Some of the Issues and some Results

 

An example:

The BEST CHOICE Campaign – Combating Child Labour through Education

Although the term 'child labour' usually bring to mind children working day and night in a sweat shop, there are other types of child labour – hidden types in the rural areas of Zambia that no-one really thinks about. For example, children herding cattle, or carrying out household chores that keep them from attending school. Child labour is defined as work that harms the child's emotional, physical or psychological welfare and/or work that interferes with the child's education.

 

The BEST CHOICE Campaign was designed to combat this type of child labour – through education. Working under the Ministry of Education (in collaboration with the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services and Ministry of Labour and Social Security), it was funded by the US Department of labour and implemented by American Institutes for Research . Seka was subcontracted to carry out the community mobilisation and awareness-raising component.  During our research we worked with the social, economic and cultural reasons for the child labour found in the area, people's perceptions, suggested interventions and much more. These issues were then woven into the plays, with interaction from the audience and suggested interventions leading to results. Some of the solutions that the community came up with (and implemented) were:

 

Problem: Lack of teachers' houses and classroom blocks.

Solution: Community members built classroom blocks and teachers houses (moulded the bricks, ferried the sand and other building materials)

 

Problem: Children herding cattle all day long and not having time to go to school. Children finding cattle herding more interesting than school.

Solution: Parents came up with a duty roster for herding the cattle to allow the children to go to school. Children herded cattle on the weekends. Parents built 'play parks' in the schools using natural materials to make school more enticing for the children.

 

Problem: Early pregnancies - young girls getting pregnant at 13 or 14 years of age.

Solution: The community requested that we sit with the women initiators to look at the content of the initiation teachings. These are are sometimes explicit, leading to children wanting to experiment sexually at an early age. We collaborated with the initiation teachers to add an HIV component to the initiations. These workshops were conducted in a very sensitive manner and to great success.

 

These are just a few examples of solutions that were facilitated by Seka during the BEST CHOICE Campaign.
	Community members voluteering to teach traditional vocational skills at school
Community members building a classroom block.	Parents built a play park to make school more exciting.

 

HIV

The HIV/AIDS pandemic is particularly rife here in Mfuwe and it requires a great deal of awareness raising and support from us all.

 

One of the many heartbreaks of HIV/AIDS – aside from the tragedy of death - is the effect it is having on families and society; leaving orphans and child headed families, families with no breadwinners and children with no role models. It has an insidious and catastrophic effect on our particular cultural system. It is particularly devastating in the context of cultural norms like  polygamy, young marriage age, and the custom of widows being 'taken under the wing' of brothers in law. 

 

Knowing one's status (and going onto Anti Retroviral Therapy, if necessary) is the first step to winning the fight in this battle. The reason Anti Retroviral Therapy is so vital is that it can keep people well long enough to finish raising their families and keep the family unit together. Unless the family unit is protected, the eventual result is a breakdown of society.

 

Although many people in Malambo are aware of the existence of HIV, there is still a crippling stigma attached to this disease and many people do not wish to acknowledge or discuss it.

 

One of the most important methods of tackling this is to open channels of dialogue, demystify the disease and get to know one's status. The Zambian Government, Non Governmental Organisations and private companies are all joining forces to try and combat this disease. The lodges and tour operators in the vicinity all make a concerted effort to do what they can to help mitigate the effects of this scourge.

 

The nearest hospital, Kamoto has recently become established as a fully equipped counselling and testing centre, where people can get themselves tested and go onto Anti Retroviral Therapy if necessary. This is a huge step in the right direction for the people of Malambo as they now have access to these facilities. Previously people have had to travel over 200 kilometres to another part of the country to get tested and get onto the necessary medication – a cost the majority of people here cannot afford.

 

Knowing one's status is the first step to winning the battle over HIV/AIDS. Many, however are not yet aware of the importance of this, and of living a positive life with HIV. Few people are even aware of the new facilities at the local hospital.

 

And so Seka has created a play to raise awareness on HIV/AIDS, to advertise the new facilities at the hospital, to stress the importance of knowing one's status, on positive living and de-stigmatisation.

 

This play was originally commissioned by the Zambia Wildlife Authority to sensitise the Wildlife Police Officers on HIV/AIDS. It was then adapted to perform to the staff at various lodges as part of their "HIV in the Workplace" programme. The huge success of the play has encouraged us to continue performing it in villages throughout Mfuwe. Many people have gone to get themselves tested after the performance – something previously unheard of. Usually at least ten people will approach us after the performance wanting to go and get themselves tested. Where possible we try to provide transportation to the local hospital for this. We rely purely on donations to carry out these activities.

 

We are all making a concerted effort to fight against this disease and now you too can help! Any donation goes directly into performing this play to a local village or school in Mfuwe. The play will directly reach an audience of approximately two hundred people and indirectly helps at least double that. The play costs $200 to perform