ADVOCACY & OUTREACH 2021-2022
As stated, the mission of the Washington West African Center is to connect West Africans in Washington with local resources and bridge the gap between us and the wider community. In that regard, there is no better resource than information because information is power. As such, through partnership with different institutions such as the Washington State Department of Health, Verdant Health Commission, Washington Immigrants Solidarity Network (WAISN), Washington Community Alliance, Washington State Department of Revenue, Snohomish County office of Social Justice etc, WAWAC has empowered our community with information that enabled our community members to make informed decisions about their lives and livelihood. Since our inception in 2017, we have implemented outreach strategies communicated in languages most spoken by West Africans about different subject matters such as the 2020 census, the 2021 Child Tax Credit, PEBT, COVID-19, the Washington Immigrants Relief Fund (WIRF), Domestic Violence, the Working Families Tax Credit and other related subjects. Our ongoing outreach activities included immigration, environment, climate change, general health and wellness, marriage, relationships etc. We use music, drama, poetry, community leaders and testimonies of beneficiaries and victims to inform our people. Through these efforts, over 3000 West Africans were counted by the 2020 Census, over 1500 benefited from the PEBT and Child Tax Credit and over 5000 received the COVID-19 vaccine.
At the beginning of 2022, supported by the Washington State Department of Health, WAWAC did outreach on the COVID-19 vaccine to dispel myths, misconceptions and misinformation about the vaccine. We also continued our outreach efforts to encourage different demographics of the community to get vaccinated. We created outreach materials when kids 5 years and up as well as younger kids were allowed to take the Vaccine.
See video links below.
Kids 5 years https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEOocGWIqbg
Fula: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWQAdTSAJdw
Corona song by Sora Jali: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf5EDKgjaIg
We also partnered with the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network (WAISN) and over 50 other organizations to do outreach and application assistance on the Washington Immigrant Relief Fund (WIRF). This project was funded by the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS). The WIRF outreach campaign involved the creation of songs in multiple languages, along with music videos for each of the songs. The campaign also produced skits and interpreted uniform messages in eight different languages. Through our collective efforts, about 116,000 immigrants received about $3100 each.
See video links below for details.
Fula: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdaEjywlPaM
Song by Pa Omar Jack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFKkXSolyB0
Skit in Wolof: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KesAJ8ro6Uk
Jola: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYMnmguBXj4
Song by SingAteh: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vADXHuZIlFE
At the end of 2022, we partnered with the Washington State Department of Commerce’s Office of Crime Victim Advocacy (OCVA) and Washington State Department of Revenue to do outreach on Domestic Violence and the Working Families Tax Credit. As usual, because the West African languages are not written, we produced several audio visuals in the different West African languages to raise awareness about DV and introduce the new Working Families Tax Credit.
Importantly, WAWAC also carries out outreach activities during our own events as well as events organized by our partners. During these events, we post banners, distribute brochures and flyers and make important announcements. We did outreach on the said subject matters at our annual Sukuri Ndogu for the seniors
Sukuri Ndogu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFpUV51AowQ .
Iftar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DMhZ0txMb4 . Back to School and Grandma Appreciation day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf2EIcYmvAs, our annual kids Arts Exhibition and Talent Show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPc23bZz-4A&t=237s
ADVOCACY FOR THE 2020 CENSUS
Since September of 2019, we joint 22 other organizations operating in Snohomish County and applied for a grant from the 2020 Census to provide advocacy and sensitize our communities about the importance of participating in the upcoming Census. We organized and supported a few local events, produced some media content, utilized, social and ethnic media, worked with and learn best practices from other organizations which we adapted to suit the needs of our community. Because of this, for the 1st time, more West Africans in Washington State understood the importance of being counted by the Census and thus participated in their numbers. See attached videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf0lYaft0mY&t=30s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiLOhp5Cr54&t=259s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSQMXsGEtq8&t=25s
CANCER AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
• The month of October is Cancer awareness month. People around the world often organize series of activities to create awareness and raise funds for cancer victims, survivors and their families. There has been growing concerns about cancer in our community. In 2018 and 2019, nothing less than 15 Gambian women in Seattle metro area were diagnosed with cancer. Some detected it very late and thus died of it, Some who caught it early enough were able to undergo treatment successfully while others who are newly diagnosed are currently going through their treatment and others might be affected but they don’t know. • A lot of our community members face a lot of health challenges and complications but for lack of proper awareness or the financial means, they are usually not able to do much about their situations until it is too late. Most often end up dying of such complications that could have been avoided, prevented, managed and/or treated or they live with it for a lifetime. • In November 2019, we received a grant from Group Health to create awareness on Cancer. This event was scheduled for October 2020 but due to the Coronavirus, we could not hold this event. Check our website www.wawac.org for updates on this project.