The Youth Vote - Is Social Media the Answer?

Ghana’s 2012 election is already underway. What separates this election season from all others is not only the biometric registration process, but the communication efforts behind it. GhanaDecides, a local collective comprised of GhanaBlogging, has effectively launched a social media campaign aimed at engaging the nation’s youth to participate in the election process. The group has invested considerable time, money and effort in creating and managing blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr accounts to bring attention to their cause. While this sounds highly progressive and great in theory, what will be the actual payoff of a social media campaign in Ghana? Will it be an effective way to target a considerable number of the target demographic of potential youth voters?

Although Ghana is developing rapidly, it’s youth demographic is still a far cry from being as technologically versed with social media platforms as their Westernized counterparts. (I can say from experience that) Most youth in the Western world have the luxury of constant, immediate, high-speed internet access 24/7 (which is why social and viral media campaigns works so well), whereas in Ghana one computer per household (with internet access) is rarely a given, let alone per individual. According to www.internetworldstats.com 79% of North Americans use the internet compared to 14% of Africans. Even the test group that was used to pilot this social media proposal were students from the University of Winneba; educated individuals who, for the most part are more informed about the electoral process than the average Ghanaian in the same age range.

Before I go any further, I will say that I absolutely applaud the efforts of GhanaDecides to bring the nation to the forefront by using social media as a platform to discuss the election but I don’t know how much it will affect the average Ghanaian. While Facebook and blogs are definitely a good vehicles given their popularity not only nationally but globally, the other social media sites may suffer a lack of hits. The poor dexterity of the internet connection here makes it hard for YouTube videos to load quickly. I also don’t think Flickr has as much social media pull as it does in North America and finally, Twitter is still utilized more organizationally within Ghana than it is socially at this point in time.

With all of that said, disenfranchised groups like the street youth that YA work with, have even less access to information about the voting process. At its heart, Ghana is still very much a traditional society that looks towards grassroots leadership to steer community action. People still look towards religious leaders and social and community groups to provide guidance on such issues of national importance.

YA has been is running workshops in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions. These involve respected community members as role models with the ability to influence the vulnerable youth to become educated on fair and peaceful elections so that they in turn become advocates within their peer group. It’s a very hands-on approach to building understanding, enthusiasm and respect for a process that has the potential to change the course of many lives.

I’m all for using technology to send important messages to the right people at the right time, but the technology must also be appropriate. The internet is a wonderful way to share individual's stories and experiences with a broad audience but perhaps an all-out social media barrage is not the way to go about engaging youth this election season with the biometric system already being such a new and innovative concept. Ghana is a nation that has embraced mobile telecommunications; it’s not unusual to see individuals with multiple phones or phone lines. Perhaps a Facebook campaign run alongside a texting campaign that sent out text message blasts to all major phone networks’ youth subscribers (you can only buy a phone line with ID so demographic information should be easily accessible) would have been a more effective way of making the process more inclusive. Just a thought!

Let us know what you think about the social media’s current ability to reach youth in Ghana! (I guess we’ll know by the sheer number who comment on this post :p)

You can also read more about YA's election education campaign through my personal blog.

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Street Youth Leader Meeting, Tamale

                The past two weeks have been busy for Youth Alive in our recent work with bringing a peaceful election in Ghana this year.
                 Thanks to funding from STAR-Ghana, on March 15^th Youth Alive had its first meeting with street youth leaders at the Tizza. The youth leaders came from the Abaobo market, the central bus stop of Tamale and the Metro Mass Station.  This meeting equipped them with the knowledge necessary to inform the youth about the upcoming election and the importance of voting. Topics covered were the concept of democracy, why voting is important, and the reasons and processes behind the biometric voting registration system.

                Key Speakers at the conference included Alhaji Saani Abdul-Razak, the Metro Director for the NCC, Steven Azantilow, Lawyer for the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and Francis Opoko, the Metro Director of the Electoral Commission. Youth Leaders were encouraged to voice their questions and concerns to the speakers, especially regarding biometric registration because of its unfamiliar process.

1. Democracy: "Demos," meaning 'people' and "Kratia" meaning 'rule.'

2. Going over the registration process

3. One of the women at the meeting asks a question and gives feedback.

4. After all this talk about politics, it's time for a lunch break. 

5. Participants of the first street youth leader meeting in Tamale for ending political campaign violence. 

6. Every participant received a badge to identify them as part of the Youth Alive program. 

Youth Alive continued its efforts for the Election 2012 campaign later with a community forum in Tamale on the 24^th of March. This forum was centered in areas highly concentrated with vulnerable youth, such as the Abaobo Market, central Tamale bus stop, and the Metro Mass Station. The forum was centered here in order to reach youth known to be most susceptible to manipulation by political party members.
                The forum targeted a diverse group of individuals. At the central Tamale bus stop, participants were formed mainly by young individuals, those who work as porters. Present at the forum in Abaobo, were many street youth leaders (those who oversee the work and well-being of the street youth in the markets). At the Metro Mass Station, participants of the forum were mostly women.

                The forum covered many of the topics brought up at the Tizza meeting earlier in the month, but in its delivery, it is hoped to achieve a greater impact through a more direct approach: public conversation between the street youth with support from experts in Ghanaian government and politics.

                Before leaving, pamphlets and brochures with crucial information regarding the biometric registration process were distributed, so as to continue to spread information throughout the community after the end of the forum.

1. Alhaji answering some of the boys' questions on the truck-mounted loud speakers. (STC, Tamale)

2. Showing off the brochures. 

3. A street youth leader at Abaobo market speaks to Alhaji Sannni.

4. The group at the Abaobo forum. 

              5. A great number of the participants at the Metro Mass Station forum were female. 

Meet our Beneficiaries: Elizabeth Anafu

Survival is a daily struggle for street youth in Ghana.  From finding food to eat, clothes to wear and a place to lay their heads down, life and the journey into adulthood can be a road laced with hopelessness and desperation for this often overlooked group.

Youth Alive (YA) Ghana provides a variety of services that address and effectively confront issues that spread poverty amongst youth within the local community. One strategic project is the vocational training program which allows at risk youth to learn a trade and gain employable skills that will help them find work, earn an income and be able to support themselves.

Elizabeth Anafu from Bolgatanga (Bolga), Upper East Region transformed difficult circumstances into a positive force that has changed the lives of herself, her family and local community.

Orphaned as a child alongside three siblings, Elizabeth had to learn to fend for herself at a young age. After completing Primary five and at the innocent age of 11, she began travelling regularly between Bolga and Kumasi to find work and earn money to support her family. She eventually found a dishwashing position at a local restaurant but, unable to afford accommodation, frequently found herself sleeping outside of the restaurant after close each night. During this time Elizabeth faced health risks like sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy and low self-esteem due to her unfit living conditions. Following the birth of her son, she finally decided to relocate back home to the familiar Bolga area after hearing about the valuable opportunity YA was offering to train youth.

2005 became a year of revolution in Elizabeth’s life as she became an active participant in YA’s vocational training program. She practiced as a dressmaking apprentice for four years under the careful guidance of a trained seamstress who offered her every opportunity to learn, grow and perfect her craft. As part of the program YA monitored Elizabeth’s progress to ensure her success. She recalls YA’s ‘above and beyond’ attitude, noting that the organization not only provides the apprentices with soap, uniforms, a stipend and counseling but even went as far as helping to pay medical bills so that she was able to continue with the program.

In February 2009, Elizabeth graduated from the program and is now a full-fledged, independent seamstress. She affirms that her success is based on her excellent service which includes creating good relationships with customers and producing quality work. “[They] trust me because of the way I speak to them, ” she says of her customers. Through the integral skills gained through the vocational training program her successful business has given her the means to support her son and three siblings with basic necessities and their education, something she would have struggled to do in the past.

  
The YA vocational program asks that all graduates provide some form of mentorship to others interested in pursuing the same trade. Currently, Elizabeth has an impressive five apprentices under her care. She is very encouraging and tries to provide opportunities for young women to learn from her so that they can also improve their living situation, as YA has done for her.

  
Although currently operating outside, in the open, Elizabeth’s next project will be putting up a building for her own shop which she hopes to fittingly name, “With God, All Things are Possible”. Elizabeth hopes this expansion will provide enough space for all her apprentices and to display materials in-store for the customers to buy. YA helps all program graduates establish their first shop and will supply building materials like roofing sheets, wood and cement to aid the completion of the structure and the next step in Elizabeth’s bright and hopeful future.


- Hawa Kombian

Pictures: 

1. Hopeful for the future, Elizabeth laughs with us as we discuss her plans and aspirations. 

2. Elizabeth at work, sewing a shirt. 

3. Elizabeth is trying to put up a structure for a shop, and continues to work under the shade of nearby trees. Even after part of the structure was destroyed from a pesky neighbor, she maintains her hope and continues. 

4. One of Elizabeth's apprentices and her handiwork.