1. The URC e-bulletin
6th October 2016 - Circulation 011
Dear Reader, Welcome to your weekly knowledge management and communication e-bulletin. Let us boost our sharing, access and utilization of information on ongoing and upcoming events.
Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVC) programming in
Kenya is guided by the Minimum Service Standards for Quali-
ty Improvement (MSSQI) developed by the Department of
Children Services (DCS) in 2012. The MSSQI stipulates 6+1+1
pillars which include: Food and Nutrition, Education, Health,
Psychosocial Support (PSS), Shelter and Care, Child Protec-
tion, Household Economic Strengthening and Coordination of
Care.
A situational analysis conducted by the Department of Children
Services (DCS) and USAID ASSSIST indicated that, the pre-
scribed PSS standard of the MSSQI was not uniformly offered
across by service providers. As a result, in 2015, the National
Psychosocial Support Guidelines for Orphans and Vulnerable
Children in Kenya was developed to address the fore men-
tioned challenge. The guidelines targeted both service provid-
ers and children. However, it used technical language which
children could not comprehend. This led to a need for a child
friendly product born out of the original guidelines; dubbed
‘popular version.’
Traditionally, many first publications (of most national docu-
ments) are voluminous; containing detailed aspect of desired
policy level content and equally appreciated academically.
However, communities that communicate orally find it a chal-
lenge to read such literature. Thus, a ‘toned down’ easy to read
document is advisable. This gave impetus to the development
of a popular version that will focus on children as primary audi-
ence, with sub-sets of age 0 to 8 and 9 to 18. Its content pre-
sented in bigger fonts, legible writings, shorter sentences and
highly memorable quotes. While using the document, it is pre-
sumed that the primary audience will have a backing; of care-
givers and elder siblings at home, teachers in school, and men-
tors in children homes - to contextualize it accordingly.
Applying Albert Bandura’s Social Learning theory, the popular
version was fashioned to create attention through; symbolic
coding and mental based images that appeals to sensory ca-
pacities of the child. Specifically, the strategy boosted attention
to, retention and recall of, and self-action of domains present-
A section of children who participated in pre-
testing of illustrations. Photo by: P. B. Okaka
Development of Children’s National Psychosocial Support
Guideline: Case of Kenya’s Popular Version
The Process
(1) Stakeholder Engagement: The DCS facilitated a stakeholder
meeting which developed a zero draft of the poplar version.
Based on the National PSS guidelines for OVC in Kenya five
domain areas were identified; Physical, cognitive, social,
spiritual, and emotional development.
(2) Selection of a graphic illustrator: In hiring a graphic illus-
trator an open and competitive procurement process was
done to ensure quality of desired output.
(3) Development of illustrations: A creative brief for each do-
main was developed by the development team (DCS and
USAID ASSIST staff). The illustrator worked in tandem with
the development team to ‘syphon’ their conceptualization
and perception to come up with aligned images. The assign-
ment was in two fold; the development of dummy images
for guiding the layout of the popular version, and a re-
touch/rework after pre-test results from children. To ensure
accurate conceptualization of the PSS guidelines illustrated,
the development team internally reviewed the first draft
and gave feedback to the illustrator. Based on this, a second
draft was developed and exposed to the primary target,
that is, children aged 7 to 18.
One of the illustrations transformed by pupils comments
[P3] Boy with disability should
have similar shoes to the other
school children. [P6] The disa-
bled boy should seem to be
participating in the game. [P1}
The right hand of the disabled
boy should hold the stick. [P4]
They need to be playing some-
where safe, like on grass.

2. ed in pictorial format. The process entailed; meeting stake-
holders, selection of a graphic illustrator, development and
review of illustrations and book design.
Factoring the rural and peri-urban populace, pupils re-
viewed the draft popular version in focus group discussion
setting where they were presented with colored illustra-
tions. A total of sixteen FGDs were conducted in Kianyajari
primary school in Kiambu County (urban) and Peter Kariuki
primary school in Murang’a County (rural) - factoring in age
(7-14 years) and sex.
Key areas for review were: Positive identification of images
developed, accurate decoding of the activities depicted, title
relevance to activities depicted and general comments
(Addition and deductions to the pictorials).
The size, shape, weight, aesthetic value (color, presentation,
picture placement and font sizes) of the popular version was
based on an assessment of available child friendly books in
the market. The final piece was a: A5 size art paper of
170gm for portability, 12 pages including cover and back
pages with primary information and a glossy finish to ensure
durability in harsh weather by reducing the rate of paper
degradation. The document was branded with the Govern-
ment of Kenya emblem, giving it a national outlook.
In coming up with the child friendly version, some challeng-
es were encountered. There was limited fund to reach a
wider section of children from all regions for the pretest.
However, the development team agreed to work with two
schools, urban and peri-urban as was mobilized by a partner
organization. The conversion of the main document (84 pag-
es) to a twelve-paged popular version, without losing the
context, was overcome through creative briefs that guided
the reconstruction of the domains. Both the graphic design-
er and the development team had preconceived ideas of
ideal illustrations. For a tie-breaker, the pretest with the
target populations helped.
Despite the challenges, through stakeholder engagement in
the review of content and context a child friendly popular
version of the PSS guidelines was developed. The team ad-
vises future project activities to pretest with the primary
target to ensure content developed increases accuracy in
communicating intended messages. ##
Pre-test Results
(1) Demographics: Purposively sampled, a total of 96 children
were engaged. Drawn from lower and upper primary, each class
was represented by 6 (3 boys and 3 girls) randomly selected by
their teachers.
(2) Image identification in illustration (What can you see?): All
pupils were able to positively identify images in the illustrations
and relate them to their environment. This included natural envi-
ronment depicted (trees, sand, grass), humans drawn (boy, girl,
mother, father, teacher) and man-made structures (school, hous-
es, chairs, tables).
(3) Contextualization of the illustrations (What is happening?)
(If you are to give it a title, what title would you give it?): Most
pupils related illustrations to activities in their community. They
equally narrated relevant stories and picked lessons through;
what they need to know, attitude to carry and what they need to
do. This corresponded to the creative briefs done ahead of the
pretest.
(4) Illustration improvement (Are there any additions and sub-
tractions that will improve the photo?): Children identified gaps
and came up with ideas that enhanced illustrations. Their critique
cut across: achieving a balance in presenting different sexes, har-
monizing interaction between the characters, environmental en-
hancement, enhancement of gender roles, proper depiction of
people with disability, representation of religion and symmetry in
images.
Front page impression of the popular version
psychosocial support guideline for children.
Written by:
Bill Okaka (Knowledge Management and Communication
Officer), Irene Mutea (OVC Quality Improvement Officer)
and Linda Chebet (Monitoring and Evaluation Officer) .
The views in this publication do not necessarily reflect the opinion and position of URC, USAID, or the MoH. For queries, comments and any other form of feedback, kindly communicate directly to bokaka@urc-chs.com