Life Skills and Peer Education for Chadian Youth

BC life skills programme changes behavior from violence to conflict resolution, from substance abuse to healthy stress management, from alcohol as a livelihood to alternative options. Youth learn to provide feedback through social accountability scheme, girls and women are empowered and boys get skills to be positive agents for change. 

General Secretary Anne Babb and Finance Officer Katrin Schmidt had an opportunity to work with the BC Chad team. During the visit they updated skills at project cycle management (French) and good governance (French). Training focused on supporting BC Chad in meeting standards that enable involvement in development co-operation projects. Separation of powers, clear expenses policies and organizational functions were discussed. Board at BC Chad are closely connected with the project and meets regularly and reports transparently of BC Chad’s activities and finances. It was acknowledged that BC Chad wants to further develop its activities outside the Life Skills Programme too. It was discussed that further reflection is needed on communicating what is volunteering at BC Chad. What are the BC activities and what are Life Skills project activities. 

Life Skills programme is well rooted in N’Djamena schools. The need for drug and alcohol prevention activities is great and many skills that support good decision making are developed as a result of Life Skills activities. During the visit it become evident that unfortunately in Chad physical violence as tool for assertiveness is very common. Slapping and hitting children and other people is still a common practice. The IBC team talked about skills for positive assertive verbal communication and simple steps to taking responsibility of one’s behaviour. Topic is included in the LS sessions and this helps us to communicate to girls and boys that they have right for non-violent childhood and that the skills they learn now change their own families when they are parents and this changes the society to be a more peaceful place when people learn peaceful ways to solve conflicts. 

Another success in Chad is the social accountability scheme that uses feedback boxes at schools to welcome the voice of students. This has led to many positive improvements like keeping school grounds clean. Youth are more committed to support the change when they have raised the issue themselves- they also have solutions to the problems they raise. One headmaster said they “had never before thought of asking for solutions from the youth but it works! “ BC Chad wishes to spread feedback boxes to all Life Skills schools.  

You can follow the project and BC Chad on: https://www.facebook.com/croixbleuetchadienne/?epa=SEARCH_BOX

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