NEW YEAR FOCUS
FOR SKILLSHARE INTERNATIONAL top
The Year 2000 can be seen as
a landmark year for many reasons. Not
only did it mark the start of a new Millennium
but a time of great change within Skillshare
Africa.
In his recent New Year message to staff,
Director, Cliff Allum described the last
year as: "… a very demanding
time where many exciting things have happened
within the organisation.
"On reflection, I think that 2000
was a year of transition, while 2001 looks
to be the one where many of the changes
planned and implemented last year will
have a broader impact."
One major change over the past 12 months
has been the merger with Action Health
which formally took place in July 2000.
Bringing two organisations together is
not an easy process but we are well on
our way to the full operational implementation
of the merger.
The recruitment, selection and pre-departure
preparation of trainers has been integrated
into the work of the Leicester office,
as has donor liaison, reporting and finance
support.
Regionally, we anticipate the coming
year will see the localisation of programme
management in East Africa and India. A
Country Co-ordinator has already been
appointed for Tanzania and plans for staffing
arrangements in India are being developed.
The support for the Uganda programme is
also under review.
Localisation has always been an important
factor in the way the organisation works,
as Cliff explains: "Moving to localised
staffing we believe will give these programmes
the necessary support for their ongoing
work and a basis for the development of
new activities."
The localisation of regional support
was a key factor in the development of
our southern African programme in 2000.
At the start of the year, the plans for
the southern Africa Regional Office were
just starting to come to fruition.
In the first few months, a Regional Office
Team was recruited and soon set about
defining and developing their role. In
2001 we believe the Regional Office can
give effective support to regional and
country-based programmes.
The final area of major change we will
face in 2001 is our new working arrangement
with the UK government’s Department
for International Development (DFID).
Over the past year we have been negotiating
a new agreement with DFID due to be implemented
by April 2001.
"The main impact of this new agreement
is likely to be in its emphasis on what
we achieve in our work and not just our
inputs," explains Cliff.
"Fortunately, we have been moving
away from a ‘numbers-based’
mentality with the development worker
programme in Skillshare Africa for some
time and the Action Health programmes
have always needed to be located in a
broader, project-style framework.
"We are therefore well placed to
respond to this new challenge, but it
will mean that our need to demonstrate
our achievements becomes more important.
"The Corporate Strategy, Country
and Programme Plans are critical elements
of our approach and provide a framework
with DFID for the new agreement."
There’s no doubt that Skillshare
Africa and Action Health are growing to
meet the requests from our partners. Whilst
obviously desirable, it brings with it
many new obstacles for us as an organisation.
2001 will be challenging but if 2000 taught
us anything, it showed that our commitment,
enthusiasm and close relationships across
countries and continents gives us the
ability to embrace the new and unexpected.
Placements top
Since our last edition of Skillshare
Africa News, eight development workers
and health trainers have begun their placements
while 11 have returned
Botswana
Laurie Kelly has begun a placement
as Assistant Forestry Officer for the
Regional Forestry Office in Francis Town
and Tony Mcckloskey is now Project Developer
at the Botshello Project.
No fewer than six development workers
have finished their placement in Botswana
since our last edition of Skillshare Africa
news.
David Hinkins has finished his placement
as a resource development officer at BOFWA,
as has Ruth Allen, project co-ordinator
at the Botshelo Project in Serowe. Three
development workers have finished their
placements at organisations concerned
with environmental matters. Jane Ryall,
Environmental Officer at Somarelang Tikologo,
Nicola Stewart, Assistant Forestry Officer
at the Botswana National Tree Seed Centre
and Jason Sali, also an assistant Forestry
officer at the Regional Forestry Office
in Kasane. Finally, Ian Draycott has finished
as General Manager at Thusano Lefatsheng.
Lesotho
Charles Tshuma has finished his
placement as a Community-Based Rehabilitation
Advisor at the Scott Hospital in Morija.
Mozambique
Two development workers have
started in English language tuition posts
since our last newsletter, Adeze Igboemeka
as English Lecturer at the Eduardo Mondlane
University and Sara Nobili as an EFL teacher
in Ribawe.
Heather Bagley has finished her placement
as an EFL teacher, as has Simon Marsh,
Technical Advisor at the National Institute
of Physical Planning.
Swaziland
Neil Gray has begun working as
a Project Co-ordinator for the Manzini
Youth Centre.
After two years as a Nurse Trainer at
Hospice at Home, Mary Sheppard has returned
to the UK.
India
Dr Bob Alam has begun working
at the Singhbhum Legal Aid and Development
Society while Rachel Strang and Ruth Duncan
have both started working at Vidya Sagar.
Katy Thomson returned from India in September
2000 but will return to Vidya Sagar in
March to continue the training she began
at the end of 1999.
Country Co-ordinator
for the Tanzania programme top
Skillshare Africa and Action Health recruited
their first Country Co-ordinator for the
Tanzania programme in January 2001.
Moshi Ntabaye is now responsible for managing
and developing the programmes in the east
African country.
And it is this part of the job that excites
Moshi the most. He said: "I am looking
forward to expanding the Tanzania programme
(and maybe the East Africa programme)
to include, not only health programmes
currently taking place, but also other
development issues like poverty alleviation
and vocational education.
"My first days with the organisation
have been very rewarding, particularly
the support I am receiving. Indeed it
has been a good start."
Before joining Skillshare Africa and Action
Health, Moshi was Director of Programmes
at Marie Stopes Tanzania.
He was responsible for all service delivery,
programming, project planning and management,
donor liaison, quality assurance and human
resource management.
"The mission of Marie Stopes Tanzania
is to enable individuals to regulate their
fertility and improve their reproductive
health," explains Moshi.
"Marie Stopes Tanzania provides integrated
Reproductive Health and Family Planning
services through 14 Service centres and
clinics across the country.
"However, I was attracted to the
Country Co-ordinator post because I like
the job purpose and felt that it would
be a wonderful challenge."
Taking a global
view top
On December 11 2000 the UK government
published its new White Paper on International
Development entitled "Eliminating
World Poverty: Making Globalisation Work
for the Poor"
Building on the 1997 White Paper, which
committed the Government to the internationally
agreed targets to halve world poverty
by 2015, the new document looks at the
implications of globalisation for international
development, particularly how globalisation
can be harnessed to reduce extreme poverty,
and make the world a safer place.
The paper covers areas such as the importance
of good governments, allowing people to
have a voice, education, health, fair
trade and sound investment.
To achieve this, the paper argues, governments
and activists must work with, rather than
against, the grain of globalisation, and
the injustices commonly associated with
commercial development in developing countries
can be overcome by work on healthcare,
education and fair trade laws.
According to BOND, the British Overseas
NGOs for Development, NGOs have generally
welcomed the ambition of the White Paper,
particularly the recognition that trade
should be a means to the end of development,
not an end in itself.
At the same time there are some concerns
surrounding a number of elements of the
paper, particularly issues surrounding
debt, open markets and how global inequality
is not necessarily linked to globalisation.
To see BOND’s comments in full visit
https://www.bond.org.uk
Further information on the White Paper
can be found on a new DFID website dedicated
to globalisation at https://www.globalisation.gov.uk.
The site includes downloads and order
forms as well as background information
and research. A text only version is also
available for those with slow modem connections.
Lekhaya's Story
top
by Regional Director, Imelda Diouf
"Each one has to live his or her
own life … you live for yourself
and I live for myself because we don’t
know who will die first."
These words are so easily uttered by
Lekhaya (not her real name – "Call
me Lekhaya because it means happiness").
When did young people become so philosophical,
I ask myself? And how many more times
will I share the story of another person
who will not become an elder?
I asked Lekhaya, a counsellor, to tell
me some things about counselling people
living with HIV and AIDS. In response
she replied: "I’ll tell you
my story if you are strong enough to listen."
Lekhaya's Story
"I was tested positive with HIV
in 1992. I was only 18-years old. I was
very sick. The doctor told me: "Go
home, you have no time."
At that time I knew no one who was like
me, there was no one to talk to. My family
waited for me to die. My mother sat by
the phone waiting for the news. But I
was not ready to die.
Now, 10 years later, I am alive and working.
But there is a lot of pain.
I don’t know who passed on the
virus to me. I was raped by two men at
the same time as I fell pregnant from
my boyfriend. My child’s father
has refused to go for a test. I cry when
I think that I don’t really know
who the real father of my child is. Maybe
it was one of the men who raped me?
I cry because I am the only breadwinner
in my mother’s house of eight people.
What will happen to my sisters and my
two children when I die? I know that they
will live a life I have tried to keep
them away from.
I try very hard not to become too close
to my children because they need to get
used to other people. But now I know that
there are two more people who are HIV
positive in my mother’s house.
Sometimes I think I am so strong to survive
all this, but I can’t tell my story
without crying. But even if I cry, it
does not mean that I am not positive and
happy. Since the time that I met some
other HIV positive people in 1993, I have
felt very encouraged to work as a counsellor.
Now everyday I see people who are ill
and dying or bereaved or in denial. But
this does not upset me. When I am with
clients I will not place the focus on
death. We all live to die. I accept that
I will die when it comes.
I definitely think about death sometimes.
As I die I want to counsel someone because
maybe in my last moment I will make a
difference to a life.
But for now my positive mind keeps me
alive. Besides vitamins and herbal remedies,
I take no medication. I have had three
proposals of marriage in the last few
years and have turned them all down. You
cannot start a marriage if you don’t
have a future. My count is so low having
a child will probably kill me. But if
I ever got married it would be in a beautiful
purple dress.
I think I am going to have a 10th Anniversary
party to celebrate my HIV status. I wish
that I could live long enough to tell
my children about my life. They would
need to be young adults to understand
my story. Maybe I should write a book?"
My dear Lekhaya, I was once told that
the three greatest things a person can
do are have a child, write a story and
plant a tree. You’ve had your child,
told your story through me, now lets get
together and make sure that we plant a
tree.
With Love,
Imelda
Disability: Development
Education Day top
Are you aware of the issues facing
disabled people in the UK and developing
countries? Would you like to know more?
Would you like to share what you already
know? If so, Skillshare Africa and Action
Health would like to hear from you.
We will be holding a development education
day on April 21 for supporters, returned
development workers and trainers, with
a focus on disability.
The aims of the day are:
