Communication outside the office

For a non-governmental organisation, it can be sometimes difficult to invest in proper research especially if there are various campaigns going on, targeting different segments of the population each time.

I recently had two opportunities to be in contact with the target public of the organisation and collect some precious feedback through observation and comments.

For the first occasion, we participated in a high school fancy fair where we were asked to bring a stand and share some brochures with the students. This was the perfect opportunity to promote and sell the book on sexual education launched by PILS. Perfect because both the students and the parents were there and the students were of the right age.

So, at the fancy fair, we started approaching the visitors encouraging them to visit the stand of PILS. At the end of the day, we managed to sell four book out of the 30 we brought. So we were very far from the selling goals set.

Some of the observations I made during that day:

-People found the price a bit too high.

-Some parents were not sure if their children were old enough for a book on sexual education.

-Some people got confused about the content of the book. The book is in fact an adapted version of 'Titeuf, le guide du Zizi Sexuel' but the text in the balloons are written in creole. So, the title can seem a bit intimidating for parents because they do not know how far the explanations in the book can go.

So, the amendments that I would make to improve this situation would be to:

- carry out some research prior to the launching about the price that people would be willing to pay for such a book.

-give the parents some instructions on how to use the book, and whether or not they need to talk to their children about the content of the book and also what could be the best time to do so.

The second opportunity for some feedbackc was offered to me when I attended a session on sexual education delivered by PILS. The sessions were delivered in primary schools and since I was previously asked to work on the layouts of the presentation handouts, I knew what the presentation would be about. It was very useful for me to attend the session though, because I learnt how the session was being delivered and also received by the audience. Also, feedback is collected after each session and the presentation are improved accordingly.

The best moment was when I was asked a few questions by the students. The class being composed of female students only, and the trainer being a man, I was asked to spend some time alone with the students in case they did not want to ask questions to someone of the opposite sex.

So for a few minutes, I knew what it felt like to be a trainer and to be sharing information. I feel now that I know the organisation better.