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Daniel Lavan and his son

Recipient: Daniel Lavan
Hometown: Harpswell, Maine, USA
University: University of Ottawa
Award: IDRC Doctoral Research Award
PhD thesis topic: International NGOs and the Governance of Working Children: The Case of Plan International’s Engagement with the African Movement of Working Children and Youth
Research Location: Dakar, Senegal

“I wanted to see how the African Movement of Working Children and Youth actually works. Why do children join? Is it offering them some hope of a better future? Does it provide solidarity — a place to be?” — Daniel Lavan

In 2000, when Daniel Lavan accompanied his wife on a three-month stint to Tamale in northern Ghana, he was looking for something to do. After knocking on the door of a public primary school, he was soon teaching 40 to 100 children full-time, an experience that planted the seed for graduate work and his current doctoral studies in education.

“I didn’t have a teaching certificate, but I did have considerable tutoring experience, both in class and privately,” he says. “The teachers were very welcoming and the experience got me interested in the issues around education in African countries.”

His teaching spell was followed by a graduate degree at the University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, and a trip back to that same school in Tamale to pursue research into basic education in Ghana. Lavan’s PhD thesis at the University of Ottawa focuses on the alternative approaches to basic education developed by the African Movement of Working Children and Youth.

Helping child labourers

Founded in 1994, the Movement seeks to improve living and working conditions for child and youth labourers, bringing together some 150,000 children, youth, and close supporters in 21 African countries. Many of them are domestic workers, apprentices, or street or market vendors. In addition to advocating against trafficking and other forms of exploitation, the Movement provides literacy, numeracy, and vocational training to members. Housed under the auspices of Environmental Development Action in the Third World, a Senegal-based non-governmental organization (NGO), the Movement is supported by several global partners, including Plan International.

Lavan wanted to see how the group worked on the ground. An IDRC Doctoral Research Award enabled him to travel to Dakar, Senegal, to carry out research, interview child and youth members, speak to supporters and NGO and government representatives, and observe training sessions.

Solidarity helps defend rights

Lavan found the movement a surprisingly complex structure. “How it plays out is different in every city,” he says. Saint-Louis, Sénégal for example, focuses solely on children’s literacy. In Dakar, however, the focus is on young maids, traditionally an important target group. They want to learn how to speak French so they can find work in wealthier households and earn more money.

“It’s challenging to devise an effective learning program for them,” he says. “I didn’t see a lot of literacy training going on. The girls in Dakar get more out of simple handicraft training, such as embroidery, than anything else. These skills will be useful to them later in life when they’re married, and maybe they can use them to generate revenue.”

Through group discussions and improvised drama, the girls develop bonds of solidarity. “I saw that when one girl had a dispute with her boss, the others were ready to go en masse to demand she be paid,” he says. (Hear more about the Dakar maids’ groups.)

Avenues for better training

Despite the Movement’s many positive results, Lavan also saw room for improvement. For example, he says, it could continue to build upon its model by helping children who aren’t in school enter apprenticeship programs that provide both practical training and relevant literacy skills.

Lavan is also examining how funding from local and international NGOs affects the movement’s principles and priorities. Plan International’s reporting requirements, for example, add to the movement’s administrative work. Another example is Save the Children Sweden, a donor that focuses on children under the age of 18. To retain funding from this international NGO, the movement must curtail education and training to slightly older youth.

Lavan, back in Ottawa, is now immersed in his research data. He hopes to complete his thesis by the summer of 2010. Ultimately, as an academic, he wants to pursue further research on alternative education.

For more information, visit the African Movement for Working Children and Youth. 

Mark Foss, the author of this profile, is a freelance writer based in Ottawa

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