Tuesday 16 May

A lesson learnt, or two

Every day in Kenya is different.  Today is one of those days.  Most importantly, I (re-)learn what could probably be my two most important lessons to date –  (a) In development work grassroots organisations know what is best for their beneficiaries, and (b) even if I have different views, there’s a good reason for the status quo and it works.   So, while I may think that I have great organisational skills, creative ideas, etc, etc,  it does not automatically make my ideas and way of working right.  What is important is an understanding of the dynamics of the community, the relationships built within it, the social and economic context.  I should know this from my community development background, but being in the middle of it, and in some ways being an outsider, leaves me facing some hard facts of development work.  The fact of it is that some delivery methods of services may seem very unusual not only to those of us who are used to the developed world’s fast pace of life, and well laid out plans, etc, but even to those of us who grew up in parts of Africa where we had better opportunities than most.   So while some delivery methods in grassroots development may seem unconventional, underneath it all there is a logic to it, and a process.  It gets there in the end and with amazing results.    

Preparing for the community forum

So here’s my story.  This morning we are holding a community forum on women’s rights.  Our target is 100 women in Kibera.  Lillian is in charge of awareness-raising of human rights and therefore in charge of today’s event.  At the staff meeting yesterday and last week we have covered all that is needed to be done for the session today.  All staff have roles and responsibilities to assist with the community forum this morning.  

The venue and other options

Needless to say, things do not exactly get off to a great start.  First, the venue we are supposed to be using has not been cleaned and registration begins in an hour.    Cleaning this venue and its surroundings is no mean task.  The space itself where the forum will be held can be dusted, swept, benches arranged, posters put up, etc in no time.  The problem is the surroundings.   There’s sewage strewn everywhere as one approaches the venue.  The venue is directly behind our office.  The only access to it is right next to our own office, and there’s a heap of rubbish that’s been ‘growing’ over the last week or so.  The open gutters around the venue are clogged with stagnant water and even more sewage.  It really is disgusting and the stench emanating from the gutters is enough to make one sick if inhaled constantly for longer than ‘necessary’.   Now Kibera is full of stench like this as one walks through but with time it becomes more of a waft than a constant.   The difference between wafts and today is that the small corridor that leads into the room to be used for the forum also has an open gutter that has collected stagnant water and sewage from the gutters outside where the drainage is clogged.  So the stench has found its way inside.   To clean the gutters will take time unless we enlist the services of some young men and pay them for it.  

At this moment I cannot see how we can hold a seminar here in its current state.  Lillian tells me that Julie booked another place the night before.   This venue is about 10 minutes away.   She convinces me that it’s a better venue than this one, it is ‘locally serviced’ and therefore clean, it is stocked with enough benches and the payment rate is the same as this place.  I think this is a good idea.  I’m excited about it and I call Julie to talk with her about this.   However, she seems adamant that we use this place behind our office as (a) it’s closer and (b) she has a good relationship with the owner of the venue.  I’m not convinced.  I go with Lillian to see this other venue so that I can make my own assessment of the situation.  When I see it there is no doubt in my mind that this is the place to use.  I call Julie for the third time this morning to get my point across in the hope of convincing her.  She’s still very adamant - she says that once the other venue is cleaned it will be good to use.  I feel really frustrated now and a little irritated with the situation.  I can be very stubborn and in my mind at this moment, with registration time fast approaching, I cannot see beyond the clogged drains and the stench.   We have funders attending this event and I also feel that we will be judged not only on our delivery of the session, but also on our preparation, organisation, surroundings etc.   Despite my inability to see beyond this, in as much as I may not agree with Julie, she is my boss and I won’t disrespect her wishes and her instructions.  So we head back to the office to sort out the original venue.  

Doing as I’m told and cleaning up

We solicit the help of some local guys who work across from us to unclog the drains and clean the gutter and surrounding areas for a small fee.  I help fetch water and dust the venue, arrange benches, and then put posters up as well as flipcharts to be used for the session.  In the meantime, women from the community are trickling in.  Despite the non-starter this morning, by 10am the surroundings have been cleaned, the room organised.  It’s almost full with women and we are ready to start and we are on time!  Over the next two hours of the session, more women stream in, until there’s not enough space inside and some participate by looking in through the windows and by standing in the doorway.  We targeted 100 women – our registration sheets show that we have at least 120 women.  

Community forum on women’s rights

The session itself is educative, interactive and very well delivered.   Lillian and Jane lead the discussions with a lot of input from the women and from the lawyers who are representing our funders and their technical partners.  Most of the session is in Kiswahili but Rispa, another paralegal, translates for me.  Some of it I can understand judging from the excitement in the room.  They talk about everything – from the rights of women in intimate relationships, to the responsibilities of family men, to inheritance rights of women should their partners pass away, etc etc.  Their questions are direct and to the point and are enough to make most men shy away.  In as much as some of the discussions cause ripples of laughter, amusement and excitement, the related questions are some of the most important ones.  Most of these women have been affected by HIV/AIDs in some way and just by living in the slum where there is a high population of people living with the virus, they are more at risk of being infected.  If I had my doubts about sessions like these, I can now see how useful this is for them.  At the very least, it’s a safe space to discuss issues that they wouldn’t otherwise discuss elsewhere; it’s a space to get answers on how to approach domestic issues, etc; a safe space to get answers on what to do and where to go should one feel that their rights have been abused, for example.  There are lawyers present here today who are from organisations that provide free representation to women like these.  There’s so much support for them, and one can only hope that the knowledge they gain here is enough to empower them.  I think sessions like these if carried out on a more regular basis could have long-lasting effects and make more of an impact.

We finish the seminar on time at 12 and afterwards each of the women is given a packet of milk.  It’s been a very good session. I’m impressed with Lillian’s approach to it and with her delivery also.  The beneficiaries seem to think so themselves as they confirm that their expectations have been met to a large extent.  

On reflection ...

At some point during the session, bearing in mind the drama of the morning, it dawns on me that the seminar is going very well, that the venue is OK, that there is no stench as I’d thought before etc etc.   After the seminar, I am told that the funders were very impressed with the content of the session, with the delivery, with the venue, with how organised we were and with the turnout.  I’m impressed.   The other staff – Lillian, Ayub and Julie – all say thank you to me for a wonderful job.  Honestly, I do not feel that the success of the forum is down to me and I tell them I cannot take the credit for it.  I think they all pulled together well, and Lillian was well prepared with her delivery.   She deserves most, if not all, of the credit for the success of the event.  I may have enabled them in terms of preparation and covering all the basics but the delivery I feel has barely anything to do with me.  My theory is that capacity building is only possible where there is some sort of foundation - it’s just a matter of getting the most out of it / people and that’s what I hope I’m doing.  I make sure to let the staff know what a great job they have done.

‘This is the way things are done here’ ... and it works

On a personal note, and for my own learning, Julie was right about the venue.  Once we had cleaned it up it was all OK and it worked.  We even managed to start on time, something we would not have achieved had we changed the venue at the last minute as we would have had to inform participants and guide them to the new venue.  My assessment of the situation was certainly off the mark and my solution to it, while acceptable, was not appropriate within the context.  I apologise to Julie for coming across rather irritable on the phone earlier.  She’s OK with it. She understands where I’m coming from and apologises for not being able to communicate better her own thoughts on the situation.  She says to me that while she thinks I may have been right in my assessment of the situation in some way, ‘this is the way things are done here’.  

For me, it’s a shift in attitude, one I did not see coming.  I come away from this experience feeling I have learnt more in one day than in the six or seven weeks I’ve been here.