Well I've settled into Mwandi very nicely! It is an incredible place and I'm still in awe of the people and how welcome I feel. I have my schedule full and I couldn't think of any other way I'd rather be spending my time right now.
The Project
Following my warm welcome last week I started with the staff and counselors this week. They hold a Symposium for the staff of the project each Wednesday, in which I am the `teacher' every week while I am here. This week I spoke about abuse, in which I explained our mandatory reporting laws, types of abuse, ways to identify victims and acting on and treating the abuse. This was really well received and gave the staff a sense of feeling important within their role. They asked relevant questions and helped with discussion which was great, these people are generally quite shy but I got the feeling of genuine interest in my experience and how they can benefit. So this was a huge success and I'm looking forward to the next one already, alcohol and drug abuse.
My other role at OVC is working with Giblet and Mutanta (in photo), the Counselors here. There is a counseling house (photo) built specific for this within the project and it has been set up really well. On Monday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons I join their counseling sessions and this week has mainly been just observing, so I can join in from next week. They do one on one counseling for children that need it but these sessions are more like small group social studies type info sessions. It is a really good time to approach topics that are of concern and so far we've had fighting and today was drug abuse. Again they ask for me to lead the future sessions so they can learn more teaching techniques from me, but really, I was pretty impressed by how they are running them already – just a bit more input from the children with questions, discussion etc to really see that they are understanding what they are teaching is all I'd like to show them. Mind you, this is all in Lozi! Giblet and Mutanta translate for me but it's really not as difficult as you'd think.
In spare time around the project I've helped out at feeding time (crazy!!), reading after, and just hanging out in the yard getting to know the kids – They are amazing! I am so blessed to be able to experience all this I just wish everyone at home could see this. I also had the most amazing day on Tuesday, when I met the Mushabati, the child I have sponsored for two years! He was quite shy but excited as well, his mother and siblings also gathered around me… truly awesome. Next week I'm going to his house and I hope to spend some more time with him which will be sensational...
To finish my update on the project here are just a couple of pictures I took today.
The Police
On Monday and Thursday mornings I report to the Police Tree for duty! Yep, the office is a tree at the moment but these fellows are lovely. There is Inspector Itwe, Constable Dakar, Constable Masumo and Criminal Investigation Constable Pardon. There should be a forth constable but he passed away last year and has not been replaced. On Monday we were met by a few people sitting on the ground to discuss occurrences from the weekend. I was bit bothered by the lady who had been beaten, whose face was bloodied and swollen but could not receive medical treatment until she had a note from police authorizing treatment (what?). These notes are on scrap paper but considered official. There was an Uncle who'd had an argument with his nephew, nephew broke some wooden structure, Uncle had this bundled and tied with reeds to present as evidence and Constable Dakar had the patience to discuss their matter for about two hours! Inspector Itwe issued a `Call-out' notice to one man who requested it – I liked this idea; This man was having trouble with another, Police write a Call-out, like a Summons, and man takes Call-out to other man. This person must present to police so the matter can be discussed before they "fight or kill each other', as Itwe says… failure to come to police gets you 3 months jail so compliance with a call-out is very good! They don't really like smoking here either; smoking in public will get you 6 months in the clink. The police already have a very good relationship with the community, even with informants that work for them – kind of neighborhood watch like concept. Police were not permanent in Mwandi until 2006 and since then they have reduced crime greatly – Ikwe was very proud to say they have recovered 72 stock since 2006 as cross boarder stock theft from Namibia and Zimbabwe was a big problem.
I was hoping to get Police involved at OVC while here, and just today Inspector Itwe accepted my invitation from Giblet to attend OVC which is fantastic. So I'll be working on putting together a few good sessions to improve relations between police and OVC which will hopefully continue when I leave…
The Village
What a wonderful piece of the earth this is! For some reason I didn't picture myself walking around freely within the village and meeting all the locals, but they are just so friendly and welcoming it's incredible. Kids come running from a mile off to pinky-shake (means be my friend) and adults stop and shake your hand at every corner, every house. They are getting to know me now so it's a pleasant hello, but still hold hands and ask how your day is. Being on the Zambezi river they catch plenty of fish and I've already been offered a ride in a canoe one day. They love the camera which is great because I just love taking photos! It's going to be very had to choose which ones to post here as I already have so many… I hope you enjoy what I can add just now. Thanks again for your support and for those that have contributed to this project I hope you are enjoying this journey as well.
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