My visit to Gambia, to kick-start the data collection phase of the Scout evaluation study, made all the difference in terms of boosting morale at all levels of the organisation and demonstrating the efficiency of the first phase of data collection for the project. Almost all of the project volunteers were teachers, who became translators on the spot for some of the kids who were struggling with English. When one Scout indicated that he could only read Arabic, the teachers fetched a colleague who could translate for him. When the pencils for the survey arrived unsharpened on the first day, every volunteer took a blade and helped sharpen the pencils in a few minutes. ?The trip has challenged many conventional, Eurocentric research methods? |
On my first day in the country I was taken to see one of Gambia Scouting?s important community projects: road safety. Gambia, the smallest country in Africa, has only one traffic light, which makes road safety a community concern. The youth ? boys and girls ? were helping police direct traffic at this major intersection. Because of their participation in community safety and the general perception that Scouting inculcates positive values, there is a very good relationship between scouts and the police, as well as with the political and business elite. The next morning, rain was pouring in the district we had selected to begin the survey. I didn?t think anybody would turn up ? but when I arrived at the venue, it was packed with leaders and their Scouts, and the scout vehicle was still transporting Scouts from other placess. Some Scouts and leaders walked from nearby areas to take part in the survey. After everybody started working on their questionnaires, the communications officer for the Gambia National Scout Association told me the local radio station wanted to interview me on its afternoon call-in show. This was an opportunity to promote the Scouts? work, the Jacobs Foundation funded evaluation study, as well as the HSRC. So we raced off under umbrellas to the radio station, where for a good hour and a half we were bombarded with questions about Scouting in general and the evaluation study in particular. After two days of fieldwork we had 60 questionnaires from leaders and 175 from Scouts. The most important benefit of the trip has been in the experiences that have challenged many of the conventional, Eurocentric research methods that we tend to apply blindly in all contexts. Professor Yaw Amoateng is a Research Director in the Child, Youth and Family Development Programme. | 
