Future activities and projections:
Annita has recently suffered a miscarriage and has been out on sick leave recovering from it. Dinah is due to have her baby in early March and has taken maternity leave effective March 8, 2010.
March 8, 2010 is International Women’s Day. While recent activities in the camp have made it difficult to plan for a celebration on this day, Jacqui has been working with MCDSS to make plans to celebrate the event. However, due to lack of funding, the event may be postponed.
Indicators and statistics:
Please see M&E spreadsheet.
Substantial problems or issues:
None at this time
Wishes or requests:
None at this time
Budget:
Please see expense monitor.
By Jessica ZetzmanMy name is Jacqueline, Women’s Centre Staff. We are doing alot of activities with the women of Meheba Refugee Settlement with eight big zones/blocks. We teach women sewing and knitting and educational workshops on Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV), Reproductive Health to know the problems of their reproductive system, and then Childcare and Nutrition to help them know how to feed and care for their children in a refugee situation because people have not enough food/resources to survive.
Therefore, the Women’s Centre is working hard to teach women survival skills so that they earn a living and also have some money so that they can send their children to school. We really thank our donors/people who are donating things to the Women’s Centre which is making our work easier and able to teach more skills to the women of Meheba. At the present we have an outreach with women who are at the departure centre in readiness to repatriate to Angola during repatriation in the coming months of April and May. We are teaching them now so that as they go back home they will at least have something to do and some skills to help them.
Recently some people donated four sewing machines to help the Women’s Centre, so that more women have a chance to learn how to sew with a sewing machine and at the end we will give them a certificate.
We really appreciate our people who are donating, because some women have never been to school. But now they still have a chance to learn a skill from FORGE Women’s Centre which is free of charge. If they were made to pay to learn these skills, it would be very difficult for them because they do not have money to pat for them to learn a skill.
By Jacqueline N.In October two of the Women’s Centre staff were trained on psychosocial counseling and Sexual and Gender Based Violence. UNHCR provided this training and it was a very good training.
This month the Women Centre staff completed the outreach program in Block B with thirty women and had a great graduation on the 30th of October. The women did sewing, knitting, and educational workshops on SGBV, reproductive health, and childcare and nutrition. The Women’s Centre also held a four day workshop on SGBV.
By Jacqueline N.This month the Women’s Centre staff had only attended to saving circles at the Women’s Centre and one in Block ‘A’ Road 12. We also started a new saving circle in Block ‘D’. The first week of July the staff started an out-reach work-shop with 30 women from Block ‘B’ Road 18 and it will run for two months. We will be teaching the women sewing, knitting and workshops on SGBV, reproductive health, child care, and nutrition. We hope to start a saving circle from this outreach group upon completion of the outreach.
By Jacqueline N.Summary of project status and achievements:
In February the knitting and sewing class that had been held with many Congolese women at Road 36 concluded and a graduation ceremony was held. While several women were unable to attend the graduation due to the protests at Road 36, many attended and spoke highly of their experience with the outreach and of the skills they had learned.
A new sewing and knitting outreach was begun shortly after the last graduation to target the women at the transit centre who are waiting to go back to Angola. When the rains stop in April and May these women will be repatriated to Angola and Jacqui and Annita felt that they should go home with a skill to feed their family once they arrived at their new destination in Angola.
In February we continued to see very poor attendance of the saving circles due to rains, cultivation, and the fact that many women do not have any money to save or repay loans at this time of year. A letter was sent to these women encouraging them to be ready to begin saving again in mid March.
Future activities and projections:
Annita has recently suffered a miscarriage and has been out on sick leave recovering from it. Dinah is due to have her baby in early March and has taken maternity leave effective March 8, 2010.
March 8, 2010 is International Women’s Day. While recent activities in the camp have made it difficult to plan for a celebration on this day, Jacqui has been working with MCDSS to make plans to celebrate the event. However, due to lack of funding, the event may be postponed.
Indicators and statistics:
Please see M&E spreadsheet.
Substantial problems or issues:
None at this time
Wishes or requests:
None at this time
Budget:
Please see expense monitor.
By Jessica ZetzmanSummary of project status and achievements:
In January the sewing and knitting outreach at Road 36 continued. A four-day workshop was conducted on reproductive health, nutrition and childcare. As well, a meeting was held with the staff of the Women’s Centre and goals for 2010 were discussed and outlined. A copy of these goals have been posted in the Women’s Centre as a reminder for all.
One sewing machine was purchased for the Women’s Centre in January. This sewing machine will be used to train the staff members in preparation for the full sewing machine project. Already significant interest has been shown in the community for the sewing machine/tailoring project.
We are working to find a supplier of discounted chitenge material to accompany this project. In January we have seen very poor attendance of the saving circles due to rains, cultivation, and the fact that many women do not have any money to save or repay loans at this time of year. A letter will be sent to these women telling them to prepare themselves during the next month and be ready to start saving again and repaying loans in April.
Future activities and projections:
The sewing and knitting class will be graduating on February 5th. A new sewing and knitting outreach will begin in February to target the women who are at the transit centre waiting to be repatriated. It has come to our attention that this group of women would benefit not only when they repatriate with the skills learned, but also from the workshop component pertaining to hygiene and nutrition as they are living in close quarters at the transit centre. As well, we will work with the women who were on the waiting list for the last class that was held at Road 36.
As well, Dinah is due to have her baby in early March. She is not yet sure when she will be taking her maternity leave, but this will effect possible programing.
Indicators and statistics:
Please see M&E spreadsheet.
Substantial problems or issues:
The Women’s Centre has been experiencing personnel difficulties in the past month. The Site Manager made the decision to switch the roles of Annita and Jacqui. However, this was met with great resistance. As such, a meeting was held where each member of the group contributed their thoughts on the issues. A list of requirements for the coming month was made and each member signed the list, committing to each item on the list. As such, the old management structure, with Jacqui as Coordinator, was kept in place on the condition that the list would be revisited at the end of the month and everyone’s behavior would be evaluated in light of the list. If significant improvements have not happened, the management structure will shift.
Another potential health problem has arisen with Annita. Annita has recently found out that she is pregnant again but has been experiencing substantial pain. It is feared that she might have a tubal pregnancy. As this could be a serious health risk Annita has been advised to seek medical treatment in Solwezi. We will be monitoring this closely.
Wishes or requests:
None at this time
By Jessica Zetzman
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