Arrival! and Chawama advocacy training

After some flight difficulties that required us to stay in Johannesburg overnight, we have arrived in Zambia, and could not be happier to be here! We were greeted at the airport by Sr. Nama and Mikela, who brought us to Bauleni Street Kids, which will be our home for the next week. We spent the first day getting acquainted our colleagues here, meeting some of the kids who live and learn here, and going over our itinerary for our time here. We were also very fortunate that today was the day that a number of employees from Barclays Bank were here to make donations and assist in projects. In recognition of their work, there was a special dance with drumming and singing, put on by some of the kids. It made for a wonderful introduction to Bauleni and to Zambian culture.
Bauleni is truly an amazing place, as some of you are aware. In addition to the education of children with and without disabilities, Bauleni is remarkable for their projects aimed at self-sustainability. There is a garden that more resembles a farm, complete with some of the largest cabbage I have ever seen, row upon row of tomatoes, chickens, and some very active pigs (which we were quickly assured were free of swine flu). In addition, there are a number of workshops for students who do not make the qualifying exam to move past seventh grade. These shops make clothes, weaving, woodwork, and teach agricultural skills, among other trades. The products from all of these projects are sold in the community to help sustain Bauleni’s operation. These shops not only provide vocational skills to those participating in them, they also provide possibilities for sustainable, job skills training programs for all of Zambia.
We will be doing a training tomorrow with the self- and parent-advocacy group from Chawama, who will be coming to Bauleni. I know this group is of particular interest to many of you in Minnesota, so we will do our best to get an update to you on how the group is doing as soon as possible.
Update after first training: We had a four hour training with the Chawama advocacy group today here at Bauleni. Topics included inclusion, creating valued social roles, generating employment (including microenterprise), and taking community approaches to health and wellness. The training included a lot of lecture but also incorporated some discussion. There were many stories that were presented by attendees to assist the group and the presenters (us) to better understand concepts and put the ideas into context. Mikela served as interpreter, as about 75% of the group today was brand new to the advocacy group from Chawama. Training went very well, but the conversation following was the really encouraging part.
There was some split between the more established members, who seem to understand the need for self-sustainability, and the new members who were eager for external financial support. The group seems to be in the position of needing to work out the balance for what can happen immediately and what should be seen as long-term goals. There are some strong emerging leaders in this group, and today seemed to be a breakthrough for those three or four strong members to raise their voices to begin taking the group towards a stronger, more focused mission. The debate today raised a commitment for the group to meet next week to start working towards that mission, perhaps with new members on board. This, we think is a very encouraging development for the Chawama group and for the start of our formal work here.
We’re heading out of the Bauleni gates for a while to try to find internet to get this posted. Just thought many of you in Minnesota who have had interaction with the Chawama group in the past would like to hear this encouraging news from today’s meeting.
-Matt