TAAAC Participates in the Youth Day Celebrations

Zambia National Women's Lobby Chongwe Basic School Boys Network joins the rest of the Zambian youths in celebrating this year's Youth Day.

Chongwe Boys Network march  with other schools from Chongwe District .

A boy from Chongwe Basic School displaying PPAZ's Referral Guide for Sexual Violence Service Providers

YWCA Kamwala High School Safe Space Girls participates in the Youth Day Celebrations

‘’Dialogue and Mutual Understanding’’ is the best practice that we the youths of Zambia can adopt but it comes with many challenges; if youths have to engage into dialogue and mutual understanding, they need leadership skills; at the same time a lot of youths have acquired the leadership skills and are ready to take up leadership roles and participate in decision making processes, but  there is need to create favorable structures that will allow youths to seek audience and be heard if we have to engage in dialogue and mutual understanding.

To interpret the theme, youths conducted focus group discussions a Kamwala High school, Lotus Basic and Marian Shrine Orphanage to empower youths with leadership skills to enable them dialogue  and have mutual understanding rather  than  resorting to rioting which may cause long term consequences. The youths were also taught on how to make sisal bags to enable them raise money for their school fees instead of engaging into harmful vices to raise money for school fees. (See pictures below)

TOPICS COVERED:

• Ø  Self Awareness
• Ø  Interpreting the theme Dialogue and Mutual Understanding
• Ø  Leadership skills

  

Empowerment skills on learning how to make sisal bags and table mats. 

Importance of learning a skill:

Ø  Youths or school girls and boys face a lot of challenges in rising school fees or their transport money to and from school. Other youths walk long distance with no food to get to the school and back home. Most youths come from poor families who cannot afford to provide for all their needs, while other youths head their own homes due to the loss of their parents. Such skills will enable youths to rise abit of money to pay for their school fees or transport money instead of engaging into harmful vices in order to raise money.

Ø   Youths will be able to teach their parents at home about this skill so that they are able to do it together and raise more money for the family too.

Ø  Such skills enables youths to also have a sense of responsibility, they are response for their own lives and have to do it wisely. This is a skill that can be expanded more after they complete their education as they wait for results because that is the period when most school leavers go world and engage in all sorts of harmful behaviors

Coalition Building Workshop

Equality Now, the lead implementing agency in the Zambia Project recently held a Coalition Building Workshop for all the implementing partners in the Coalition. The workshop was held at the Golden Bridge Hotel in Lusaka from 4th to 5th November, 2010. Below are some of the pictures taken at the workshop:

Mercy Tembo Presenting on the Men's Network

Natai from YWCA, Queen, PPAZ and Namuchana from WLSA at Coalition Building workshop

Pamela, CAMFED presenting on Safe Spaces

Lawyers and Law Faulty Training at Golden Bridge Hotel, Lusaka

One of the coalition members, Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA), hosted a two-day training workshop for lawyers and law faculty aimed at encouraging law reform, impact litigation and domestication of international and regional obligations. The workshop was held at the Golden Bridge Hotel in Lusaka on 1st and 2nd November, 2010. The training drew participants from various legal firms and institution, both private and public, and from the law faculty of several universities based in Lusaka. Below are some of the pictures taken during the workshop. 

Participants posing for a group photo. 

Ms. Kondwa Sakala from LAZ giving a vote of thanks at the end of the training.

UN Trust Fund Monitoring and Evaluation Training

Regional Skills-building Workshop and Evidence-based Programming, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Knowledge Management of Programmes to End Violence Against Women and Girls for Grantees of the UN Trust Fun in Support of  Actions to Eliminate Violence Against Women

This workshop took place in Nairobi, Kenya on October 4-8, 2010.

Topics covered included:

Session I: Welcoming remarks, introduction to workshop and instructors, workshop logistics and overview

Session II: What is M&E?, challenges of M&E

Session III: Evidence-based programming for Violence Against Women (VAW)

Session IV: Program goals and outcomes

Session V: M&E Frameworks

Session VI: Choosing appropriate indicators for different types of interventions

Session VII: Overview of different indicators for VAW programs

Session VIII: Quantitative evaluation design

Session IX: Information sources and quantitative methods

Session X: From research to action.

In between sessions, attendees participated in group work and activities.

 

Zambia Project Staff

Training for Chongwe Basic School Mentors

CAMFED in conjunction with TAAAC under the Safe Spaces Cluster organized the Chongwe Basic School Safe Spaces mentor's training.  Participants comprised of 6 Student Mentors who were all grade 9 pupils from Chongwe Basic School, 2 Chongwe Basic School Teacher Mentors, 8 Mother Mentors, and 3 Cama Mentors.  Facilitators included Mrs. Hope Kasese Khumalo from WLSA, Mrs. Shupe Makashinyi, the Project Coordinator, Mrs. Nancy Mukupa from Population Council, Ms. Stephanie Musenge, a private resource person, Ms. Regina Lialabi, CAMFED Senior Program Officer and Ms. Pamela Mwiinga Hamweemba, CAMFED Programs Manager, Young Women Empowerment.  The training took place from September 17-19.

The objective of the training was to introduce the Safe Space Curriculum to mentors who were expected to implement the Safe Space Coalition interventions targeting 100 girls at Chongwe Basic School.  The activity was sponsored by the UN Trust Fund through Equality Now.

Training topics included: human rights, relationships, reproductive health and contraceptives, life skills, HIV/AIDS and STI's, gender, financial education, and substance abuse.  They also went over policies and how to use the printed forms in the packets presented.  There was a time for questions to be answered at the end of the training and then participants evaluated the training.

Student mentors in a Reproductive Health session facilitated by Ms. Pamela M. Hamweemba from CAMFED.

Mrs. Shupe Makashinyi explaining a point to student mentors.

Mrs. Shupe Makashinyi facilitating a session on Relationships.

Five mentors are given a chance to explain their point of view.

Mrs. Hope Kasese Khumalo from WLSA, facilitating a sesion in Human Rights.

On her right are mentor students listening attentively.

Establishment of Boys Network at Kamulanga High School

Kamulanga High School is located approximately 8 km south of Lusaka.  It is one of the safe schools where Zambia National Women's Lobby (ZNWL) is working with the Forum for African Women Educationalists of Zambia (FAWEZA) under the TAAAC. ZNWL has been in contact with Kamulanga High School, aiming to introduce the Boys Network.

In the last quarter, the identification process of the Boys Network members could not take place because the students were writing exams.  ZNWL has finally been able to establish the Boys Network at the school.  The school has identified Mr. Longwa Kalombo as the network patron.  The Boys Network selected an executive committee of seven members using a democratic approach.  The Boys Network members determined on their own about the postitions (i.e. whether there should be a club chairperson or club president and the rest of the positions).  They settled for a President, Vice President, Secretary, Vice Secretary, Treasurerer, and three committee members.

Nelson (ZNWL) addressing the Boys at Kamulanga High School

A training programme for the boys is being planned, but the training site is yet to be identified.  There are three options for the training sites: Kasaka Camp in Kafue, Mount Eugenia near the Zambia Air Force Base in Lusaka West, and Fringila in Chisamba. Any suggestions from the coalition members are welcome.

Girls training at YWCA

The Safe Spaces Program held a training during the second week of September.  Ten girl students from Kamwala High School were trained at the Lusaka YWCA.