44892 Questions? May 2008 Volume 2, Issue 3 Contact j4p@worldbank.org “Leh Wi Tok for Change Wi Village1”: Community Dissemination of Research Findings by Gibrill S Jalloh and Lyttelton Braima, Justice for the Poor – Sierra Leone* Introduction What is J4P? Drama has long been used to promote create a space for dialogue between Justice for the Poor (J4P) is a global research and community dialogue on social and political authorities and vulnerable groups. In a development program change.2 The recent experience of the context where many community members aimed at informing, World Bank’s Justice for the Poor (J4P) are illiterate, drama can also raise designing and supporting program in Sierra Leone shows that awareness of ongoing disputes and pro-poor approaches to drama can be a particularly effective encourage community members to justice reform. It is an medium for engaging poor and illiterate identify possible solutions. approach to justice reform communities. J4P, in partnership with the which: Campaign for Good Governance (CGG), a * The authors are grateful to the Africa Justice for the Poor local NGO, recently teamed with a team members for their assistance editing this note. 1 “Leh Wi Tok for Change Wi Village” is a Creole phrase • Sees justice from the community drama group, Future Leaders meaning “Let us talk to change our village”. perspective of the Action Group for Education (FLAGE), to 2 See for instance, Z. Mda, When People Play People: poor/marginalized disseminate the findings of J4P’s research Development Communication through Theater, on local level governance and justice Johannesburg, Witwatersrand University Press, 1993; • Is grounded in social administration in Sierra Leone. The D. Conrad, “Exploring Risky Youth Experiences: and cultural contexts Popular Theatre as a Participatory, Performative dissemination program provided an Research Method,” International Journal of Qualitative • Recognizes the opportunity to thank those communities Methods, 3(1) 2004. Retrieved 1 May 2008 from importance of demand that hosted researchers during the field http://www.ualberta.ca/~iiqm/backissues/3_1/html in building equitable research, and to encourage community /conrad.html; R. Gray et al., “The Use of Research- ownership of the research findings. J4P’s based Theatre in a Project related to Metastatic Breast justice systems Cancer,” Health Expectations, 3, 2000, pp. 137-144. experience shows that drama can help to • About the Research Understands justice as a cross-sectoral issue In 2006, Justice for the Poor initiated a research in a number of rural and peri- qualitative research program which aimed urban provinces of Sierra Leone in order to understand how poor and marginalized to map the roles and responsibilities of groups navigate justice and governance traditional (local) authorities, as well as institutions in Sierra Leone. Local level community and individual grievances. The justice and governance institutions are research further highlighted the channels intertwined and largely based on of complaints, from the family circle to the traditional or customary law and power local court and other formal institutions. structures. The formal state judicial The majority of findings pointed to the structure and formal governance exclusion of the poor, youth and women institutions are largely inaccessible to the in community decisions on important majority of Sierra Leoneans. Thus, issues such as community funds and interventions targeting justice sector community development projects. reform require an understanding of the However, researchers also found cases of interplay between formal and informal communities challenging local authorities. justice administration, as well as the For example, some respondents dynamics of local governance. questioned authorities on issues such as the use of resources and the provision of J4P and CGG carried out extensive field communal labor. Drama and Dissemination Why Drama? reenact the case studies collected during In Sierra Leone, poverty and lack of the research. The team also decided educational opportunities characterize the which cases to present in which location, lives of many local communities. Illiteracy taking care to avoid reenacting case is therefore an important factor to take studies that might provoke confusion or into account when considering how to conflict in communities. For instance, two disseminate complex or ‘sensitive’ out of the five dramas were not presented information at the community level. This in one particular site because the case was the key challenge facing J4P when it studies centered around powerful local decided to share its research findings with figures in the area. It was thought that the communities that had participated in presenting those two cases in that site the field research. J4P overcame this might cause problems for the community. challenge by building on the tradition of oral communication typically used in rural The Day of the Performance villages. The dissemination took the form of a meeting at the village court “barry”1, or in Actor portraying a corrupt Communities in Sierra Leone have a long some communities, a venue prepared paramount chief tradition of storytelling. For the vast specially for that occasion. In certain sites majority of them, access to recreational the villagers were informed about the “Communities in facilities is limited or non-existent. program by a “village town crier” the night Storytelling is thus a valuable tool for before the meeting. In other sites, Sierra Leone amusement, communication, education, community mobilization proved difficult and information. J4P therefore decided to due to misinformation about the purpose have a long communicate the research findings to of the drama program. In some cases, communities in the form of a story. communities believed that the drama tradition of Community drama presented a unique performance was a development methodology for bringing communities workshop, open only to the powerful and storytelling. It is together in an informal forum where they elite groups. In such instances, the could debate sensitive issues and identify research team and the drama group a valuable tool solutions to ongoing conflicts. collaborated on the day of the event to quickly correct misinformation about the for amusement, Planning and Preparation performance. Members of the drama J4P and CGG sorted through the more group beat their “talking drums” and sang communication, than 150 cases documented during field songs throughout the community to research and selected five cases to publicize the events and mobilize villagers. education, and present to communities through The drama performances brought together community drama. The selected cases various groups, including local leaders, information.” illustrate common issues such as teachers, school pupils, and women, as corruption, fraud, abuses of power, and well as farmers and marketers. Some of social injustices. However, some cases them arrived in their “best dress”, also highlight communities constructively demonstrating that this was indeed a challenging leaders responsible for special occasion for the community. They injustices and holding them to account. In sat beside one another in rows on wooden Sierra Leone, it is still uncommon to hear benches that were arranged in a manner of local people challenging their leaders, that gave everyone an opportunity to hear even when the leaders are clearly in the and get a full view of the performance. wrong. The research team believed that sharing the positive experiences of one Prior to each presentation, the drama community would inspire other rural group performed an ice-breaker, which communities to stand up against some of comically depicted every day occurrences the very ills that have kept them poor for in rural Sierra Leone. This first comic so long. display was intended to capture the audience’s attention and set the tone for Working with J4P and CGG, the drama the presentations to come. The ice- group then developed a series of short breaker skits were intended to create a skits and role-plays using Creole (the fun and lighthearted atmosphere, and to lingua franca in Sierra Leone) and a encourage the audience to reflect upon variety of other local languages, to every day life in their own communities. Following the ice-breaker skit, a facilitator from the “mi fambul dem, wetin wi go do wit wi pekin, di CTA research team entered the stage and introduced the first chairman?”, meaning, “my family members, what drama. The dramatists then appeared on stage, dressed in should we do with our child, the CTA chairman?” The comical costumes of worn out clothes, mismatched shoes, audience in turn replied, “yes chief, leh wi pul di man faces dotted with chalk, and oversized neck ties dangling pan da post,” meaning, “yes chief, let us remove the over exaggerated stomachs. This type of costume is man from the position.” The audience then voted by a characteristic of how comedians in Sierra Leone portray the show of hands to remove the corrupt CTA chairman. lifestyle of the different social and ethnic groups. Local artists also use this type of comedy to communicate to the Each presentation concluded with an open forum public. discussion between the audience and a facilitator from the dissemination team. The discussions were tailored The five research cases presented in the dramas illustrated to the topic and elicited responses on issues raised in instances of villagers demanding public accountability. The the drama presentations, including suggestions on how specific stories featured the following anecdotes: to mitigate and prevent their recurrence in real life. • a community confronting embezzlement of school While the audience responded well to all of the dramas, funds and democratically replacing corrupt community the dramatization of the case study involving the officials embezzlement of school funds generated a particularly • a community prosecuting a fraudulent development lively debate among the participants. The majority of practitioner who stole money on the premise of helping responses centered on the accountability of public to build houses officers. For instance, one middle-aged man questioned • local community leaders mobilizing communal labor to why the paramount chief, who is the head of the construct a feeder road chiefdom, did not know about the embezzlement at the • youth confronting chiefs for unfair distribution of rice school. A female teacher present in the audience was • protesting against community leaders dominating the curious to know if she and other staff members have selection of development projects the right to know about the subsidy that her school receives. A head teacher, who was also in attendance, A narrative of one of these cases has been illustrated in the interjected in the discussion and clarified that the text box below. school subsidy is a small amount of money intended to augment other fees collected by schools but is not Community Participation sufficient to cover all expenses and often does not In general, audiences responded to the community drama arrive at the school for an entire year. In a bid to clarify with excitement. In many instances, community members the different comments, an old man cautioned that it is identified with the characters and events portrayed in the important to first investigate whether the subsidies are dramas, as evidenced by the frequent murmurs and side really coming before launching accusations against comments from the audience. Outbursts from participants schools or officials. indicated a general understanding of the messages communicated in the drama presentations. The cast 1 Court “barry”, sometimes spelled “bari” or “baray”, is used to refer occasionally involved the audience in the performance to the facility where the native administrative court sits. By village standards, it is a fairly large building with a space that accommodates through direct engagement in on-stage dialogue, large numbers of people. It also hosts the offices of the paramount encouraging contributions from audience members. In the chief, chiefdom treasury clerk, and the native administrative court embezzlement case, for example, an actor playing the chairman. It can also serve as a community center for political and paramount chief faced the audience and asked in Creole, social events. Case Summary: Confronting Embezzlement of School Funds A Paramount Chief called a meeting to discuss discontent over the deteriorating condition of the primary school and the head teacher’s frequent demands for money from parents. The leader of the village women’s group explained that she had attended an NGO meeting in a neighboring village and learned that the government pays subsidies to primary schools - information which the head teacher had kept secret from the village authorities over the years. During the meeting the head teacher, whose official retirement was due, was requested to give an account of how he had utilized the money. His statement of account did not convince the villagers, who accused him of embezzlement and misuse of public funds. The head teacher admitted to the charges and apologized to the community. The village authorities showed magnanimity by asking him to provide materials for the rehabilitation of the school, rather than face prosecution in court. The convicted man accepted the settlement and agreed to provide cement and zinc before his retirement. In the same case, the Chairman of the Community Teachers Association (CTA) was found guilty of misappropriating money meant for the printing of pupils’ report cards. He was removed in a well-organized community meeting and replaced by the women’s leader through constructive engagement with the village authorities. Lessons Learned The drama provided a highly effective towards any type of “development and engaging medium for disseminating program” as a result of unfulfilled complex and potentially sensitive promises made by some NGOs and other messages to rural communities. The development actors. In such cases, the experience of J4P and its local partners ice-breaker skits proved highly effective shows that the success of local drama in drawing a crowd, creating a fun and programs depends on a number of lively atmosphere, and clarifying that the factors, including community event was intended to entertain the mobilization, the treatment of sensitive community. information, and use of comedy to capture the attention of the audience. Sensitivity of information In disseminating politically or socially Community mobilization sensitive messages to a general To have a lasting impact, community audience, care must be taken to avoid Audience discussion of issues raised during dissemination dialogue on political and social change fuelling local grievances. Every effort must involve all members of society. It must be made to avoid incriminating “In disseminating was therefore important that the J4P local leaders or resurrecting underlying dissemination team ensured that the problems in the community. But avoiding politically or socially local authorities and ordinary community all references to “sensitive” issues may sensitive messages, members felt equally welcome to attend dilute messages that communicate the the drama presentations. In the context benefits of positive political and social care must be taken to of rural Sierra Leonean villages, outsiders change. J4P’s experiences shows that the avoid fuelling who enter a community and interact with use of comedy in an informal forum can local residents require the prior approval help to break down barriers, and grievances, of local authorities, particularly if they facilitate dialogue between local leaders incriminating local intend to host a public event. and residents on community issues. leaders or resurrecting Accordingly, J4P sent a team member to Further, comedy helps to ensure that each site two or three days ahead of the audience members remain engaged in underlying problems. drama presentation, with letters to the drama presentations and follow-up But avoiding all introduce the team, publicize the event, discussions. and to collaborate with local residents on references to logistics, including food for participants. The methodology used to disseminate “sensitive” issues may J4P’s experience shows that letters to information to communities should officials are not necessarily sufficient for always reflect the socio-economic and dilute messages that community mobilization. Word of mouth cultural background of the intended communicate the on the day of the event is critical. Also, audience. Using drama to communicate benefits of positive the food provided for the participants as the findings from J4P’s field research in a ‘thank you’ for hosting the field Sierra Leone provided an invaluable political and social research likely contributed to the large opportunity for the research team to gain change.” turnout. feedback from the communities. The use of local languages ensures that the Further Information Communities’ previous experiences with audience understands and identifies with development actors impacted the the content of the skits. As observed Visit our website: mobilization process for the presentation. from the audience’s reactions, the www.worldbank.org/justiceforthepoor In some cases, anticipation of financial messages on community participation, remuneration for attendance at a challenging corrupt practices, and “development workshop,” as often holding their local leaders and public Questions? happens in Sierra Leone, might have servants to account were well received. E-mail: j4p@worldbank.org been an incentive for some community members to attend the performances. In J4P will continue to utilize creative other cases, however, it proved difficult dissemination techniques, in Sierra Leone to draw an initial crowd to the drama and elsewhere, to ensure that research presentation. This was particularly true in findings are accessible to and shared communities that have grown skeptical with local communities. Justice for the Poor Briefing Notes provide up-to-date information on current topics, findings, and concerns of J4P’s multi-country research. The views expressed in the notes are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the World Bank.