INSPIRING SCOTTISH WOMEN
making a difference These three incredible Scottish ladies tell us what they are doing around the world to help others less fortunate. Interviews by COLLEEN REID
JANE MCCANN Sr Placida (Jane McCann), 49 of Greenock has been a Catholic missionary in Kenya for the past 20 years.
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atholic Nun Sr Placida has spent the past two decades in Africa creating and maintaining a community-based organisation called the Live With Hope Centre. The centre is a HIV integrated project in the slum areas of Kericho and offers both medical help and community support for HIV victims in the impoverished area. ‘My main work is in the administration and coordination of the four departments,’ Sr Placida explains. ‘They are the home based care and HIV clinic, HIV prevention programmes, voluntary counselling and testing and finally orphans and vulnerable children.’ Sr Placida’s aim is to bring hope to people who live in devastating circumstances in the extremely deprived area.‘The housing is pathetic and the signs of poverty and unemployment are evident everywhere you look,’ Sr Placida says. ‘This leads to many other problems such as prostitution, the brewing and selling of illegal alcohol, crime, hopelessness, and of course, high incidences of HIV infection.’ The area is still struggling after suffering tribal unrest following the elections in 2007. Although starting to die down over the last three years,
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violence and danger are feared to escalate again with the coming elections in 2011 unless crucial reconciliation links between tribes are established. ‘This past year has seen a rise in the number of violent crimes,’ Sr Placida says. ‘In December 2009, our friend, Fr. Gerry Roche, was brutally murdered by a group of hired thugs in his own home in the neighbouring parish. It gave us all a terrible shock and has made us more securityconscious.’ The Glasgow born missionary believes most of the areas problems are due to political corruption in Kenya. She often sees projects starting but failing due to donor money not being used in the way intended. She feels the Live With Hope Centre has succeeded thanks to showing exactly where funding is being used. ‘It is vital that we try to let people know that is it possible to run a project with accountability, transparency, efficiency and integrity,’ Sr Placida says. ‘The funds we are
given must be scrupulously accounted for and all the programmes monitored and evaluated so that the donor funding is put to the best use.’ Despite the centre having support from family, friends and school children, Live With Hope now receives funding from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR), which has allowed expansion of the departments within the centre. This expansion is vital to the people of Kericho and a recent project shows exactly why. ‘We recently opened a transitional care and training centre for HIV positive adolescents who were having problems at home,’ Sr Placida explains. ‘We took in 10 boys and girls who were quite weak and sickly. After only one month of good care, the change in these kids was absolutely amazing! ‘They had all put on weight, looked happy and healthy, they also learned the importance of taking their antiretroviral drugs frequently and, best of all, they felt loved and accepted. The happy faces you see when you visit the home gives you a feeling that money just can’t buy.’ Sr. Placida and the whole voluntary team at the Live With Hope Centre continue their efforts to reduce the prevalence rate of HIV and creating programmes in which the people help themselves out of poverty.
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FRANCES BAKER Frances, 57 of Killin has been running Franki Baker Designer Jewellery for the past three years, exporting items from Jaipur in India.
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rt teacher Frances had often made jewellery as a hobby but the idea to turn that into a business came after accompanying her husband on a two-year engineering consultancy assignment in India. Staying in the capital of Rajasthan, Frances and her husband encountered the incredible poverty that much of India faces amidst the vibrant and colourful backdrop of Jaipur. And Frances noted it was the women and children in particular that seemed to suffer the most, despite legislation in place which makes it illegal to discriminate against women. ‘I saw countless women living under incredible hardship,’ Frances recalls. ‘Many women work in jobs where heavy labour is required – they work on the roads, on construction sites and as gardeners in parks.’ Frances remembers watching women bringing their young children and even babies to a construction site near to where she lived: ‘They arrived very early in the morning and proceeded to lay out a breakfast which they had prepared before they left their homes that morning. ‘They would then start a full day’s work carrying heavy cement, bricks and water. When the day’s work was over the women would wash all the clothes for their families and begin to cook dinner. All this done while they watched their young children.’
It was this suffering that motivated Frances to do something to help the women and their difficult situation. ‘Jaipur has a long history of jewellery making, going back for centuries,’ Frances says. ‘And when I arrived and saw the wonderful stones, silver and jewellery, I knew that other women, if they saw it, would love it too.’ Frances found a new factory building on the outskirts of Jaipur that had policies in place to ensure workers were treated fairly. This factory was the start of her ethical jewellery business. She also met a businessman, Mr Aziz, who held her beliefs of fair workers close to his own heart. ‘The workers are paid a fair wage, given a good lunch every day, time off and most important for me, the factory runs a small school for the worker’s children,’ Frances explains. ‘They are also very skilled craftsmen and I was able to work closely with them on our “Designer” and “Classic” Collections. ‘And apart from being very creative, Mr Aziz is a devout Muslim and provides destitute Muslim women with shelter, food and schooling for their children in return for the work that they do.’ Alongside her business, Frances is also a strong supporter of a charity called Bal Rashmi Society and donates money from sales to the cause. The charity, founded by Alice Garg, provides women in India with the tools to help themselves. Frances was impressed by the charity’s ongoing projects such as the rehabilitation of ponds in desert villages. The ponds in the villages often dry up meaning the women and
young girls must walk for miles to find a source of clean water which can be dangerous. ‘Bal Rashmi gives the women food whilst they work long hours every day in 45 degree heat to desalt and deepen their ponds and plant trees to stop erosion and reduce evaporation. ‘The strong sense of community spirit engendered by working together has benefited the villagers in many other ways.’ Frances’ designer range of jewellery has been received well in Scotland and she has plans to expand the business in the near future: ‘We are thrilled with the positive comments we’ve had. ‘We’ve now expanded from internet sales and are proud to be selling in the Gleneagles Hotel, the Scottish Antique and Arts Centre in Doune, and are working on finding new outlets in Scotland.’ www.frankibaker.co.uk
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Joyce Dalgliesh Joyce, 42 of Galashiels has been working with charities overseas for the past 7 years.
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orking with charities such as CARE and VSO in Sierra Leone in recent years, Joyce has been working with Oxfam in Gaza since May this year. As partnership advisor with Oxfam, she finds herself working with local partner organisations to improve their financial and purchasing systems. She also helps to improve communications and supports them through their planning processes to ensure they are effective. ‘For so many people in so many countries in the world they don’t have the access to opportunity,’ Joyce explains why she devotes her life to humanitarian issues. ‘They don’t have the chance to demand their rights - they often don’t know that they have rights to demand. ‘And despite an abundance of natural resources and availability of productive land and seas, they don’t
have the wherewithal to benefit from it. Access to education and health facilities that we take for granted are just not available to so many. ‘Instead of sitting at home and reading about these issues and discussing them over dinner with friends I decided that I wanted to try and do something more constructive - and here I am.’ Working in Gaza has been an eye-opener for Joyce. The war-torn country has been struggling under blockade from the Western Bank for four years. Israel introduced the blockade in order to isolate militant group Hamas and force them to stop militant fire. However, with only basic humanitarian supplies being allowed in and practically no exports allowed out, the economy has been crippled and is regressing. ‘We often hear the sound of gunfire and the deep boom of explosions which happens on a fairly regular basis along the strip,’ Joyce says. ‘What surprises me is the complete lack of a reaction from the people that I’m with because, for them, it’s such a normal occurrence and already I can
see how my reaction is changing even in such a short space of time. ‘It’s amazing how quickly we become accustomed to a new reality.’ Oxfam plays an important part in the redevelopment of Gaza by improving drinking water, establishing sewage networks and providing temporary jobs. They are also educating and have created a food voucher scheme to ensure nutritious foods are available. The blockade is now being lifted to an extent with more everyday products being allowed in, however, as Joyce explains, this falls short of a solution for the desperate people of Gaza: ‘While this means that more products are being allowed in they are still out of reach of most families who, even with the siege eased will remain without jobs and opportunities. ‘With 80% of the population dependent on some kind of aid, they don’t have the money to purchase the new products.’ Oxfam continue to fight for freedom for the Gazan people and Joyce remains hopeful of a successful future for the country: ‘In my short time here I have seen an amazing resilience in the hearts and minds of the people here – they are resourceful, educated and have hope for a positive outcome compared to the current situation. ‘The recent international attention and collective action of ordinary citizens has created the current shift in policy – with more effort more can be achieved – we need the people of the world not to forget about Gaza – and not to normalize the current situation. ‘If the blockade was lifted in its entirety then there would be an opportunity to rebuild Gaza – the economy, the homes and industries and the lives of the ordinary Gazan people.’ For the immediate future Joyce plans to remain in Gaza and continue her work with Oxfam. For more information about the work Oxfam do in Gaza, visit their website at www.oxfam.org.uk/get_involved/campaign/actions/gaza_aid or participate in their text campaign by texting ‘LIFT’ to 70066.
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