Walking with Amadou: Child citizens of Dakar

Children are competent, capable and can fully participate in sharing their experiences. This is one of ImagiNation Afrika’s core beliefs. All our work is based on the lived realities of young children in Senegal. Advocacy on behalf of children must pull its credibility from on the ground, tangible experiences of children. Children’s own voices and experiences should lead the narrative where possible.

Children can be involved in advocacy at a variety of levels. Beyond participating in data collection, you can aim to present the data to children in accessible ways. With well trained facilitators and appropriate support children themselves can be advocates for more nurturing environments. Using pop-up play spaces, ImagiNation Afrika shows how children react positively to more play spaces in their neighborhoods. Caregivers and local municipalities often witness this engagement with children aged 0-3 and become champions themselves for more play spaces.

Walking with Amadou

Thanks to your contributions, we partnered with 3 year olds Soukeyna, Antou and Amadou to film a series of videos to showcase the city from their point of view as 3yr olds, and that of their caretakers. The video series captured the experience of young children in the marketplace, at the mayor’s office, in the health center, in a public play-space, at the beach, interacting with local commerce, trying to navigate the streets, on a bus and in a private childcare center.

We are excited to share with you the videos created and learn more about the learning environments from the perspective of young children. 

Links:

• Walking with Amadou: A playlist of child advocacy