2. Potential objectives and outputs of this phase

a. Selection

"You can have been involved in the fight against AIDS for a long time, for months or even years, but it's always good to have a source of remotivation. Scenarios from the Sahel has remotivated me, because it's given me an idea of where I'm at right now and what I can do in the future."

Dr. Fatim Louise Dia of ACI/Dakar, member of the Scenarios Advisory Committee, member of the Senegalese national jury and the final regional jury.

Please remember that these sections on objectives and outputs can also provide you with arguments which you can incorporate into fundraising documents and firepower for direct dialogues with funders.

In addition, please bear in mind that the following can be expressed as explicit project objectives subject to monitoring and evaluation.

Although the "Selection process" sounds inauspicious, it emerges as an exciting opportunity:

a) to foster study, reflection and dialogue among specialists from a variety of pertinent fields on the subject of HIV/AIDS with a view to arriving at a clearer understanding of young people's levels of related knowledge, their concerns, proposed solutions to pertinent problems, and the language they use when discussing the epidemic;
b) to provide specialists in the field with a unique opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of (i) the region's AIDS-prevention community in general, (ii) of their own organization, and (iii) of their own educational strategies;
c) to formulate (for subsequent circulation) observations on the young people's scenarios and on the perceived strengths and shortcomings of the region's AIDS-prevention community as well as recommendations for concrete future actions to overcome those shortcomings;
d) to develop personal contacts and facilitate the creation of partnerships between individuals from a wide variety of disciplines;
e) to strengthen a sense of project ownership among the various partners,
f) to provide the leaders of the audio-visual production teams with extensive information about the epidemic and efforts to counter it, as well as a keen sense of the role the future films could play in addressing specific problem areas encountered in the scenarios,
g) to discover valuable human resources for subsequent phases of the project and for other pertinent activities,
h) to select the winners of the contest,

i) to familiarize the jurors with the Scenarios archives that are to be established subsequently and to discuss with them ways in which those archives might be used in optimal fashion,
j) and to expand and improve existing Scenarios contest methodologies.

a) The Scenarios selection process is an opportunity to foster study, reflection and dialogue among specialists from a variety of pertinent fields on the subject of HIV/AIDS with a view to arriving at a clearer understanding of young people's level of related knowledge, their concerns, proposed solutions to pertinent problems, and the language they use when discussing the epidemic.
"By taking a close look at the scenarios, I have been able to assess the level of young people's knowledge in the area of HIV/AIDS. Such competitions should be organized regularly for this purpose. They should be held elsewhere as well."

Dr. Oumar Traoré, psychologist, member of the National AIDS Control Program of Mali and chair of the Malian national selection committee

"The scenarios have allowed us to identify the information needs of the target group by age and also by region."

Abdoulaye Konaté, youth leader working for AJL4 and ACI in Dakar, member of the Senegalese pre-selection committee

During the contest, young people tell us what they think and feel about HIV and AIDS. During the selection process, we have a chance to listen to them very closely.
The participants' creative works are a gold mine of insights into young people's perspectives on the epidemic. In the course of the selection process, each individual juror has the opportunity to study scores of scenarios individually and also to discuss the contributions from a global perspective with the entire jury. In and of itself, the selection process is a qualitative research project in which the jurors carry out a fascinating form of collective text analysis.
"The young people highlighted the risks involved in certain traditional practices, but all the while they acknowledged the value of those traditions. They set forth proposals for ways things could be changed."

Consensus observation of the final, regional jury

"Unfortunately, the girls speak very rarely about self-respect."

Consensus observation of the Senegalese pre-selection committee

"We find a real spirit of solidarity among the young people, especially for persons living with HIV. I always thought that our young people rejected such individuals, but the scenarios have made me change my opinion completely. I believe that young people accept and do everything they can to help those living with HIV."

Ibrahima Bob, documentalist, Africa Consultants International/Dakar, member of the Senegalese pre-selection committee

"We see that young people in the three countries often speak of exactly the same problems in the same way."

Consensus observation of the final, regional jury

"Scenarios from the Sahel, practically for the first time, allows us to carry out a vast evaluation of the work that has been done to date in the area of HIV/AIDS. Personally -- for me and for the organization I represent -- I've had a chance to evaluate the work that we have conducted for so long now."

Yaya Touré of the Islam-inspired NGO Jamra, member of the pre-selection jury in Senegal

b) The selection process provides specialists in the field a unique opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness (i) of the region's AIDS-prevention community in general, (ii) of their own organization, and (iii) of their own educational strategies.

"I am very happy, because this contest has allowed me to conduct a kind of evaluation of the awareness-raising work we have done in the field. _ The Department of Education has produced a school manual on STD's and AIDS. Another manual on HIV was revised and republished. All of this has been distributed to pupils. Looking at the scenarios, I realized that pupils really have read those documents seriously."

Wéléba Bagayoko, Coordinator of the school-based EVF/EMP Project, organiser of the Malian contest and national selection

Evaluating the impact of IEC activities in the area of HIV/AIDS is a notoriously difficult task. Every step of the Scenarios from the Sahel selection process proved to be a much-appreciated way for jurors to improve their understanding of the effectiveness of past strategies and activities.
We saw jurors shake their heads and say things like, "It's terrible. In every scenario from this school, it seems, kids write something to the effect that you can spot somebody who has AIDS just by taking one look at them, and that such visual checks are a good strategy to avoid HIV. We _ my organization _ are the ones who have been carrying out HIV-related activities at that school for a few years now!"
"In the scenarios that I read, I saw that we have been committing some serious errors. We should conduct awareness raising in another way; we've been doing it our way."

Médoune Wade of the drug-awareness center CSID, member of the Senegalese pre-selection committee

c) The Scenarios selection process is a forum for jurors to discuss and formulate (for subsequent circulation) observations on the young people's scenarios and on the perceived strengths and shortcomings of the region's AIDS-prevention community as well as recommendations for concrete future actions to overcome those shortcomings.
"What we have learned from them can allow us to adjust our aim with regard to our methods, with regard to the messages we tend to pass on. Today, we know which specific problems young people are running into when it comes to HIV, which problems they can't manage to solve -- that's what we've seen in the various scenarios. We are now in a position to say: 'OK, this is what we have to do.'"

Rabi Hagne Seck, PLAN International, member of the Senegalese selection committee

"Young people know how to talk about HIV like doctors. Now we need different approaches _ emotional, psychological."

Mama Sabé, educational advisor at IPM/Mali, member of the Malian national jury

As you go about planning the selection process, we strongly recommend that you schedule plenty of time for jurors to discuss specific ways in which they can adjust their collective and individual efforts to correspond to what they have learned from the young people's contributions.
A list of recommendations, in which the jurors' primary findings are summarized in a concise, user-friendly way, can be distributed to decision-makers throughout your region's AIDS-prevention community. It could prove highly beneficial to specialists who create relevant educational materials for young people, those who carry out grass-roots prevention activities, strategists at the national AIDS control program_.
"People find it hard to bring up certain subjects if the audience is young. That doesn't make any sense, because it is evident that kids already know all about the subjects we are trying to avoid. At present, it's almost absurd to hush up certain debates. It's high time that we carry on a dialogue with the kids about sexuality."

Yaya Touré of the Islam-inspired NGO Jamra, member of the pre-selection committee in Senegal.

"We have been able to pinpoint some major shortcomings that we must focus on and overcome, for example the very weak level of argumentation that girls use when boys ask them to have sex. We must teach the girls to say no."

Maïmouna Samaké, COFDEF/AMAFA, member of the Senegalese pre-selection jury

"The scenarios call out to those who produce IEC materials to involve young people in design and production at every step."

"We must take note of the fact that we have underestimated young people up until now. We have got to adopt a different perspective."

Consensus observations of the final, regional jury

d. The Scenarios selection process is a means to develop personal contacts and facilitate the creation of partnerships between individuals from a wide variety of disciplines.

"What has struck me most here is the human contact. There are people here whom I didn't know before. This has allowed me to grow closer to them, to get to know them, and to learn from them. Through these individuals, I have become familiar with structures with which, although they do the same kinds of work as us, we had never collaborated in the past."

Rabi Hagne Seck, PLAN International, member of the Senegalese selection committee

"The members of the jury should set up and maintain a system for staying in touch, exchanging information, and harmonising efforts. We should also think about the possibility of creating a network with the young winners. We must not break off the links between organisations and countries that have supported this process."

Consensus recommendation of the final, regional jury

In the wake of the Scenarios from the Sahel selection process, we have observed that that activity served as the catalyst for the creation of invaluable new and sustained partnerships across the region. The selection process allowed the members of the jury to discover one another as resources, as allies, as colleagues, as sounding boards, and as friends. This is surely one the project's most meaningful accomplishments.

e) The selection process strengthens a sense of project ownership among the various partners.
The work carried out by the jurors is empowering, intense, difficult at times, and often deeply emotional. As they read and discuss the scenarios, they develop genuine affinity with the young participants, and the bonds of friendship between the jurors become extremely strong. In the end, everyone shares in a sense of great excitement over subsequent phases of a project that has become, more than ever, their own.

f) The Scenarios selection process is a way to provide the leaders of the audio-visual production teams with extensive information about the epidemic and efforts to counter it, as well as a keen sense of the role the future films can play in addressing specific problem areas encountered in the scenarios

"Today, young people are searching for points of identification with their problems -- schooling, diseases, unemployment. They are looking for heroes, and as there aren't really any national heroes today, they identify with artists. People see some likeness between themselves and them. It's imperative to give artists the possibility to give our young people a dream."

Idrissa Ouédraogo, Burkina Faso, celebrated film director, member of the Scenarios from the Sahel final jury, director of the first three Scenarios films

The words and deeds of popular artists, as opinion leaders among young people, can be precious assets in efforts to curb the spread of HIV. Unfortunately, it is not always easy, once you have secured the active involvement of influential artists, to ensure that they are well informed about the epidemic in general and about key relevant communication issues in particular.

The selection process is an artistically and intellectually stimulating way for members of your audio-visual production teams to gain a high level of knowledge about HIV and familiarity with current debates. When production begins, they will be approaching the matter armed with a good understanding of the macro issue at hand and fully aware of the context and relevance of the project.

Furthermore, they will listen to and partake in debates on the very scenarios that they will be turning into films later on. The jurors' observations and recommendations on the winning scenarios will provide the audio-visual production teams with detailed guidelines for the professional re-adaptation of those texts and for production and post-production of the films.
g) The selection process is a chance to discover valuable human resources for subsequent phases of the project and for other pertinent activities.
"We have got to explore possibilities of using the participants in the fight against AIDS."

Dr. Aliou Sylla, CESAC/Mali, member of the Malian national selection committee and the final, regional jury

It is an opportunity to go talent hunting both among the contest participants and the jury members. During the initial stages of the selection process (whether pre-selection, or a regional selection preceding a national selection_), you will have a chance to observe the work of the jurors and determine which ones would be the ideal candidates for the final jury.
Furthermore, if you keep your eyes open, you might also discover:
C Artistically talented young people who could be called upon to draw storyboards for the Scenarios films (i.e., by taking a close look at the comics submitted by participants). The storyboards can also be used to pre-test the films.
C Individuals and organizations that could facilitate distribution and diffusion of audio-visual products;
C Young people who could be valuable additions to other ongoing or planned activities of the project partners.

"What can we do to continue to work with some of the young talents that have been revealed by the contest? We can't just drop them and have them wait around for the next contest. Beginning now, we've got to view them as people to take on board and to train; they could be valuable outreach people at community level."

Moussa Sow, Avenir de l'Enfant, member of the Senegalese pre-selection jury

h) The selection process is, indeed, also an opportunity to select the winners of the contest.
i) The selection process is a chance to familiarize the jurors with the Scenarios archives that are to be established subsequently and to discuss with them ways in which those archives might be used in optimal fashion.

"One prospect that I see for myself is to go back and take another look at certain scenarios, to reread the questionnaires, and even to carry out studies. I'd like to write something about the youth milieu, because that has always interested me -- especially those topics that usually don't get much attention. In general, foreigners are the ones who come to write about those topics here in Senegal. All this gives me lots of things to do. I see a lot of other prospects here."

Dr. Fatim Louise Dia of ACI/Dakar, member of the Scenarios Advisory Committee, member of the Senegalese national jury and the final regional jury

The Scenarios archives are an outstanding source of information, but also a rather unusual source. That means that many people find the concept fascinating, but they do not always have a sense of how to go about actually using the archives. The selection process is an opportunity to explain the archives in greater detail and to conduct a concrete dialogue on ways in which they might be used in optimal fashion.
The archives are to be the basis of an important research element of the project, namely qualitative text analysis of groups of scenarios (see next chapter). You can seize the opportunity presented by the selection process to ask jurors about their priority areas of inquiry for that research.
j) And finally: the selection process is a way to expand and improve existing Scenarios selection methodologies.
Your lessons learned and ideas for improving proposed methodologies will surely be valuable and welcome input for others planning Scenarios-type projects.

b. Announcing winners / awarding prizes

Like many other phases in Scenarios from the Sahel, the phase of announcing the contest winners and awarding them their prizes was rich in potential outputs that were hidden at first glance. This phase is an opportunity to:
C publicly recognize the young winner or team of winners and validate their talent and effort. This can motivate the winners to be even more active in HIV-related activities, stir further debate within their families and among the community at large, and serve as a motivator for those who did not participate to consider becoming involved the next time similar opportunities present themselves;
C further increase the public profile of the local partner organization in the given community and thereby enhance its ability to be effective in its interactions with the local population;
C discuss HIV-related issues in a public forum (i.e., the prize ceremony). You could focus part of the discussion on elements of the young person's scenario. At an awards ceremony for five national winners in Thiaroye, Senegal, the dialogue was centered on the answers the winners had provided to one of the questions on the contest questionnaire, namely, "On what particular topic would you like more information?"

C with a view to laying the groundwork for collaboration during the audio-visual production stage, establish close personal relations with the young winners whose scenarios are to be turned into films;
C highlight the support of and express gratitude to funders and sponsors;
C and identify resource persons for subsequent parts of the project and for other activities.

"The health talk on STD's ran almost completely smoothly. The reason behind having the talk on STD's was that I wanted to exploit the talent of a young man in my village who was one of the fifty finalists in Senegal for Scenarios from the Sahel, Bassarou Baldé. Ousman Diao and I went over different STD's, developed a short play, organised the talk and conferred with my counterpart Omar Sambou (the health center director). _ After dragging 32 men (ages 15-35) to the meeting, the discussion went rather well. Besides Bassarou and Ousman's excellent presentations, Omar answered numerous questions on the illness, proper prevention, and the availability of condoms, and he stressed that his consultations were completely confidential. Most importantly, the men understood the link between STD's and AIDS, that prevention is the same and is completely necessary to stop any spread. I hope to use Bassarou again to help train two women so that we can do a similar talk for the women of the village."

Kevin McNulty, second-year Peace Corps Volunteer, village of Wassadou, District of Velingara, Senegal