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
No comments:
Post a Comment