How has he accomplished this? First he breaks-the-ice, and has his audience watch the animated version of Aladdin. The enchantment and action of the story does nothing less than invigorate and enthuse the children. Once the movie is over, Jonathan uses an unconventional tool for targeting kids; a PowerPoint presentation. However, by using the images seen in the cartoon as the backdrop, Jonathan is able to keep the interest of his young crowd when addressing gender issues.
Jonathan’s second step is to get older participants involved. He will usually facilitate a session, as the discussion is led by an older member of the village. The educator clarifies information for the children, and answers questions as necessary, becoming inherently familiar with the subject. As the chief audience is fairly young, Jonathan repeats the same presentation once again, after a week or two, either as the main speaker, or using a different peer educator.
Jonathan’s work has shown that gender awareness can be broached at any age, by involving varying age groups!
This is a great opportunity for PCVs to encourage their students to become peer educators themselves, and to improve on their presentation skills.
Find Jonathan’s PowerPoint here to use with your youth group today!
