School Children reclaiming their streets in Shoubra El Kheima
As part of the Global Road Safety Week, taking place this year from May 21st till May 27th, the NADA Foundation in partnership with the Child Health Initiative has finished its week long activities through a pilot interventions in a community school in the informal area of Shoubra El Kheima.
29 children from ages 8 to 15 have actively engaged in a set of activities aiming at promoting community enforcement of road traffic laws. This intervention has been carried out based on the repeated observation that children act as the most powerful ambassadors of messages related to responsible driving when they communicate it to adults.
The day’s activities included data collection about behaviors and awareness of these children related to road safety, practical activities and role play around 5 key messages related to safe driving and a mock “license exam” where their acquired knowledge was put to the test.
After passing this mock license exam, the children were awarded a “License for Road Safety Agent” which testifies that the carrier of this “license” pledges to protect their loved ones and to ensure they always drive safely with a reminder of the 5 key messages that were put in focus.
This was then followed by the second component of the intervention which revolved around mobilizing the children as defenders of their own right to the streets. Using signs and materials stating “This is my street”, the children were divided into groups and began to collectively work on “producing their own movie clip”. They wrote scripts, agreed on the needed moves and rehearsed it many times, before they went to the streets and shot their little clips where they are reclaiming their streets, stressing on their right to safety.
See the videos below to see the output of these groups and some photos from the intervention.
