The writing on the wall

Murals used for civic education last for a long time

Civic education up to the general elections that selling your vote do not solve your problem

Democracy, transparency and good governance. Standards put on every developing country from their donors. But how are the ordinary people supposed to get information about these issues at the pace the Western world expects? And monitor that their governments live up to the standards? Youth Action Volunteers - YAV - based in Dar es Salaam, might have an answer to that. Their answer involves paint and vertical space and is a part of their civic education programme.

One of the spots where this answer is on display is on a wall across the street from a primary school in Dar es Salaam. A child is passing something new in the area: a three meters tall painting of a man offering a kanga and one thousand shillings to an elderly couple. The boy stops to have a closer look and read the text in the painting. The man offering money is a politician trying to bribe the man and woman to vote for him. However, the elderly couple is not bought off as easily as that. “You do not really think that a kanga and one thousand shillings will solve our problems?” the woman says.

The people behind the mural paintings are members of YAV. With the general election in Tanzania in December 2005, YAV is trying to focus on the importance of voting and the people's demand to be heard.

This painting is one of 18, placed in six places around the city. They all inform the citizens about different subjects  such as civic rights and transparency in the political system, HIV and AIDS and gender equality. “The single most important thing for this way of communicating is to find the right wall. It has to be in a place where a lot of people pass every day. For us it is important to reach young people  that is why we make sure to paint near schools or football fields for example,” says Johansen Kasenene. He is a programme officer at YAV. He points out the advantages of a mural painting: “The paintings are visible 24 hours a day - compared to text on paper it cannot get thrown out or lost.”