Hi there Everyone
Well it's been a bit longer than I intended since my last blog. I blame in part the lack of electricity!! The past week or so has been pretty bad and we have been subject to many blackouts. Anyway now that we do have electricity I should probably update you with life here in Dar.
Progress with TAWLA
If memory serves me correctly I had presented my strategy paper on the hotline service. Well since then I have been gathering our resources in TAWLA to determine what we material we currently have on file. While there is some material in kiswahilli I have learnt that there is much to do! I have decided to review the main legislation that will be most relevant to the queries which will be raised through the hotline service (this is based on my discussions with my colleagues who have informed me what the main issues that present themselves in person at the office). To this extent over the next couple of weeks/perhaps months I will review the Marriage Act, the Child Act, the Civil Procedure Act and the Land Act with a view to setting out the main elements of each Act in a " Frequently Asked Question" format which can be used by the volunteers in TAWLA when addressing questions raised by members of the public. I will prepare the various manuals in English and my colleagues will translate the manuals into Kiswahilli which can be used internally by TAWLA.
So in light of the above I think that I will be quite busy over the next while!
I had mentioned in my last blog that I was presenting a seminar on the principles of good legal drafting. I think that this went well and I got good feed back from my colleagues. In this regard a number of my colleagues have asked for me to assist with their drafting so that they can incorporate the principles that I spoke about during the seminar, so I will take this as a good sign! As I am currently based in legal aid I will begin to sit in on consultations again. The reason is twofold: from a selfish perspective it will help me improve my kiswahilli and will also allow me to assist my colleagues in drafting pleadings for upcoming course cases.
I am also currently reviewing the current HR policies in place by TAWLA and proposing amendments where appropriate. This is part of the internal good governance initiatives which TAWLA is currently seeking to implement.
We are all hoping that the electricity situation will improve so that work over the coming week will not be interrupted as much as it has been over the last week or so. I am lucky because we have an inverter at home so it means that I can charge my laptop and work from home as needs be but unfortunately in the office we do not have a generator so when the electricity is off (which at the moment it frequently is) it means that work progress is hampered considerably! We are hoping to get some additional funding so that we can fix the generator which is currently broken...This would greatly improve the situation. I have been forewarned that the electricity situation is only going to get worse but at the moment I am continuing to be optimistic...here's hoping my optimism is not in vain....
So the past week has been a mixed bag.....
Immigration Disappointment
Well again I will start with the positives...I have been approved for a work permit in Tanzania but on the downside the cost of the permit has increased from $120 to $500 with effect from 1 July 2011. I am disheartened because I submitted my application on the 29th of June but the Tanzanian government will not be swayed and I must pay $500...When you are not earning and are working on a volunteer basis this additional cost is regrettable but I will just have to absorb the cost....On the plus side it means that I will have legal status to stay here for two years so in the grand scheme of things I guess that's not too bad.
Fun stuff...beach...beach and more beach
Well I guess you cannot feel sorry for me at all considering every weekend I do get to enjoy the beautiful Indian Ocean every weekend....The past two weekends seem to have blended into one so I will try to remember what I got up to! The weekend before last it was my housemates' Tende's birthday and we celebrated with a full moon party at Paulo's (an Italian guy who lives near us) with lots of dancing and plenty of wine..(.the party was at the house of an Italian's so naturally there was plenty of wine)... Last weekend I went to Michocheni and stayed over with two of my colleagues..We went to Rose Garden for dinner which is a long established hangout for Tanzanians and had a feast of ugali and goat...incredibly delicious! On Saturday I went to Jess and Josh an American couple who live near my house for a BBQ which was lovely...I met up with a lot of ex-pats who have lived in Dar for a number of years so it was lovely to meet up with people who have been here for a long time and learn from their experiences! On Sunday I went to mass in my local church. I have been there a couple of times now so I think people are starting to recognise me. It is all in kiswahilli so I don't understand much but the beautiful music and singing from the choir makes up for the fact that I cannot understand the sermon or much of the mass for that matter! Sunday afternoon two of my colleagues and friends Julienne and Miriam came and stayed in Kigamboni with me. We went to the beach and I worked on my non-existent tan!! I cooked dinner and we just sat around and chatted :)
Home Alone....
So my housemate Elaine and her baby Tara have flown back to Ireland for a holiday. It will be the first time that Tara has met her aunties and uncles so it very exciting for her and for Elaine to see her family. It's been three years since she's been home. On a selfish note of course though I will miss them lots! Tendekye is away on safari and is not back on until the 8th of August so until then it is just me and the cat princess :)
Anyway, I better finish this one off and head off to bed. We have electricity at the moment though so maybe I indulge myself and watch a DVD on the laptop!
Until next time,
Eithne
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Week Four and Half...Progress Continues
Hi Everyone
Welcome to my newest update...I had meant to post over the weekend but well life and fun got in the way!
As usual I will start with work first :()
Progress with TAWLA
In my last post I think that I said I would report back on how the presentation of my strategy paper for the hotline would go...Well I had the meeting and thankfully it went really well and my colleagues were very complementary of my ideas. I met with Anna Marie and Grace and over the course of three hours we shared ideas and plans in relation to the hotline.
It has been agreed that for the hotline to operate effectively TAWLA should concentrate on core issues that women can ring the hotline about. Essentially the hotline will allow women to call and speak with a member of TAWLA rather than having to come to the office in person...This will be of great benefit to many women for a number of reasons 1) the office may not actually be near to where they live, 2) the cost of travelling to the office would now be eliminated and 3) there may be occasions where a woman simply cannot make the journey because for example she is physically injured or has small children who are unable to make the journey. The hotline will provide women with basic information and also refer them to other services which are provided by organisations that TAWLA has built relationships with. For example at present there is only one NGO in Dar which provides emergency accommodation for women who are suffering from domestic violence. Access to this service may not be readily known by many women and therefore the hotline will amongst other things provide women with this information. To ensure that TAWLA speaks with one voice I am currently putting together a training manual that all staff who operate the hotline will be required to study. This will range from the manner in which each call must be addressed, the collection of data from the calls and the legal advice which should be given dependent on the query which has been raised. Much of the work in relation to gender based violence, land rights and matrimonial issues has already been done by TAWLA however there are aspects which need improvement and it has not be arranged into one core document or translated into English so that we can show the donors the content of the advice which will be given to women who use the service. My job over the next couple of months will be to ensure that there is a central database with all of the relevant information in one file that can be used by all members of TAWLA. My colleagues will of course have to help me with the translations!
In addition to the above, I am also going to assist TAWLA in improving its internal governance structure. In this regard I have been ask to prepare a code of conduct and confidentiality statement that staff will be required to complete. I am also putting in place a child protection policy that must be adhered to by TAWLA staff. It looks like I am going to be quite busy over the next while!
I have arranged an in house training seminar on good legal drafting for next Tuesday. I will report back on how that goes. Everyone in the office is really looking forward to it. I of course am pretty nervous and must remember not to speak too quickly! As it is sometimes people struggle to understand me!
And now for the fun stuff....
So seeing that it has been over a week since I last blogged there is a lot to report on the social side of things also! Last Thursday was a public holiday here in Dar called saba saba (which literally means 7/7 which is quite straightforward really considering it was the 7th of the 7th!). As I had the day off myself Elaine and Tara decided to take a trip into town and buy some material so I could get some dresses made. Elaine was also looking for a hat for a lavish Indian wedding she is going to this week (which incidentally takes place over 4 days!). With our shopping done we proceeded to a place called Slipway and had a really nice lunch overlooking the ocean. Everyone in restaurant was admiring Tara, she is quite a beautiful baby! We spent the remainder of the day hanging out with friends of Elaine who lived nearby and have a pool so we had a lovely afternoon there!
The next day after work I headed out to a bar called Triniti for the international beat concert which was mainly reggae artists from Tz, Kenya and one guy from Holland, with a guy from the States Andy. Was really good fun and Tende was pretty happy that I am improving my musical knowledge...Westlife just doesn't really cut it! Friday was great fun...Saturday morning not so much! But I was up early as a new volunteer from Challenges had arrived in Dar and I had promised to show here what I knew so far of the city and of course for her to come out to Kigamboni and enjoy the beach for the afternoon. We had a lovely day hanging out in Kippepeo (the name of one of our local beaches...there are many!). Sunday was nice and relaxing and spent it hanging out on the beach. While I am still milk bottle white I am slowly starting to take a little bit of a tan! Sunday evening there was an important football final on (apparently, it all went over my head)...but we came home from the beach to find the TV in the front garden surrounded by a bunch of guys shouting encouragements at their respective teams...They cooked up an amazing BBQ of grilled octopus, red snapper and goat so I was pretty happy!
The remainder of this week has been pretty much work so far but tonight I'm heading out to Sweat Easy for a few drinks and to listen to some live music...won't be a late one though have work in the morning!
Until next time,
Eithne
Welcome to my newest update...I had meant to post over the weekend but well life and fun got in the way!
As usual I will start with work first :()
Progress with TAWLA
In my last post I think that I said I would report back on how the presentation of my strategy paper for the hotline would go...Well I had the meeting and thankfully it went really well and my colleagues were very complementary of my ideas. I met with Anna Marie and Grace and over the course of three hours we shared ideas and plans in relation to the hotline.
It has been agreed that for the hotline to operate effectively TAWLA should concentrate on core issues that women can ring the hotline about. Essentially the hotline will allow women to call and speak with a member of TAWLA rather than having to come to the office in person...This will be of great benefit to many women for a number of reasons 1) the office may not actually be near to where they live, 2) the cost of travelling to the office would now be eliminated and 3) there may be occasions where a woman simply cannot make the journey because for example she is physically injured or has small children who are unable to make the journey. The hotline will provide women with basic information and also refer them to other services which are provided by organisations that TAWLA has built relationships with. For example at present there is only one NGO in Dar which provides emergency accommodation for women who are suffering from domestic violence. Access to this service may not be readily known by many women and therefore the hotline will amongst other things provide women with this information. To ensure that TAWLA speaks with one voice I am currently putting together a training manual that all staff who operate the hotline will be required to study. This will range from the manner in which each call must be addressed, the collection of data from the calls and the legal advice which should be given dependent on the query which has been raised. Much of the work in relation to gender based violence, land rights and matrimonial issues has already been done by TAWLA however there are aspects which need improvement and it has not be arranged into one core document or translated into English so that we can show the donors the content of the advice which will be given to women who use the service. My job over the next couple of months will be to ensure that there is a central database with all of the relevant information in one file that can be used by all members of TAWLA. My colleagues will of course have to help me with the translations!
In addition to the above, I am also going to assist TAWLA in improving its internal governance structure. In this regard I have been ask to prepare a code of conduct and confidentiality statement that staff will be required to complete. I am also putting in place a child protection policy that must be adhered to by TAWLA staff. It looks like I am going to be quite busy over the next while!
I have arranged an in house training seminar on good legal drafting for next Tuesday. I will report back on how that goes. Everyone in the office is really looking forward to it. I of course am pretty nervous and must remember not to speak too quickly! As it is sometimes people struggle to understand me!
And now for the fun stuff....
So seeing that it has been over a week since I last blogged there is a lot to report on the social side of things also! Last Thursday was a public holiday here in Dar called saba saba (which literally means 7/7 which is quite straightforward really considering it was the 7th of the 7th!). As I had the day off myself Elaine and Tara decided to take a trip into town and buy some material so I could get some dresses made. Elaine was also looking for a hat for a lavish Indian wedding she is going to this week (which incidentally takes place over 4 days!). With our shopping done we proceeded to a place called Slipway and had a really nice lunch overlooking the ocean. Everyone in restaurant was admiring Tara, she is quite a beautiful baby! We spent the remainder of the day hanging out with friends of Elaine who lived nearby and have a pool so we had a lovely afternoon there!
The next day after work I headed out to a bar called Triniti for the international beat concert which was mainly reggae artists from Tz, Kenya and one guy from Holland, with a guy from the States Andy. Was really good fun and Tende was pretty happy that I am improving my musical knowledge...Westlife just doesn't really cut it! Friday was great fun...Saturday morning not so much! But I was up early as a new volunteer from Challenges had arrived in Dar and I had promised to show here what I knew so far of the city and of course for her to come out to Kigamboni and enjoy the beach for the afternoon. We had a lovely day hanging out in Kippepeo (the name of one of our local beaches...there are many!). Sunday was nice and relaxing and spent it hanging out on the beach. While I am still milk bottle white I am slowly starting to take a little bit of a tan! Sunday evening there was an important football final on (apparently, it all went over my head)...but we came home from the beach to find the TV in the front garden surrounded by a bunch of guys shouting encouragements at their respective teams...They cooked up an amazing BBQ of grilled octopus, red snapper and goat so I was pretty happy!
The remainder of this week has been pretty much work so far but tonight I'm heading out to Sweat Easy for a few drinks and to listen to some live music...won't be a late one though have work in the morning!
Until next time,
Eithne
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Round up of last week's events....
Well life is still treating me well here in Dar es Salaam. So life has been pretty busy since I last blogged. As usual I should probably give an account of my work as this is the main purpose for being here:)
Progress at TAWLA
As I mentioned previously I had been working on a strategy paper for the hotline service that TAWLA wishes to establish to assist women in need of legal advice on their human rights. I have now completed this paper which runs to some 20 pages and have shared it with my colleagues here. I am meeting to discuss my proposal with Anna Marie who is the chief executive of TAWLA tomorrow to discuss and brainstorm! I will fill you during my next post as to how that goes :()
In addition to the hotline and my work with legal aid I think that I had mentioned in my previous blog that I was also assisting with our governance department on the promotion of gender equality, maternal health and reproductive rights (I should mention that when I speak of departments, in total in TAWLA we are 16 people, 4 paid staff and 12 volunteers...so there is a lot of work to do with limited resources! I thought I should clarify this as I know at home when we speak about departments we think of maybe 30 or 40 people!) Anyway, this work is progressing well also. In this regard, I have become more involved with our governance team who have applied for funding from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to allow them to campaign and lobby for better representation of women's rights within the constitution. The Tanzanian constitution is currently under review and through the work of organisations such as TAWLA it is hoped that women will be better represented in Tanzanian society through the inclusion of specific provision in the constitution to this effect. We had a meeting at CIDA this morning to discuss the proposal which had been submitted by TAWLA. If granted TAWLA will act as the co-ordinator of initiatives on the part of a number of gender promotion organisations within Tanzania. This morning was a great learning experience for me and a wonderful opportunity to listen to women who passionately believe in the right of equity and equality for women. I truly hope that the funding necessary to implement their vision will come to fruition. The long term hope is that a national education program can be implemented at the grass roots level which would allow women from all walks of life to realise their full potential and express their voices within their own communities. I will keep you up updated on the progress of this funding application. We hope to hear back in towards the end of August, so please keep your fingers crossed!
And now for the fun stuff.....
So last week a former Challenges volunteer had put me in touch with Sunday Kapesi a Tanzanian lawyer who works here in Dar. Well I should start by saying that if the Tanzanian tourist board are ever looking for an amazing spokesperson Sunday is their man...I got a guided tour around the city and discovered a great little bar for after work drinks! As we all know how much we like our 5:31's on a Friday evening....It also turns out that Dar is about as small as Dublin is too as Sunday had met my housemates Elaine and Tende through the Dar social scene before, so it's a very small world indeed!
Last weekend, I decided to do a first aid and CPR course...While I hope that I never have to use it...as we live about an hour and half away from any kind of hospital with no ambulance service I thought that it is probably a good idea if I at least have the basics down!
Sunday we celebrated Tara's 8th month birthday down at Kim beach near our house. It was such a fun day...drinking beer in the Indian ocean is a great experience and I highly recommend it...you can see for yourself in the photos below!
Until next time,
Eithne xx
And now for the fun stuff.....
So last week a former Challenges volunteer had put me in touch with Sunday Kapesi a Tanzanian lawyer who works here in Dar. Well I should start by saying that if the Tanzanian tourist board are ever looking for an amazing spokesperson Sunday is their man...I got a guided tour around the city and discovered a great little bar for after work drinks! As we all know how much we like our 5:31's on a Friday evening....It also turns out that Dar is about as small as Dublin is too as Sunday had met my housemates Elaine and Tende through the Dar social scene before, so it's a very small world indeed!
Last weekend, I decided to do a first aid and CPR course...While I hope that I never have to use it...as we live about an hour and half away from any kind of hospital with no ambulance service I thought that it is probably a good idea if I at least have the basics down!
Sunday we celebrated Tara's 8th month birthday down at Kim beach near our house. It was such a fun day...drinking beer in the Indian ocean is a great experience and I highly recommend it...you can see for yourself in the photos below!
Until next time,
Eithne xx
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