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It’s More Than Sport

A Case Study of

Female Youth

Leaders in the

Lao PDR

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In partnership with:

For more information, contact info@childfund.org.la or visit www.childfund.org.auThis research was undertaken in Xieng Khouang Province, northern Laos, in September 2013.

ChildFund Laos is the representative office

of ChildFund Australia.

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Research AimTo investigate how young women have realised personal change and effected change among their peers and within their communities as youth leaders through the use of rugby within sport-for-development activities.1

The research focuses on women participating in Training of Trainers (ToT) sessions and organising youth-led rugby activities in their villages, run in partnership with the Lao Rugby Federation (LRF) under ChildFund’s Child and Youth Participation for Development Project (CYCDP) in Nonghet District, Xieng Khouang Province. Findings from this case study will be drawn on to inform the future development of ChildFund activities and to assist the LRF to develop stronger monitoring and evaluation procedures, as well as to assess the potential of this partnership, between an INGO and a National Sports Federation.

Summary of FindingsActivity Findings:

• The activities have effectiveness in supporting the development of self-confidence in female youth leaders and self-assurance in their ability to voice their ideas.• The activities have effectiveness in supporting new friendships, strengthening bonds between youth leaders, increasing solidarity, confidence and a sense of belonging, with evidence of this also being transferred to children participating in the village-level rugby sessions.• The activities successfully reach young women and girls and fully support their participation.• The activities have effectiveness in promoting healthy living messages.• Youth leaders attribute their participation in activities to being less prone to feelings of frustration or anger when they ran activities and that they were better equipped to patiently deal with difficult situations. • Youth leaders were generally confident in their power to engage with duty bearers and parents in matters directly related to their rugby activities, although only a few examples were forthcoming, interviews with parents and duty bearers revealed their support for this potential.• Youth leaders and duty bearers could provide little specific evidence of engagement with each other outside project-related activities, however there appeared to be support from duty bearers for potential engagement opportunities that were broader than only sport.• Youth leaders’ outlooks for the future varied; predominantly influenced by socio-economic standing and level of education. Another key issue was the impact of marriage and family on female youth leaders. Although support for participation from parents and duty bearers was expressed, and the young women were confident they could voice their position, the difference of power between husband and wife within a household was a significant factor impacting perceptions of their voice and agency in the future.

Programming Issues:• Youth leaders, parents and duty bearers viewed the primary objective of the youth leader activities under the CYPDP as being to bring rugby and associated development benefits to Nonghet District, yet many do not fully grasp what rugby is as defined by the LRF in their vision and mission. • Interviewees were confused with regard to project delivery and the nature of the partnership between the LRF and ChildFund (this was identified as an issue across multiple projects by ChildFund).• The benefits of the activities, as perceived by the youth leaders, centred on the support of knowledge, capacity and personal development. Although many examples illustrating their application were given, the youth leaders were unable to provide clear and consistent descriptions of these concepts.

1. It should be noted that whilst sport activities are the main focus of these young women, they also participate in other ChildFund activities, so absolute attribution of any change to sport activities is not possible.

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• Youth leaders could not clearly describe the objectives or outcomes of the CYPDP activities in which they participated. However, the youth leaders, mothers and duty bearers interviewed confirmed the results of participation on the individual were thus far positive, that the (aforementioned) benefits were valuable in terms of the youth leaders’ futures, and the influence of regular activities on children in the village was also considered constructive in terms of the knowledge, skills and attitudes they were acquiring.• Youth leaders could only describe some elements of the lesson content from previous ToT sessions. Furthermore, the youth leaders could not describe methods to evaluate or measure the success of a (or their) rugby session.• Variations in literacy and numeracy as well as mother tongue differences among the youth leaders were seldom addressed during ToT sessions and LRF-led activities.

Programming ObjectivesChildFund Australia defines poverty as the deprivation of the capabilities and freedoms people need to live the life they value. Accordingly, this deprivation derives from:

1. The deprivation of assets (human, capital, natural, and social);2. Exclusion from societies (voice and agency) (The definition of the term “agency” is taken from the that developed by Amartya Sen (1999): acting and bringing about change, the effect of which can be judged in terms of the individual’s own values and criteria);3. Power differentials in their families, communities, societies, and across nations;4. Vulnerability to risks in their environment.

ChildFund works within four themes which characterise the intended outcomes of their work:1. building human, capital, natural and social assets around the child, including the caregiver;2. building the voice and agency, and3. power of poor people and poor children, while4. working to ensure the protection of children and youth from risks in their environments.

The LRF’s2 mission is to provide opportunities for men and women, boys and girls, social and elite players and those in urban and rural areas to participate in the sport of rugby union, whilst ensuring that health benefits and personal development opportunities are realised to their fullest extent. This mission is embodied within their activities as well as reflected in their six core values of healthy living, solidarity, respect, friendship, discipline and perseverance.

ChildFund Laos has identified the potential for programming synergies between ChildFund and LRF activities within the themes of voice, agency and power. The LRF’s mission to support the participation of youth and children in rural areas in the sport of rugby provides a vehicle through which to foster youth-led activities within a sport-for-development framework. By using rugby as a foundation for youth-led activities, both ChildFund and the LRF could support the voice and agency of youths for example via exercises in training and leadership, facilitating dialogue between youths and adults, as well as target the realisation of health benefits and personal development skills associated with sport. As a result, ChildFund has entered into a partnership with the LRF to provide ToT sessions which utilise rugby to support youth-led activities at the village level – spaces are also being provided for other sports, however no sport-specific support is being given within these activities, this only occurs for rugby activities through the LRF’s coaches.3

2. This information was taken from: Lao Rugby Federation Strategic Plan 2012-2015.3. As part of Activity 2.1.2 of ChildFund’s CYCDP.

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MethodologyA small exploratory case study was designed using semi-structured interviews with elicitation cues. Interviews were conducted with female youth leaders as well as their mothers and village duty bearers from six of ChildFund’s twelve partner villages. Six interviews were conducted with female youth leaders, three with the mothers of three of the youth leaders, and three with village duty bearers – two female and one male. In addition to the interviews, informal discussions with youth leaders and observations of ToT sessions and rugby coaching activities were conducted at the Champa Ban Academy (CBA) Rugby Camp held in Phonesavan, the provincial capital of Xieng Khouang Province.4

The primary aim of the youth leader interviews was to explore how change is effected on the personal and social development of youth leaders. In addition to this data, interviews with mothers and duty bearers were also undertaken in order to collate a variety of viewpoints on the impact of the training and practice of rugby coaching on youth leaders and ascertain some of the broader influences of the activities in the community. Finally, observations of youth leader performances during the ToT sessions and rugby coaching activities at the CBA Rugby Camp were recorded, along with informal discussions with youth leaders in attendance, in an effort to methodologically triangulate the interview data.

The findings are evaluated in terms of ChildFund’s Community Voices Programme (CVP) outcome level indicators (relating to Power, Voice and Agency at the organisational level) based on the CYCDP Objective 2: To increase opportunities for child and youth led initiatives and life-skills development; and the LRF’s core values within the context of their mission.

Key Measurements:ChildFund Outcome Indicators

Voice and Agency 12: Children and youth who report having opportunities to voice their opinions in decisions that concern them.

Voice and Agency 13: Children and youth with a sense of belonging and positive outlook for their future.

Power 15: Advocated or lobbied local duty bearers.

Lao Rugby Federation Core ValuesHealthy Living Solidarity

Respect Friendship

Discipline Perseverance

Participants:The participants were selected in consultation with LRF staff, including a female youth leader currently working as a coaching intern at the LRF who has strong links throughout Nonghet District. The youth leaders were between the ages of 18-20, unmarried at the time of the interview and had been involved in the project for more than six months. The participating youth leaders were as follows:

Name Village Ethnicity Education-to-Date5 Age

Khantaly Ban Nammen Khmu Mor 5 19

Ta Kang Ban Namgonngoua H’mong Mor 1 18

Joy Ban Pakkae Tai Lao Loum Mor 7 19

Thit Ban Huaydeua Khmu Mor 6 19

See Ya Ban Nonghet Tai H’mong Mor 6 18

Yuea Ger Ban Paka H’mong Mor 4 18

The participants were primarily selected based on their frequency of participation in ToT activities, but due to time and logistical constraints availability was also a significant factor. Nonetheless, every effort was made, in consultation with the LRF, to select a4. The Champa Ban Academy Rugby Camp was organised as an event through which to run ToT sessions for youth leaders from Nonghet District, and to have the youth leaders run rugby activities for participants from five schools in Phonsavan. The camp brought 23 youth leaders together to learn new coaching skills while promoting the sport of rugby in Phonesavan. 5. Primary school runs from Bor 1 to Bor 5 (grade 1 to 5) and Secondary school from Mor 1 – Mor 7 (grade 6 to grade 12).

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diverse sample of participants from different locations, ethnic groups and socio-economic backgrounds. Based on this sample of youth leaders, three mothers and three duty bearers were also identified. Four of the five interviewees were chosen from a single village, Namgonngoua, which helped provide a broader understanding of the change effected at the village-level, however it is acknowledged that this diminished the strength of the research across locales. Namgonngoua Village is also one of the more successful villages (in terms of regular participation numbers) in which the activities are being run. In addition, strong existing links with the village and the availability of suitable candidates contributed to the decision to focus on participants, as follows:

Name Village Relationship Position in Village

Maiv Hawj Ban Namgonngoua Lao Kang’s Mother -

Ntxawn Yaj Ban Namgonngoua Ta Kang’s Mother -

Suas Khab Ban Namgonngoua - Village Representative of Women’s Union

Yuea Khab Ban Namgonngoua - Head of Village

Cua Ham Ban Nonghet Tai See Ya’s Mother Assistant Head of Village

The interviews were conducted by a primary researcher, an assistant researcher-translator, and a female coaching intern from the LRF who provided community liaison support. As both the interviewers were men, the coaching intern also helped balance the research team by, in addition to liaising with interviewees, providing a female presence during interviews. Given the cultural connotations of gender and age in rural areas in Laos, this helped the team create a more culturally appropriate interview environment.

Data Collection:Data was collected over a period of six days. Four days were assigned to interviews, which were recorded in the villages of the interviewees (except for Joy and Thit which were conducted in Nonghet for the convenience of the interviewee and due to inclement weather respectively). An additional two days was spent documenting the CBA Rugby Camp in Phonesavan, where supplementary data was recorded through observation and informal discussions.

Data Collection Issues:A key issue evident throughout interviews was the lack of familiarity between the two researchers and the interviewees. Although this was somewhat mitigated by the work of the coaching intern, an initial uneasiness was evident, especially among the youth leaders. Secondly, and for some interviewees a result of the aforementioned issue, several interviews were conducted partially or completely in H’mong. This further complicated the interview and subsequent translation processes with the addition of a third language. Although the assistant researcher was able to translate the interview questions, the opportunities for deeper discussions around key topics was hampered, and given the time constraints maintaining fidelity with the source questionnaire was difficult. Lastly, since the research was being undertaken by consultants representing the two partner organisations due account must be given to this influence on the responses of the case study participants. How likely would an interviewee voice an idea, concern or suggestion that may, in their mind, jeopardise their participation in current or future projects?

Data Analysis6

Throughout the interviews, several key abstract terms were used by the participants in their descriptions and answers. In an effort to maintain fidelity with the original responses given by the interviewees, these abstract terms have been specifically maintained throughout the analysis. Where possible, context has been used to provide further clarity of meaning when analysing individual responses, however at times this was not possible without inducing unsubstantiated inferences.1

6. All quotes have been translated into English from Lao and H’mong. While every effort was made to remain faithful to the original, the translations provided contain stylistic and grammatical changes, as well as semantic changes made at the word-unit level where necessary in order to ensure clarity of meaning.

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Thit: “I think (my parents) are very happy I am a youth leader... (and my siblings) they say ‘where are you going?’ I say ‘to coach’, and they say ‘Go!’, they motivate and encourage me.”

Youth Leaders and Self-Confidence: Brave New GirlsIn each interview, the youth leaders described themselves as having been shy prior to participating in the CYPDP’s youth leader activities. Each youth leader stated that they believe the support for knowledge, capacity, and personal development7 gained from participation – primarily within the LRF training of trainers (ToT) sessions and their own rugby coaching sessions – were key factors that contributed to positive shifts in their self-confidence8 and self-assurance in their ability to express or demonstrate their own ideas.

For example, Ta Kang, Yuea Ger and Khantaly related how less than a year ago they were too shy to answer questions during the preliminary youth leader interviews conducted by the LRF. Similarly, Thit spoke of how her timidity affected her participation at school.

7. The term “personal development” is a common but poorly defined concept used in all forms of discourse in the Lao PDR. It can be defined as self-improvement, but the meaning covers a broad range of intellectual and emotional characteristics and includes themes as diverse as manners and behaviour, social and economic standing in one’s community, as well as appearance and dress. This report will not attempt to define the term any further, however it occurs frequently and hence some leeway is afforded with regard to the translations provided based on the context in which the term is used. Given the frequency with which this term, along with “knowledge” and “capacity”, was used during the interviews, further research on their meanings and usage by youths and adults in the area is advised. 8. Here, translated as self-confidence due to context, but at times also translated as bravery.

Thit: “(I am) more self-confident, for example, at school I never answered questions as I was always too afraid, but I’m not afraid now.”

During the CBA Rugby Camp in Phonesavan, Thit answered questions and voiced her ideas and opinions in a peer-group setting with duty bearers (here, LRF coaches). Thit answered a question put forward to the youth leaders asking if there was anything that they were unsure or not confident about regarding their coaching activities for the afternoon session (with participants from four schools in Phonesavan); and gave a correct answer regarding the equipment required to run the coaching activities. She also confidently led activities as directed by the LRF coaches.

Self-confidence is not a discrete personality trait but an attitude continuously developed over one’s lifetime, yet one that also fluctuates according to circumstance or environment. Nonetheless, use of the term is often criticised in academic literature as lacking specificity with regard to agentive capacity and strength of affirmation (Coalter with Taylor 2010; Bandura 1997, 1994). Self-efficacy is a term used instead of self-confidence, and can be defined as:

People’s beliefs about their capabilities to produce designated levels of performance that exercise influence over events that affect their lives. Self-efficacy belief determines how people feel, think, motivate themselves, and behave” (Bandura 1994: 2).

Criticism of the term self-confidence (or bravery if a direct translation is taken from the interviews) notwithstanding, it is the term most frequently used by participants throughout the case study. Nonetheless, as will be evident from context in the examples below, self-confidence as was used by the interviewees often embodied the notion of self-efficacy: “...an affirmation of a capability level and the strength of that belief” (Bandura 1997: 382).

Thit is 19, the second youngest daughter in her family and the only one not yet married. She is in her final year of high school and twice a week must walk for two hours (or catch a ride on a motorbike with a family member or relative) from her village to Nonghet, where the school is located. On week nights Thit stays in a small room built by her father on a piece of land he purchased in Nonghet, and returns to her village on weekends to coach rugby for children in her village. Since becoming a youth leader, Thit, in following her wish to continue her studies, be a youth leader and to not get married in the immediate future, has voiced these aspirations with her family who have encouraged her choice, as well as with LRF staff. When asked what her parents think about her being a youth leader, Thit replied:

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Ta Kang: “Because of what I have learnt I have been able to work with the Village Authorities. I have changed my habits and qualities for the better; I’m not like I was before. Now, I am more grown up, I focus on the important things”.

Ta Kang’s mother also agreed with these changes in her daughter.

Ta Kang’s Mother: “She is more grown up, in what she wears, her attitude, she speaks more politely and more like an adult. She is not shy now; she has been playing and coaching rugby and has been to many new places.”

Both Ta Kang and her mother concurred that if Ta Kang had household duties to attend to during the times she had scheduled to coach rugby that she could go regardless, with Ta Kang’s mother stating that:

Ta Kang’s Mother: “I let her go and teach the children rugby, as for the housework, we get someone else in the family to do it.”

Like Thit, Ta Kang voiced her desire to be a youth leader – despite discontinuing her formal education – and received encouragement from her family. Arrangements are made within the household to support Ta Kang when she goes to coach the children in her village or attends ToT sessions. The other youth leaders interviewed also reported that they had the support of their families to be youth leaders. However, when asked why some of their peers had not wanted to be a youth leader, the main two reasons given were:

1. No interest in sport or working with children.2. Their parents would not give them permission.

Thit believes the support for knowledge, capacity, and personal development she receives as a youth leader are valuable assets. Thit has also received permission from her family and school principal to travel to Vientiane on four occasions and Thailand on one occasion to participate in rugby activities, lending further support to the interview data. As her family make their livelihood from farming mountain rice, any time spent away from her household duties places an additional burden on her family members. Nonetheless, Thit has explained to her family the benefits she gains from her role as a youth leader and by her account gained positive support from her family despite the additional burden of work this creates for the family. Her agency in choosing to continue her schooling is further reinforced by her agency to become a youth leader and pursue new opportunities.

In their study, Coalter and Taylor (2010) highlighted that sport-for-development programmes are often underpinned by an assumption that young people from disadvantaged communities are themselves deficient and in need of ‘personal development’. Hence, applied here, how readily can it be purported that the youth leaders developed an increase in self-confidence as a result of the ToT sessions and coaching rugby in their villages? Can Thit’s statement of how before she began her role as a youth leader she was too shy to answer questions at school and the confidence she displayed during the ToT session be considered a direct result of the benefits of the youth leader activities and the use of sport for youth development? Due to the qualitative nature of this case study, data from each participant’s interview will be triangulated with recorded evidence of their activities at the CBA Rugby Camp and with those of other case study participants in order to highlight evident correlations or patterns. While more rigorous research will be required to ascertain any significance, and hence causation, in these correlations, the strength of the collated interview data should not be discounted.

Ta Kang is an 18 year old youth leader from Ban Namgonngoua. She is the youngest of her siblings, her father is deceased, two of her three older brothers are married and her older sister is a widow with a child (and has recently moved back into the family home). She dropped out of high school after M1 due to her family’s limited financial resources and an increase in work responsibilities in her household. Ta Kang has also, at times, performed wage labour in neighbouring fields earning on average 40,000 LAK per day. Her access to education has been hindered by her family’s economic situation as well as her social position within the family, being the youngest daughter. It was Ta Kang’s older sister who originally volunteered to be a youth leader, but the responsibilities of marriage and caring for a new-born child made attending the ToT sessions and running rugby activities in her village untenable, so Ta Kang took her place. When asked why, Ta Kang said:

Ta Kang: “Because I wanted to know about being a youth leader, what it is they do, what it’s like.” Later, Ta Kang also said she wanted “to know more, to have more knowledge”.

Asked how her role as a youth leader had changed her, after some thought, she replied:

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Ta Kang: “I’m not shy, but I can’t speak Lao very well, how can I teach?”

Ta Kang’s decision to express her belief that her Lao language skills were insufficient to successfully run the activities demonstrates both voice and agency not just because she articulated a perceived weakness in her own abilities within a peer-group setting, but because she actively attempted to address it. If she did not have the self-confidence that she could learn the new activities and teach them appropriately – her self-efficacy as a youth leader – she probably would not have demonstrated agency to voice this in front of her peers nor the power to ask for assistance from the LRF duty bearers.

A sense of self-confidence dominated responses with regard to youth leaders’ perceptions of how the activities supported personal development. The examples given to describe how or why they were self-confident varied, yet they centred on the notion that: “people with high self-efficacy are more likely to view difficult tasks as something to be mastered, rather than to be avoided” (Coalter with Taylor 2010: 19). Many of the examples provided in subsequent sections include references to difficult situations or tasks which youth leaders viewed as something to be confronted as opposed to avoided. Although many are context-specific in terms of the project activities, some examples move beyond this milieu. As Coalter and Taylor (2010: 21) state: “self-efficacy is often context/activity-specific and may not go ‘beyond the touchline’… In other words the development of sporting self-efficacy within a particular context may not be transferred to a wider sense of perceived self-efficacy”.

The first response suggests that additional activities, outside sport, need to be offered in order to ensure all youths and children have an opportunity to participate in the CYPDP, which is in-line with the range of activities offered through the CYPDP. Within the second response opinions varied, from individuals having too much work or responsibilities in their households to participate to parents explicitly forbidding their son/daughter from participating due to the belief that being a youth leader and coaching sport would be a waste of time. No interviews were conducted with youths or parents of youths who aren’t participating, thus further exploration of this topic is not possible here. However, while further research is recommended in order to ascertain differentials in voice, agency and power between participants and non-participants of youth leader activities and their respective parents or guardians, it was possible to surmise four possible reasons from the interviews:

1. Poverty preventing access, whereby the youth would otherwise be able to participate.2. A family’s social standing in their village community creating barriers to participation.3. A lack of understanding, or misunderstanding, of the requirements and benefits of participation.4. The personal preference of the parents for their child/children to not participate.

Hence here, interviews with relevant adults and youths may identify opportunities to further the project’s depth of outreach.

Ta Kang has only completed M1, yet has taken a keen interest in the youth leader project. Whether or not other circumstances contributed to the reason she discontinued her schooling was not made explicit, however her demeanour during her interview and at the CBA Rugby Camp were indicative of someone seeking to effect change in their own life (here, through her role as a youth leader). Throughout the interview, which was conducted predominantly in H’mong (translated from Lao and sometimes English), Ta Kang actively responded to questions asked in Lao when she felt comfortable she understood and could answer (in H’mong and/or Lao) before waiting for a translation (even beating the assistant researcher by answering a question before it was translated from English into H’mong). Furthermore, Ta Kang was confident enough to answer questions during the ToT sessions held as part of the CBA Rugby Camp and manage activities with the participating school children – none of whom any of the youth leaders had met. As will be shown below, this was despite her belief that she lacks a proper education.

Ta Kang, after being asked whether she would and could explain to her (hypothetical) husband that she wanted to continue to be a youth leader, the Assistant Researcher asked in H’mong if she understood the question, to which Ta Kang replied “Yes, I understood, but I’m not sure how to answer.” Ta Kang correctly assumes the question following “What age are the oldest children you coach?” would be “What age are the youngest children you coach?” and answers before a translation from English is provided.

During a ToT session in Phonesavan, Ta Kang voiced her concern in response to a question aimed at the group about whether there was anything the youth leaders were not confident with regarding the afternoon’s coaching activities, Ta Kang stood up and said:

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Given that this case study targeted voice, agency and power along with the realisation of personal development within the context of the project activities, many examples (provided above and below) are context-based (i.e. the ToT sessions and village-level rugby activities), although they are not always activity specific. That is to say, for example, Thit’s self-confidence to voice her opinions or act according to her ideas has not been limited to the activities of coaching rugby. Likewise, the problem Ta Kang believed she faced was not a difficulty associated with understanding or teaching the rugby activities but with her Lao language ability – she coaches rugby in her mother tongue (H’mong) in her village.9 The context may be specific to the project activities, but the sense of self-efficacy is applied ‘beyond the touchline’. These two examples suggest how support for voice and agency within the project activities is, to a degree, being transferred to themes beyond sports coaching activities.

In addition to self-confidence, the youth leaders also reported that they were less prone to feelings of frustration or anger when they ran the activities with the children in their villages, and were better able to patiently deal with difficult situations. The youth leaders identified that because they had been trained to coach children, this gave them a sense of agency with regard to their ability to correctly organise rugby activities and properly manage the children. In particular, See Ya placed greater emphasis on this change than the other youth leaders, and nominated this as the biggest change in her personal development since becoming a youth leader.

See Ya is 18 and will begin M6 this year. Her father works for MAG (an INGO) and her mother is an Assistant Head of her village. Education, and the potential benefits it offers for her future were at the forefront of See Ya’s responses, which were also supported by her mother’s views, not just for her own daughter but for all the women in her village. Her actions and attitude at the rugby camp were noted by the LRF coaches as exemplary and she demonstrated further agency when she nominated herself to join a committee of four formed from the youth leader group to design and submit a grant proposal to build a sport pitch in Nonghet District.

While Coalter and Taylor (2010) argue against the assumption that young people from disadvantaged communities are themselves deficient and in need of ‘personal development’, there exist distinct disparities both within and across the communities of ChildFund’s partner villages, and the youth leader group was no exception. The activities have had success in supporting personal development, such as self-confidence, among youth leaders. Nonetheless, the extent to which the activities make considerations for individual skill-set deficiencies within the youth leader group is limited. One example involved the use of a calendar, with the days of the week unmarked, that was distributed among the youth leaders and with which they were to plan the next month’s schedule of rugby sessions for their village. A small number of youth leaders were unable to complete this exercise as they did not understand the calendar, while others took to the task with ease. Those who did not understand the task, although minutes before were participating in the session, were now sitting passively at the back of the classroom and away from their group – none of them voiced their inability to perform the task. While this example was resolved with little difficulty, it highlights that self-efficacy beliefs, even within individual activities, can fluctuate. In activities that aim to develop self-efficacy and support voice, agency, and self-development the permutations of each individual participating in the activities and their subsequent needs, like the project itself, also require monitoring and evaluation.

Self-efficacy among Youth Leaders: Knowledge, Capacity and Personal Development The three most common benefits the six youth leaders attributed to participation in the CYPDP activities were the support for:

1. knowledge,2. capacity, and3. personal development (reflected in attitudes such as self-confidence and patience).

The majority of examples presented in this report carry within them some notion or viewpoint regarding these benefits. To take one example:

9. Along with H’mong, youth leaders, children and LRF coaches speak Khmu, English and Lao; while Lao is the official language of instruction all four languages are used depending on the situation.

See Ya: “Yes, I have changed my temperament, because in the past I was easily aggravated and could not have taught anyone anything,but as I have been to study as a coach, I have returned able to teach (children).”

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Joy: “There are many good things, we are shown how to use our abilities, we meet many knowledgeable people, and have the opportunity to be trained by coaches from other countries; we learn a lot from them, so that we too have the ability

to demonstrate our skills and express ourselves...

See Ya: “Because I wanted to learn more about sport, and be taught what it is to be a youth leader and be trusted by others.”

Khantaly: “Because I wanted to learn from the LRF coaches, so I could then teach others (in my village).”

When questioned further about the benefits of being a youth leader, especially regarding what knowledge, capacity and personal development mean in terms of their own ideas and experiences in the project, the youth leaders identified, among other things: being able to set and follow plans; organise and run activities; work in groups or teams; and help support personal development among children in their own villages. Some also discussed new skills that enabled them to work more confidently with adults, and others stated that they could better improve their own behaviours or traits. Most youth leaders also envisioned potential future applications for these learned skills – for example as a school teacher and, with prompting by the interviewers, as a member of the Village Authorities. In addition, the youth leaders believed the knowledge and capacities they learnt, as well as the support for personal development, could be transferred to the children they coached.

Each youth leader was also asked about their original motivation for deciding to participate in the project. Their responses centred on new opportunities and the benefits those opportunities could bring for themselves and their communities. For example:

The responses of the mothers and duty bearers also confirmed these views, and elaborated further on the benefits of the project to the individual youth leaders and their village communities.

Yuea Ger: “… there are many good things I learn that I can show the kids and which help me work with the Village Authorities. Because of this people in the village like me doing this (role as a youth leader), they respect me for this.” “It is a very important experience for my future, after I graduate I will have more opportunities to work…

I get more knowledge… like what (the LRF) staff have, they teach us many new things…”

Joy: “A coach is self-confident and can demonstrate and teach their abilities and ideas, they are not shy…before I wouldn’t dare say anything, but I like being a coach, and I can now demonstrate my own ideas and what I want to do and teach to the kids.”

“(My parents) they are very happy, because I can work with grown-ups, and have the skills to organise sports activities for the children.”

See Ya: “They have said that there are benefits for the kids, like supporting personal development among the children of our village, they learn new activities and how to play them properly. If we (the youth leaders) don’t go and teach, the children can’t play (sport);

if we don’t go, the children won’t have fun.”

The more specific descriptions provided by the youth leaders regarding the benefits of the CYPDP youth leader activities centred on those derived from ToT sessions and rugby related activities. As applications of the knowledge, capacities and personal development skills diverged from project related activities, the descriptions and their applications became more ambiguous. For example, the youth leaders could envision applying the knowledge and capacities gained from ToT sessions to running CYPDP activities for other sports, organising cultural activities such as dances, or holding meetings between youth leaders. However, the youth leaders struggled to describe how specific skill-sets would be transferred, such as setting and following plans, in settings unrelated to CYPDP activities.

See Ya’s Mother: “She has more knowledge, for example, my daughter goes to teach the kids, she can do this on her own, like today, she is going to go teach the kids to dance, she will do it by herself, and no one is helping her, she has a lot more knowledge.”

Yuea Khab: “Before, it was the men who could be coaches and teach children about sport, but now both young men and women have the ability to be coaches and help the children learn and improve; we have girls in our village who are coaches,

for example we have a women’s rugby team and a dance team that are supported (by the project), and they can go compete against other teams in other villages, and it’s mostly the women doing this, not so much the men.”

Suas Khab: “...before they (the youth leaders) didn’t know much. I had never see them coach or teach children, but now they know how to coach kids… they used to be very shy, they weren’t confident enough to do anything, but now they have the self-confidence

to do a lot of things, because they have been trained and now have a lot of experience teaching the children...”

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While this is to be somewhat expected given the activities have only been running for a short time, the differences between the partners’ (ChildFund and LRF) objectives and outcomes outlined for the project may be contributing to this effect. For example, ChildFund’s Project Objective 2: (is) to increase opportunities for child and youth led initiatives and life-skills development; yet the LRF is focusing on developing player numbers while increasing access to the sport of rugby. The outcome indicators used by ChildFund to measure the success of the project relate to voice and agency, and power, while the LRF focuses on rugby skills combined with friendship, solidarity and healthy living. These objectives and outcomes are not mutually exclusive, nevertheless the partnership’s outcomes are imprecisely defined and there is evidence of a lack of understanding at the village-level of what it is that ChildFund and the LRF are trying to achieve.

Taking the experiences of the youth leaders (described above and below) and the future aspirations and/or expectations of the youth leaders (described below), a pattern emerges in that the youth leaders can make broad relationships of the benefits of being a youth leader with other settings or opportunities, or envision applying the knowledge and capacities to different situations. However, their ability to clearly define what this knowledge, capacity and personal development is, and how and why it is transferrable and/or useful is somewhat deficient. Further research into the specific knowledge, capacities and personal development supported by the project activities, and which are relevant to the youth leaders, may lead to a better understanding of these benefits and perhaps a broader and deeper vision for their application both at present and in the future. Furthermore, incorporating flexibility within the project’s activity objectives and outcomes at the project design stage that allows input from the vantage point of the youth leaders has the potential to create better results with regard to ChildFund and the LRF’s objectives and outcome indicators and ensure they are more closely aligned with those of children and youth.

With regard to the project partnership, the youth leaders were unable to describe a time-frame or schedule with regard to the ToT sessions and associated progression of skills-development, or articulate their understanding of the project outcomes relevant to their activities. This lack of knowledge of the project schedule, time-frame, activity objectives and outcomes among youth leaders needs to be addressed by the project partners. For example, when asked why ChildFund and LRF were focusing on sport within this project, and in particular rugby, most interviewees could only surmise it was for the development of their village.

While See Ya’s mother, when questioned further, linked the benefits of the youth leader project with the potential for better representation of women in decision-making within the village in the future.

See Ya: “Don’t know, I haven’t asked, but have heard that it’s because they want to develop the kids in our community, so the kids know about rugby... because we didn’t know about rugby before, what it is, we didn’t know anything about it.”

Khantaly: “(They) want to develop our village, to prosper and become more modern, and so the children have more knowledge.”

While this situation is not critical at this early stage of the project’s activities, the barriers highlighted in Figure 1 below need to be identified and addressed to ensure that appropriate elements of activities are developed to better align with youth leader priorities. This will work toward ensuring that the activities are sustainable within participating communities, and that youth leaders clearly understand the objectives of the activities and the expected outcomes – hence why they are participating and their reasons for doing so.

See Ya’s Mother: “...because here, in rural areas, in the past women didn’t play sport or go to school, But now they can go to school, and when the project came, they can now also play sport, and it gives young women the courage to play, and strengthens their

abilities to play. (In the future) I want all young women to have the opportunity to study, to get an education, because there are no women at village meetings, only men, all the time, women have no opportunity to attend, they aren’t told anything, the women aren’t brave,

they lack know-how. I want all young women to have the opportunity to be a youth leader and learn about training, be it in dancing or sport, to be able to get their knowledge by themselves, so they have the strength to be brave,

to get educated, to know about village work and village affairs…”

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Figure 1

Despite the difficulties the youth leaders had in clearly defining the knowledge, capacities and personal development skills they gained from being a youth leader, they were able to demonstrate many of the examples that they had given throughout the interviews at the CBA Rugby Camp in Phonesavan. At the camp, 23 youth leaders from rural areas organised and managed rugby activities, under the leadership of LRF coaches, for children from five different schools over two days. Throughout the ToT sessions and rugby activities, the youth leaders displayed both voice and agency, or in terms of self-efficacy, their ability to plan and perform a task, to achieve a particular outcome, or to address difficult issues. This was perhaps principally manifested as youth from rural areas with both the belief in their ability and prerogative to coach children from higher socio-economic backgrounds in the provincial capital – a rare phenomenon in the Lao PDR.

Youth Leader Friendships: Creating a Sense of Belonging through SportFriendship, solidarity and a sense of belonging are core values and outcome indicators of the activities, and were clearly expressed by the youth leaders as positive effects of their participation. All six youth leaders explicitly stated that they had made many new friends (through the youth leader ToT sessions) from all of the 12 partner villages, and this was evident during the CBA Rugby Camp in Phonesavan.

When questioned about their relationships with other youth leaders, they spoke of the ToT sessions as being the main forum where they developed these friendships. They reported that their conversations primarily centred on their role as a youth leader in their village and their associated rugby activities, such as how to improve their teaching skills, what worked well and what didn’t work well with the children, as well as successes and difficulties experienced, among other matters. Although, some also said at times they have discussed subjects outside their rugby activities, such as their village or household affairs or their ideas for their future.

Yuea Ger: “Every youth leader that does rugby is my friend.”

Thit: “(We talk about) being rugby players, seeing new places, about how before we didn’t have so many friends, but how now we play sport have many more friends.”

See Ya: “We talk about teaching the children, how they teach, how I teach, how they understand (the activities), how I understand. If we are together we should discuss these things... After this, then we talk about our village etc. Once before, we did talk about our futures first, like, if you graduate what will

you go and study, then we talked about what it’s like teaching in our villages, do the kids understand well, are they improving and so on.”

Yuea Ger: “When we are staying together, we ask about what life is like in our villages.”

Khantaly: “Only when we have meetings or activities with the LRF can I talk with other youth leaders, there usually isn’t time to talk outside the activities, as we have to focus on the (ToT) lessons, after which we go straight home.”

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Joy, while also speaking of the bonds formed between the youth leaders, also spoke of the positive relationship formed between the youth leaders and the children as a result of the ToT sessions.

Joy: “(Because the LRF coaches come here) it enable us to understand more about rugby, and the children who train with us learn much more too, it creates solidarity among us, much more than before, it makes us more confident.”

In their descriptions of the benefits of sport activities for children in their villages, youth leaders viewed teaching children new activities and therefore new ways to think, and supporting their personal development as key. In addition, better health and increased fitness were considered important; for example Khantaly incorporates hygiene education (she also participates in the ChildFund Green and Clean Children’s Club) and Thit messages about sportsmanship and fair play. Moreover, Ta Kang, although hesitant, spoke of a male youth she had witnessed smoking cigarettes around children as an example of inappropriate behaviour for youth leaders. All three demonstrated power to instruct children under their care, or in Ta Kang’s instance also voice her concern regarding negative behaviours, in matters not directly incorporated within the rugby activities but which they themselves valued and wished to pass on to the children they coached.

The youth leaders all expressed a willingness to support the participation of all children in their villages, stating that if asked they felt they had power to approach the parents on behalf of a child who was denied permission to play (see below for examples). Furthermore, they also described appropriate ways to solve situations involving fighting or teasing between children, and although none had needed to they feel comfortable in seeking help from parents or duty bearers should it prove necessary.

The interview data and observations recorded at the CBA Rugby Camp supports the prospect that sport-for-development activities can foster friendships and a sense of belonging between participants. However, the case study was unable to document to any significant evidence of changes or shifts in attitudes, due to the activity participation, regarding relationships between youth leaders and their peer groups within their own village; i.e. between participants and non-participants. Hence, further research on the on the impact of the project on youth leaders and their relationships within their peer groups is warranted.

Youth Leaders as Duty Bearers: Working with Children through RugbyThe ToT sessions are designed to instruct youth leaders on how to plan and teach rugby activities to children in their villages; in effect they themselves become duty bearers for the activities they run. A consequence of this was a reported attitude shift with regard to personal development which derived from the new relationships formed between youth leaders and children. This was described by the youth leaders as a more patient and gentle temperament towards the children they coached. Furthermore, they also indicated that the children are more attentive and less disruptive during their rugby sessions. In addition to See Ya’s previous comment about her change in temperament;

Ta Kang: “I know more, I have more knowledge, I don’t get angry easily (at the kids) anymore.”

Yuea Ger: “(A youth leader should be) good tempered, speak gently and clearly, and not get angry at the children, then the kids will like you and listen to you.”... “If we get angry or impatient, and yell at the kids all the time the kids won’t come and play.”

Khantaly: “(If two children are fighting), whoever instigated it, I tell them to apologise to the other child, then once the child has apologised I split them into separate groups, but first I encourage them to be friends, shake hands and talk together... If a child is distressed

(because they have been hit) I would go and calm the child, ask the child to forgive the child that hit them because they have said sorry…and explain that they should both forgive each other.”

Ta Kang: “(If a child isn’t listening) – I explain to the child that you must to pay attention, if you pay attention you will (be able to) play and improve, but not if you go off on your own….. yes, before there were more than ten who misbehaved, but now they behave better.”

Throughout these examples, and the interviews in general, the youth leaders supported the notion that while they were charged with caring for the children while they coached them, they also felt it was important to listen to the children and provide opportunity to them to express their own ideas.

At present, rugby is considered the most popular sport among young women in all 12 partner villages, and in some villages for young children in general. The reasons offered for this vary, but all point toward three important factors: organisation, tradition, and female coaches.

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See Ya: “Because it’s easy to learn and play, the activities are simple so the kids enjoy playing the activities (we teach), they make playing rugby easier, and to know the rules easier. But with football there are no rules, so it’s hard to play.

With rugby, you just have to know how to pass the ball, it’s not too difficult.”

Ta Kang: “(Girls don’t play other sports) perhaps because (other sports) don’t have people helping organize the activities; they have us (the youth leaders) for rugby, to teach them the activities, and make it fun.”

Thit: “(The girls think) it’s great fun, we play, shake hands, and be friends…we are a team.”

Yuea Khab: “Because, it is our custom that women work more (than men) and typically don’t play sport, and (hence) usually it is the men that have the time to play sport, but things have changed and now with rugby here, for women it is easier to play than sports like football, so they like to play it.”

Here, the combination of access to sport being dominated by men and a tradition that does not support female participation is being reconfigured through rugby, whereby children of both sexes are encouraged to participate and coaches include women, hence establishing role models for other young women and girls and reinforcing the notion of acceptance of women in sport.

See Ya: “Sometimes boys play football, but when the girls go to play rugby the boys will come as well, they just kick the football away – they like competing in rugby activities, because both sexes can play together.” (It’s because) both sexes can play, and people of all ages,

they can play. If we teach football to the kids they can’t play properly and it won’t be fun, if we teach rugby, the kids get it, and they can play and have fun,

Although joint participation between both sexes is not always so smooth, participation is still open to boys and girls.

Joy: “They don’t play together; the girls play with the girls and the boys with the boys... because they don’t understand each other, sometimes they tease each other, and the girls don’t like the boys teasing them.”

Despite this, more opportunities exist to encourage participation by all members of the partner villages in which the activities are run. Observations were made during a ToT session held in one village where a youth with a disability wished to participate, yet was discouraged by other children and refused to join in when encouraged by LRF coaches. None of the youth leaders present attempted to address this situation. However, the youth would play separately, and at distance from the other children, with an LRF coach.

“Power”: Youth Leaders and their Relationships with Village Authorities and ParentsIn previous youth consultations10 conducted by ChildFund no youth reported that they had had an opportunity to voice their views at community or district level. When asked to imagine having the opportunity to voice their views at the community or district level, it was reported that they found it a challenging concept.11 Despite this reality, past experiences across ChildFund projects have suggested that adults are generally accepting of the participation of children and youth, either as a separate group or together with adults in some areas, and that adults are generally respectful of children’s opinions.

The interviews revealed a consensus among five of the youth leaders that they did not need to regularly obtain permission from Village Authorities to organise and run their rugby sessions. All six also responded that once the project had been explained to their village (usually at a community meeting between the village community, village authorities and the project partners) and the village authorities had agreed to participate, there was little need to continue to consult with the Village Authorities with regard to their rugby activities. For example, Ta Kang and Thit both reported that they did not need to seek permission from their Village Authorities before they run a rugby session or to use the pitch.

10. See: ChildFund Laos. LA02-002. Child and Youth Participation for Development. 201211. Since this research was carried out, evidence of youth taking the opportunity to voice their views has been forthcoming from the Nonghet field office.

Thit: “(We) just discussed it with the Village Head. (We) met to tell all the parents about rugby and explain the activities, and to tell the parents that they should let their kids participate.”

(How do you get the children to come?)

“Blow the whistle and they all come running!”

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A number of reasons for this can be proposed. The first being that since these activities are conducted as part of a ChildFund project, once the project MoU was signed and permission given by the Village Authorities, the youth leaders were allowed to run their activities accordingly – as the CYPDP operates under the framework of ChildFund’s programming, permission hence exists in a de facto state. Another reason is that two of the six youth leaders have parents who are duty bearers and one has a father who is an ex-government official with high-standing in the village, therefore permission may be sought and support given on a more informal level. However, some of the youth leaders did state that they had to inform village authorities about their coaching schedules or inform the school principal of their intention to use the pitch either on a continuing basis or around busy periods of the year in their village. For example: See Ya said:

See Ya: “Yes, I must get permission from the Village Head and school principal (to schedule the sessions and use the pitch).”

While Khantaly, who typically did not need to seek permission first, said that if she was not given permission to use the field and run her session then she would find another way:

Khantaly: “Supposing we didn’t have permission from the Village Authorities, then we could play at my home or my relatives’ homes ground.”

Thus, while youth leaders were generally given permission by the Village Authorities to run their activities when they chose, in one instance a youth leader was explicitly required to inform the Village Authorities of their schedule and obtain permission to run the activities accordingly – even though her mother is an Assistant Village Head; in another, a youth leader told us how she had a contingency plan in place should the occasion arise when they could not use the pitch.

ChildFund and the LRF have provided the youth leaders with the necessary equipment and training to run their rugby activities according to the curriculum taught thus far. When asked if they had sought assistance, for items such as water, additional equipment, money or help in general from a member of the Village Authorities, only Joy confirmed she had.

Joy: “... for H’mong New Year, we asked the Head of the Village about the idea of buying some water for the players…. he agreed and went and bought some… if we have an idea and suggest it to the village authorities they will help us.”

See Ya however had asked for assistance with a dancing competition (but had not asked for any assistance related to rugby activities for her village).

See Ya: “I have asked, but not for (rugby), I once asked, because we were organising a dance performance, if the village could offer support... If they will support us, they tell us so, and if they don’t want to they tell us.”

Nonetheless, all respondents voiced their confidence in having power to ask the Village Authorities for assistance of some kind, and that they believed the Village Authorities would listen to their requests. In interviews with duty bearers, we also find a common consensus that if assistance was sought they would be willing to offer it, but as yet none had been forthcoming. For example the Village Representative of the Lao Women’s Union for Namgonngoua Village said that no youth leaders had come to her seeking assistance, but that if they did she would help. The duty bearers interviewed all saw the youth leader activities in a positive light. Nonetheless, further research needs to be undertaken to determine if the reason help would be forthcoming is due to the perceived benefits of the activities for the youth leaders and the children of the village, because the activity is supported by ChildFund, or is it perhaps a combination of both?

There was also evidence of Village Authorities including youth leaders in specific village-level meetings. The most common occasions involved events where rugby activities would be present, such as festivals or sporting competitions organised by one or more villages in which the youth leaders had elected or were asked to contribute. In addition to Joy’s response above, Ta Kang and Yuea Ger reported being asked to attend meetings, though neither had ever been asked for their input, regarding agendas not directly related to their activities. However, they also said that work and schooling preventing them from attending many of these meetings.

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There is some evidence of youth leaders working with village authorities and advocating their own ideas concerning their own activities. Yet to what extent can this be attributed to the project, or as a by-product of the project itself requires further investigation. In other terms, if the project ended, what effect would this have on the ability of youth leaders to continue their activities and the willingness of the Village Authorities to give permission and support them? In turning to the relationship between youth leaders and the parents of participating and non-participating children, more details are revealed.While youth leader activities may have support at the village level, at the household level there is an indication of a significant degree of divergence in opinions regarding the activities’ value. With regard to participation as a youth leader, as described above, it was said that some youths were uninterested in the project as they are not interested in sport, while others could not attend due to work commitments within their households. For example Joy said:

Ta Kang: “Yes, they have asked me to attend and I have gone (to some meetings), but sometimes I sleep (in our hut) in the corn fields and cannot attend.”

Suas Khab, the Women’s Union representative of Ta Kang’s village also confirmed this: “Yes (we) have asked them to attend meetings, when we organize H’mong festivals etc., they come and discuss how they want to show and run their activities, like dancing and rugby,

for the rest of the villages to watch.”

Yeua Ger: “(The Village Authorities have asked) many times, because my father is the Village Head, but I cannot go often as I am usually at school, otherwise I attend. I have been maybe 4-5 times. (If it the meeting isn’t about my activities as a youth leader then) I usually just listen.”

While See Ya’s Mother said: “It’s important we let them have meetings to tell the community about their rugby activities, meetings to tell village about rugby activities... We also let them express their own ideas during meetings.”

Joy: “Yes, some parents think that their children playing sport is a waste of time, they prefer they work instead.”

In terms of child participation, when the youth leaders were asked how they would assist children who sought their help because their parents would not let them play, all respondents felt confident they could go to the parents and explain to them the benefits of sport and why they should let their kids play. Explanations of the reasons they would offer varied, and Yeua Ger stated she had experience approaching parents on behalf of children.

Yuea Ger: “I would go and explain why they should let their kids play… (I’ve) had this happen once or twice.”

Ta Kang: “I would tell them, playing sport is what kids should do, you should let your children go play, you shouldn’t make your children work so much.”

Khantaly: “Yes, some parents are afraid their child will get hurt, I tell them they should not worry as I will look after them, ensure their safety, and when they have finished playing, if they have to cross the road to get home I will help them.

I’d explain so they understand and will let their children go and participate.”

Based on these interviews it would appear that the project activities are successful in encouraging youth to engage with their duty bearers in their villages to run their activities, and likewise duty bearers to include youth leaders in decision making that directly concerns youth leader activities. A few examples of youth leaders attending meetings outside the scope of the project were provided. Furthermore, given pre-existing social and familial relationships between some youth leaders and a village duty bearer, opportunities to voice ideas or concerns in such situations appear more easily facilitated by their relationships. However, with regard to youths and children not participating, we find some secondary evidence of some youths and children restricted or unable to participate in the activities and hence access the associated benefits accordingly. The partners need to be aware of a potential increase in inequality this could create between youths within communities. Further investigation of the households and socio-economic positions of participants and non-participants is recommended in order to identify issues regarding access to decision-making forums and potential factors that restrict participation for all.

The interview data also revealed that the youth leaders seldom discussed the details of their activities with their parents or duty bearers outside official meetings, nor when youth leaders organised activities or went to attend ToT sessions. Given all three groups spoke positively of the benefits of the project, the reason for the lack of sustained and in-depth communication between youth leaders, parents and duty bearers warrants further investigation. The youth leaders also said they faced no difficulties in approaching ChildFund or LRF staff if they required advice or assistance, with some youth leaders offering examples of instances where assistance had been sought and given.

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Nonetheless, no formal communication procedures or contact details have been established or distributed among the youth leaders, with youth leaders relying solely on their own personal relationships with staff members. This preliminary evidence, presented above, does indicate that some success is being made in building and supporting voice and agency within the dynamics of village-level power differentials among youths participating as youth leaders. However, the high number of context/activity specific examples offered possibly indicates that the voice, agency and power of youth leaders is not well understood or expressed outside their rugby activities.

Youth Leaders: Aspirations vs. RealitiesChildFund’s programming incorporates “a positive outlook for the future” within their voice and agency outcome indicators as a necessary measure of development effectiveness. The examples provided above offer preliminary evidence indicating that the project has achieved some effectiveness in building and supporting voice and agency among youths participating as youth leaders. All the youth leaders interviewed expressed a desire to continue their role as a youth leader, nonetheless confidence varied significantly with regard to the likelihood of this proposition, and so too the reasons offered.12 When asked about their outlook for the future however, the youth leaders offered diverse notions regarding opportunities for the immediate future but more convergent aspirations concerning the long-term future.

Joy is 18 and finished second in her year at her school. As a result, she has received a government scholarship to study teaching, either attending teacher training college in Vientiane or Phonesavan. Joy says she wants to be a teacher because she enjoys working with children. Her father is an ex-army doctor and retired government official from the Provincial Department of Industry and Commerce, who now operates a pharmacy out of the family home, while her mother continues to undertake rice farming. When asked what she would be doing next year, Joy confident she would be studying teaching; in 5 years time, Joy was also confident in her depiction of how her life might be:

12. Subsequent to this case study, ChildFund and the LRF were told that Joy had ceased her role as a youth leader as she would be attending teacher training college in Vientiane. Joy made it clear during her interview that she would no longer be able to work as a youth leader while she attended college, but that after graduating she would like to restart her role as a youth leader in her village.

Joy: “Because I want to study teaching, I must study for 4 years, so in the 5th year I would like to come back to my village and teach; I will teach, and at the same time I will open a store. I want to do many other things, I don’t like to do just one job,

I like to do many different types, so I get more experience.”

Khantaly is 19 and has completed M5. This year she will drop out of school to help her family with farming. Next year she plans to, with her older siblings, start a small business that involves buying corn from villages in the area and selling wholesale to a Vietnamese company

across the border. Although she would like to continue her schooling, both of Khantaly’s parents cannot work due to health-related issues – her mother underwent two major and expensive operations – which has put the rest of the family under continued financial pressure

and increased their individual work-loads. With only her older siblings (two older brothers, one married, and an older sister) supporting the family, Khantaly, in addition to assisting them, must also dedicate the majority of her time to tending the family’s corn fields

and working in their family shop. Although a lot of her time is, and will continue to be, taken up by livelihood activities, Khantaly still expressed a desire to continue to be a youth leader.

Khantaly: “I can coach a lot (when) there is not a lot of work on, when we harvest corn sometimes I’ll be in the villagebut I have little time to coach, I must go and harvest all the time, but if there is no work like now, I can go coach.”

When discussing her long-term future, Khantaly revealed:

Khantaly: “I don’t know, I want to finish school, but my family has no money, because my family’s situation is difficult I am unable to study more,and there will be no one at home – we have had many hardships in our family. Those who would usually work cannot,

my mother has had her appendix removed and a hysterectomy, she cannot work, she is still recovering, and my father canonly work a little, my older brother and I have also had our appendix removed.”

Both Joy and Khantaly have been keen and confident during the ToT sessions held in their villages and ran their rugby activities adeptly. Khantaly was especially motivated and during the CBA Rugby Camp in Phonesavan (Joy did not attend). However, while Joy has been able to graduate secondary school and will go on to study at a teacher training college, Khantaly will not due to the financial and livelihood hardships faced by her family. The impact of poverty and its multifarious causes is highlighted here as two young women of seemingly equal talent and motivation will realise two very different futures. If given the chance, Khantaly would also like to become a teacher, and it is this element of the youth leader project that attracts her the most.

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Teaching is a popular vocation for rural youths in Laos; Thit and Yuea Ger also want to be teachers. Both come from remote villages and in order to attend teacher training college they would be required to move to the district capital, or further afield. Nonetheless both expressed a desire to continue their role as a youth leader as well as playing rugby, despite the uncertainty surrounding their immediate future – this was not the case with Joy and Khantaly whose focus is purely on the coaching/teaching aspect of the youth leader role.

Thit: “I don’t know (if I will still be a youth leader), because next year I will graduate and maybe my family will assist me to continue studying at vocational college.”

(Would you still want to be a youth leader?)“Yes! All the time, forever, but I’m afraid I won’t have time... I want to coach the children in my village and help them get better.”

Yuea Ger: “I don’t know, it depends on what my parents want, whether I study more or have to work.”(What is your dream?)

“To go and study to be a teacher; to teach high school in Nonghet.”(Does being a youth leader help you achieve this?)

“Because being a youth leader gives us experience at teaching, if I was a teacher, I would be able to do it better because of my experience as a youth leader.”

At the CBA Rugby Camp both Thit and Khantaly were asked what aspect of being a youth leader was most important to them; basically, was it being a coach or being a rugby player.

Khantaly: “A coach.” Thit: “A rugby player.”

Yuea Ger is 18 and the oldest of nine children. She has completed M4, and although she expressed a desire to further her education (either at high school or at vocational college) her village is located at a distance from the nearest institutions. Furthermore, Yuea Ger as the eldest child and a young woman bears significant responsibilities within her household, which have at times prevented her from attending school. Yuea Ger’s father is the Village Head and he has supported her to be a youth leader and included her in some village meetings. For Yuea Ger, being a youth leader is both a means and an end – the benefits of being a youth leader are deemed valuable to her goal of becoming a teacher, yet the associated activities also allow her to be a rugby coach/player. Along with marriage, her parents’ choice appears to her to be the only other factor that could prevent her from achieving her goals. When asked about her parents’ influence, the need for her to work (subsistence farming) to support the family was her response.

Thit, Yuea Ger, Joy and Khantaly all expressed (in some way) a desire to be a teacher in the future – See Ya would like to be a police officer or an office worker. Thus, is part of the attraction of being a youth leader the knowledge, capacities and experiences gained in teaching, and are they understood as being transferable to other education-related vocations? If so, is this explicitly defined within the project, and should it be? Furthermore, Thit and Yuea Ger also expressed an interest in playing rugby on a regular basis. Hence, it may be useful to investigate the possibility of two streams (with some flexibility between the two) within the youth leader activities that address the various interests and ambitions of participants – one which focuses on LRF and Ministry of Education and Sport coaching accreditation – recognised at the district level – for the delivered content and another which while inclusive of these accredited courses, also incorporates LRF specific rugby player and coaching/administrative position development pathways.

Out of all six youth leaders, only Ta Kang was unable to describe a dream or idea of her future. Nonetheless, she still said she wished to be a youth leader in both her immediate and long-term future.

Ta Kang: “(Yes, I) still will, I won’t be going anywhere. “I don’t have an idea, because I have no education, so I have no idea... If I’m still alive, I want to be a youth leader for a long time.”

Ta Kang’s situation is not uncommon. In a ChildFund case study13 on another youth leader from Namgonngoua Village – Song Kang – a similar situation is found. Song Kang is 18 years old. She can only speak H’mong and had to drop out of school after B3 after her father passed away in order to help her family with work. Both women have come to view the youth leader project as an opportunity to access new knowledge and capacities and through these activities gain support in the realisation of personal development skills. As with many of the youth leaders, short-term aspirations do not always match their current circumstances.

13. ChildFund Development Effectiveness Case Study #12 (2013).

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Nevertheless, in various ways, the project has supported a relatively more positive outlook for the future among the interviewed youth leaders. The catch being, some youth leaders consider their role as means to a better future, while others view it as more of an end, the role of youth leader is the goal itself. Again, as evident here, in accordance with the aspirations of the youth leaders it may be recommended that the project design different streams which, although similar in terms of objectives and outcomes, address the divergent aspirations youth leaders attribute to participation as a youth leader (as well as to accommodate these aspirations as they evolve).

None of the youth leaders interviewed could say how long the project would allow them to be a youth leader, and if or when the project is completed, whether they would continue to receive institutional support or could continue independently. For some women, like Joy and See Ya, the project represents an opportunity to gain valuable knowledge, experiences and life-skills that will help them in their future prospects. Yet for those at the other end of the spectrum, like Ta Kang and Song Kang, their role as a youth leader, and hence the project, is the prospect. Unless the project objectives are structured such that they also support the aims of the youth leaders, the effects of the project activities ending or a lack of consistency across ChildFund’s community engagement may in the end negatively impact on some of the youth leaders and children in their communities, and hence the organsiation’s outcome indicators (this also needs to be taken into consideration across programming where relevant). A partnership with the LRF (a national government sports federation) provides the potential for institutionalising these activities at the village level beyond the scope of ChildFund’s community engagement.

Youth Leaders: Marriage and FamilyIn the area where the youth leaders live, women marry as young as 15 years old. The impact of marriage on a women’s opportunity to voice her views and act according to her ideas is prescribed by cultural and social norms but can be redefined by her own actions (and those of her peers). When the youth leaders were asked if they would like to continue their role after they are married, all six expressed a desire to continue, but each response also, articulated in various ways, highlighted that the wishes of their husband would impact their decision or opportunity to continue as a youth leader.

Khantaly: “If I had a family would I still want to be a rugby coach? ... I would ask my husband, if he let me go, then I’d go... For example,if my husband goes to the field to work but I go to coach the children... Ah I’m too shy to say!... If I go to coach, and we have money

to pay someone to help my husband then no problem…, I would go coach all the time!”

Joy: “If he agrees (to let me continue to be a youth leader) then I will but if he doesn’t then I won’t, but I will explain (it) to him,if he understands he will probably allow me to coach, some people understand me,

maybe he won’t understand me (that I like being a coach), so I won’t go.”

See Ya: “I have no plan (to get married), I’m not ready yet… OK, I ought to one day, but I don’t want to get married yet.” (Not now?) “Not ever!” So your job would be the most important thing for you?

“Yes, it’s the most important... I’m not ready to get married or start a family, if I did get married, I wouldn’t stop work. If in the future I get married and have a lot of money I still want to be a coach.” All your life? “All my life!”

Yuea Ger: “Ah, not sure... I am the eldest daughter so I probably should get married.”.... “Yes, I still want to be a Youth Leader,but I don’t know if my husband will let me – maybe he will, maybe he won’t”....”If my husband doesn’t give me permission

then I definitely won’t go.... But if he says yes then I definitely want to.”

Thit: “Yes, I want to start a family.” (Only Thit and her younger brother are not married) (Why haven’t you married yet?)“I like to study, like to learn more about everything, I want to be an office worker like you (LRF/CF staff), I don’t want to farm rice… It’s hot!”

(Do your parents support your decision?) “Yes (they say I can marry whenever I want).”

Within these diverse ideas concerning their potential marriage situations the youth leaders all expressed confidence in the continued support of their families, yet were generally not confident of their power to dictate their aspirations to their husbands. Although the expression of gender roles within the household was evident in their answers, the youth leaders also reflected livelihood, personal and cultural issues which also affected their future voice and agency within their household. The youth leaders identified underlying issues which would prevent them from achieving their goal of continuing their role as a youth leader; that is to say, it is not just that their husband would not let them, but that if they addressed specific economic or cultural concerns then they would be in a better position to voice their desire to continue as a youth leader.

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See Ya’s Mother: “If my daughter graduates and gets a job, but is not yet married, it is the opposite to what is normal… it would be hard…. but no big problem.”

Ta Kang’s Mother: “Yes, I think that after Ta Kang is married I want her to continue to be a youth leader... when she is married, if her husband gives permission then she can, what do you think! (Can you influence this?) “I think that I can,

and am confident I can explain to her husband that he should let her be a coach.”

Suas Khab: “I think it is possible, if the husband agrees then it is possible, if the husband disagrees then there is no way they can go(still be a youth leader), because there is a lot of housework that women are responsible for, but I think they ought to be able to!”

This issue was also raised with the Village Head of Namgonngua Village, who agreed with previous responses and said that womenshould be able to continue their role as a youth leader after marriage. He also said he would, if approached, support a woman whose

husband would not allow her to continue, stating the positive benefits youth leaders bring to the village as a primary reason.

Yuea Khab: “They can.” (If the husband doesn’t agree, would you help?) “I would explain to the husband that playing sport makesyou healthy and helps develop new talents, I would help to explain about sport, and that women who like to play should be able to go play.

If they are young and don’t want to play, no problem, but if they are older and still want to play, then they can too.”

Throughout this report, the benefits – knowledge, capacity and personal development – have been espoused by all those interviewed as important outcomes of the project for the youth leaders and their villages. Given this, we asked the mother of the LRF coaching intern why a husband would not allow his wife to continue her role as a youth leader?

When the mothers and duty bearers of the youth leaders were asked if they would like to see them continue in this role after marriage, all agreed and said they would offer encouragement and support. While, cultural norms and gender roles within the household are again highlighted here, two of the mothers did express their willingness to vocally support their daughters’ wishes and discuss with their husbands why they should let their wives continue as youth leaders. Furthermore, the Women’s Union representative for Namgonngua Village, in front of her own husband, while acknowledging the household responsibilities that are a woman’s duty, also said that it should be their choice whether to continue or not.

Maiv Hawj: “Because the husband is narrow-minded and fears his wife will be unfaithful to him, but the women think being a youth leader is very important because it gives them more knowledge for their future, and they know how to change their life for the better. They can teach the children in the village about rugby, so all the villagers will give permission for women to do this.” (Then she advises): “If a women goes to study, and learn and gain new

knowledge, and teach the kids in the village… she must do it properly, so that her husband is confident and can trust her, that she is doing what she says, and doing it well and not seeing other men.”

Given the above interview data, and that the case study focused on women youth leaders, further investigation of the potential impact of marriage on participation by women would be served by additional interviews with male youth leaders and duty bearers in order to gauge their perspectives on these themes and if the project activities are supporting gender equity both with the activities and in communities in general.

Summary of RecommendationsPartnership The identification and design of clear objectives and measurable outcomes within the framework of the CYPDP objectives and outcome indicators that are relevant to and supportive of the partnership between ChildFund and the LRF, and which include elements pertaining to the needs and aspirations of the participants (youth leaders). The results of this need to be explained and distributed in writing by ChildFund and LRF staff to participating youth leaders; in particular with regard to how and why the outcomes will be produced. This can be addressed by more inclusive planning processes that engage fully with the three activity partners; this may lend itself to the development of a standalone project within ChildFund’s programming.

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The investigation of the possibility of two streams within the youth leader activities that address the various interests and ambitions of participants – one which focuses on LRF and Ministry of Education and Sport coaching accreditation, recognised at the district level, for the delivered content; and another which while inclusive of these accredited courses, also incorporates LRF specific rugby player/coach and administration/coach position development pathways within their organisation. Accreditation will strengthen the tangible benefits derived from the project’s activities and further support achievement of objectives and outcomes. The dual-stream format will also encourage choice and individual freedom with the project and hence serve to better support individual aspirations.

A clear reporting structure that provides defined and accessible communications channels between youth leaders and project-relevant LRF and ChildFund staff. This will envelop youth leaders within a reporting structure, one which they become key members of and therefore must share responsibility for. This in turn reinforces the notion that the youth leaders are stakeholders in the project and not just participants.

An activity schedule and time-frame that logs projected objective milestones which is defined and understood by all three partner groups.

A defined partnership monitoring and evaluation procedure between LRF and youth leaders which targets the partnerships’ outcome indicators, and defines ChildFund’s responsibilities in terms of support:

1) Accumulative activity data of the ToT sessions and village level youth-led rugby activities (recorded by youth leaders, supported and aggregated by LRF staff).2) Youth leader interviews (conducted periodically by LRF staff).14

3) Activity reports (synthesis of 1 & 2 with data analysis: conducted by the LRF with support from ChildFund).4) Component-specific monitoring and evaluation reports (conducted between ChildFund and the LRF).5) Overarching outcome indicator measurement.

Coordination between ChildFund and the LRF to agree on key messaging to support the broader development agenda.

ChildFundInternally, ChildFund needs to critically re-evaluate its partnership modality with the LRF. The relationship is currently based on a service-provision format whereby the LRF is forced to work within the parameters of ChildFund’s programming architecture, which contradicts the fundamentals of the partnership agreement.

ChildFund should incorporate the lessons learned around peer education from these activities and consider application to their wider programming.

ChildFund, within their programming, needs to acknowledge that access to their projects’ activities represents a form of capital and that access is not equally available within and among partner villages. Spatial distance from activity locations, socio-economic standing and education levels are just some of the barriers preventing or restricting youths and children from participating. By addressing the need to accommodate vast differences between the development levels within partner villages, ChildFund can deepen the reach of their projects and ensure access for all.

LRFThe turnover of LRF coaching staff and different levels of training and expertise among coaches needs to be addressed, both in terms of rugby content and an understanding of the cultural, socio-economic and linguistic backgrounds of the youth leaders and the region they work in.

Training for LRF coaches to support a deeper understanding of the Get into Rugby curriculum and delivery methods, and the identification of potential applications to link curriculum content to broader life-skills development beyond rugby.

Formulation and implementation of rugby coach and player programmes, adjunct to the Get into Rugby curriculum, which allows the LRF to leverage the increasing participation in rugby in Nonghet District within their organisation.

14. This tool was developed as part of the process of undertaking this research.

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Further ResearchThe following areas are required for further research.

• Investigation of the terms “knowledge”, “capacity” and “personal development” regarding meanings and usage by youths and adults in the area is advised.• Interviews with youths not participating in the project, and their parents, in order to investigate the reasons why they chose or were unable to participate and the impacts of any participation at the household level, if any, on other sibling and family member relationships.• Interviews with male youth leaders to investigate their views on the benefits of the project for themselves, their communities, and their views on female youth leaders – both before and after marriage.• Investigation of the relationships between youth leaders and their peer groups within their own village and between villages.

ConclusionThe project-specific activities have, during their initial implementation, shown effectiveness in supporting the realisation of personal change among female youth leaders, as well as supporting change among children and within their communities, through the use of rugby within sport-for-development activities.15 Although this conclusion is only supported by qualitative data from a small sample size, the degree of effectiveness warrants further investigations into methods for strengthening the outcomes that are being achieved while addressing programming deficiencies related to design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation and partnership objectives. Furthermore, a similar case study using a broader sample size (in particular that includes male participants) will better serve the findings and recommendations produced from this case study. Nonetheless, initial indications of positive shifts towards the realisation of agency, voice and power and the promotion of healthy living messages and personal development (as defined by ChildFund and the LRF) substantiate that sport-for-development activities (here, rugby) can be a vehicle for youth development.

15. It is acknowledged that the findings of this research cannot be considered statistically significant given the limited sample size and methodology employed, however, these are the findings supported from the undertaking of this research.

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ReferencesBandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The Exercise of Control. New York: Worth Publishers.

Bandura, A. (1994). Self-efficacy. In V. S. Ramachaudran (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Human Behavior (Vol. 4, pp. 71-81). New York: Academic Press. (Reprinted in Friedman, H. (Ed.). (1998). Encyclopedia of Mental Health. San Diego: Academic Press.

ChildFund Laos. (2013). ChildFund Development Effectiveness Case Study #12.

ChildFund Laos. (2012). LA02-002. Child and Youth Participation for Development.

Coalter, F. with Taylor, J. (2010). Sport-for-Development Impact Study: A research initiative funded by Comic Relief and UK Sport and managed by International Development through Sport.

Lao Rugby Federation. (2012). Lao Rugby Federation Strategic Plan 2012-2015. Retrieved: www.laorugby.com/Key_Docs/Reports%20and%20Downloads/SP2012.pdf.

Sen, Amartya. (1999). Development as Freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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info@childfund.org.lawww.childfund.org.au