extra-curricular activities
7. Funerals are often social events and can be the platforms from which early marriages, wife inheritance, land inheritance, etc. are arranged and where decisions are made that lead to child labour
8. Organised groups, e.g. women’s and youth groups, self-help groups should play a partnership role in all such campaigns

The group discussions relating to content production for community campaigns to solve problems within community should include:

1. Establishment of community groups to discuss challenges – programmes discussing modern slavery could include calls for groups to be established that will campain to ameliorate the damaging effects and consequences of modern slavery
2. Form rescue centres/orphanages for those in need
3. Counselling programmes on radio
4. Talk shows with phone-ins for one2one engagement
5. Roadshows highlighting the disadvantages of modern slavery
6. Invite chat shows to share and discuss challenges
7. Taking outside broadcasts and live shows into schools
8. Mobilise economic, social and emotional empowerment
9. Inform of the demerits of slavery

Group 6 identified similar problems to the other other groups in the context of modern slavery

1. Early marriage
2. Early pregnancies
3. Child abuse
4. Lack of knowledge
5. People with special needs, e.g. orphans
6. Lack of agricultural knowledge

They proposed the following solutions:

1. Sensitising campaigns against child abuse and their problems
2. Awareness raising campaigns
3. Education
4. Visiting Chief’s Baraza, markets, etc
5. Linking special needs of peoples to the skills, expertise, knowledge and resources of organisations equipped and established to deal with such matters
6. Creating and enforcing laws to protect the community

Group 6 felt community radio programming should be directed at:

1. Youth/child education
2. Adult education
3. Health education
4. Agricultural education
5. Covering local events to produce community interest programming
   1. Sports, music festivals, etc.
6. Whilst not relating directly to programming content, Group 6 felt it was also important to promote local membership of the community radio, as an organisation by and for the community, both in programmes and in the community networks at large

Utilisng community radio to tell and share stories of modern slavery in the community was important because it: 1) introduces communities to their past so they might improve their futures; and 2) involve community people in programming – local folk, administrators, specialists

Finally, Group 6 resolved that community radio is an important aspiration because it:

1. Can improve community communications and make them effective for development purposes
2. Informs and educates and thereby improves community knowledge and skills
3. Advertises local products and supports local businesses and thereby benefits the local economy and helps create employment
4. Informs, educates, entertains and empowers locals, e.g. women and youth.

Practice-based PLWs