JOHAP
LINK newsletter
special edition | JAN 2010
Our lovely tree at Ascot Conference Centre Photo Š M Willman/ OAus
Welcome! This lovely tree stood at the centre of our Intersections learning and sharing event and seemed to be an appropriate backdrop for the editorial of this special edition of the JOHAP Link Newsletter. In this issue we focus on the learning and sharing that emerged from the Intersections event held in October 2009 in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. To set the scene, we open this special Intersections issue with some input from Theresa Edlmann, the rapporteur for the theme “The Practice of Sustainability”. Theresa shares her personal experience of the learning event and some of the learning emerging from the sessions within the theme. We follow this with an article by Varshi Rajcoomar which reflects on the key learning and experiences partners shared in the “Beyond access: realising rights” thematic area. This is followed by an article on “Fitting THEM in...” by Sally Jean Shackleton from Women’sNet. In her article, Sally captures some of the key talking points on sexual minorities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) issues.
a learning and sharing event
This issue of JOHAP Link helps to build on the learning and sharing that happened during the four days in Pietermaritzburg. There is no easy way for us to fully share the real buzz and excitement of the event with you. In addition, the many issues and interesting sessions made the selection of what to include in this newsletter really challenging. We have tried though, to give you some sense of the atmosphere and the excitement that were hallmarks of this event and so have included two DVDs with the newsletter. An interactive DVD of the event website has been put together with all of the content generated during the event: video, blogs, tweets and feedback. A second, short video produced during Intersections is also included in the pack. Enjoy the read (and videos) and please remember that we welcome your feedback, questions and contributions. Feel free to send these through to us by email on: infosouthafrica@oxfam.org.au. Your contributions are important to us. Best regards from:
COVEr PIC: Feedback in the closing plenary from the rapporteur, Theresa Edelman Photo © M Willman/OAus BACK COVEr PIC: Adams Bookstore in the exhibition area Photo © A Moolman/OAus
DISCLAIMEr: This newsletter does not necessarily express the official position of Oxfam International, its affiliates or the Joint Oxfam HIV and AIDS Program (JOHAP). The Information in the JOHAP Newsletter is provided as an information and sharing tool for JOHAP Partners. Please note that some contributions have been edited for clarity and space.
INsIde tHIs Issue Weaving Threads Beyond Access Fitting THEM in... News and views Can social media serve
Finally, an article written by Wendell Westley on the uses of social media in a development context. The article highlights some of the excitement and enthusiasm partners felt when they engaged with these innovative tools, some for the first time.
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pg 2 pg 4 pg 6 pg 8 NGOs? pg 12
Weaving threads “along the road” and the enabling of both planned and spontaneous kinds of stopping spaces. I also appreciated the way in which the program invited individuals and the organisations they represented to journey with greater rigour, consciousness and focus in their own contexts as a result of being part of the event.
theresa edlmann rapporteur
An excerpt from Theresa Edlmann’s report on the theme ‘The Practice of Sustainability’. It was very refreshing to be part of a process that worked with breadth and vision around the complexity and multiplicity of civil society in South Africa. In an era when deliverables and impact are in danger of seducing us into thinking that we can prove our worth through numbers and “evidence”, I would like to celebrate and acknowledge the way in which the Oxfam team created space for the often unspoken and qualitative aspects of social justice related work to be embraced and nurtured through this learning event. I enjoyed the way in which the metaphor of journeys and intersections was woven into every aspect of the gathering – the venue, the program design, the little “posting” envelopes that were placed
There is a huge difference between being taken on a journey as a passenger and needing to undertake a journey for oneself; it seems to me that Oxfam brought delegates at the event together but then stepped back to enable each person to undertake their own path of growth, deliberation and engagement. The expectation of creative choice-making that this invited added a dimension of agency and focus that I have seldom seen at similar events. Delegates were given a unique role and voice in the event through the recording and documenting of sessions, ideas and conversations. I thought the use of the website and the capturing of photographs, voice recordings, videos, blogs and tweets gave a wonderful life and dynamism to the event as well as providing people with both skills and an understanding of the possibilities of using the growing accessibility of technology in creative and developmental ways. I also enjoyed the way in which Oxfam partners were invited to present their work and good practice in sessions, rather than there being an over-reliance on “outside”
people who were set up as “experts”. It was a lovely example of appreciative practice, in my view. The fact that everybody present was capturing, processing and reflecting on the overall process and individual sessions meant that I sometimes struggled to define my role as rapporteur. I do think there were moments when the role of raising unspoken issues and questions was important – and, as the organisers rightly identified – something that neither a facilitator nor a participants are always able to play. After initial anxiety about being able to play the role what I had been invited for, I found myself relishing the role more with each day. I also thoroughly enjoyed doing the plenary rapporteur’s presentation of the themes that had crystallised in my head during the process. As an introvert and someone who enjoys reflecting on the interplay between contexts, processes and people, I often find myself longing to offer insights but struggling to find a place and a voice for them. This session was a gift to me in the way it provided the perfect space for me to speak the ideas I had been listening to and reflecting on and to engage with feedback and dialogue about them. It seems to have been one of those synchronistic moments of being a growthful experience for me as well as giving some dimension and depth to the overall journey of the event.
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Overview of themes and issues Practical visionaries This was a phrase used by the Executive Director of Oxfam Australia, Andrew Hewett, in his video address at the opening session of the event. It became a key concept in the course of the program: how do we balance the practical aspects of ensuring sustainability for organisations and the people working towards social justice with the challenge of sustaining the life, passion and vision of the work? Both are necessary for sustainability to be possible.
The wisdom of a nation rests in its citizens Another phrase that came out of the opening sessions of the event – this time from Treatment Action Campaign’s Stephen Harrison. It was an important reminder of the basis from which social justice work flows and what it needs to enable. The sustainability of our work relies on both an honouring and an enabling of the wisdom of its citizens; realising this requires humility, respect and an ability to listen to what citizen’s desire and are communicating directly and indirectly.
What do we want to sustain? With the pressure that NGOs are under at the moment, there is always the temptation to sustain organisations as a way of sustaining the careers and livelihoods of those who work for them.
For pioneers, there is the danger of sustaining a legacy beyond its usefulness. I really enjoyed the way in which we were called back on several occasions to the principle of NGOs only achieving their objectives when they have worked themselves into becoming redundant. The impact of capitalism is often to drive us onto a different trajectory and definition of sustainability.
Finding creative spaces A theme that came up in a number of sessions was the way in which people in development often feel trapped between polarities – in the way they define their objectives, how they raise funds, the management styles they implement. Some of the most inspiring conversations came out of situations in which people and organisations refused to be trapped into the grim bravado of maintaining old ways of doing things, were willing to think outside boxes (in fact, redefine boxes) and exercise the Alan Fowler principle of insightful agility. This seemed to play an important role in enabling the sustainability of work and of the organisations doing the work.
Defining Sustainability Rebecca Freeth brought this wonderful quotation to the session that she facilitated. I thought it raised some interesting and relevant themes: Sustainability is the dynamic preservation of the essential identity of the system amidst permanent change.
All living systems including organisations are changing all the time. The point is not to eliminate change but to avoid the destruction of the sources of renewal of that system so that it can recover and reorganise1.
Leadership The significance of leadership in sustaining the life and work of civil society emerged very strongly in discussions. I enjoyed the way the work and role of individuals who lead this work were discussed, and the way this was balanced by discussion about the way strong and transparent relationships are needed to sustain leadership. Within this discussion, the growing emphasis on developing and nurturing networks in sustaining and growing development work was encouraging to sense. 1
Global Sustainability: Bending the curve P.
Raskin and G. Gallopin, 2002
Theresa is an independent consultant based in the Eastern Cape. “My work has primarily focused on facilitating participatory processes that deal with issues of identity and transformation within a range of contexts and sectors” View Theresa’s LinkedIn profile on: http://www.linkedin.com/in/theresaedlmann MAIN PIC Fancy Stitch from Ingwavuma exhibited some of the beautiful hand stitched artworks © M Willman/OAus
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Beyond Access not surprising to hear the many reasons for why people cannot claim their rights and make their rights real. It is worth mentioning the usual suspects that popped up in each of the sessions - the difficulty to engage with the state to effect changes at a local level with limited resources using existing structures and forums, people have lost all confidence in the justice system which more often that not works against them rather in their best interests and if one were to claim one’s rights using the courts this would come at a price too.
Varshi Rajcoomar Oxfam Australia
Article by Varshi rajcoomar Varshi is a Policy Officer with Oxfam Australia. She is a qualified attorney and was the rapporteur for the ‘realising rights’ theme at the Intersections learning event. When the conversation about rights and accessing rights started at the Intersections event, the responses were not new, they were the ones we have heard of or uttered before: frustration, disillusionment, anger at poor service delivery and the promises that were never (or seldom) honored by the state. Each of the sessions within this thematic area was designed to shed some light on the different ways in which beneficiaries could realise their rights. Over the three days much was said about rights and the debates heated up in some instances when power, politics and accountability were used in the same sentence. It was
As development practitioners, we are aware that rights play an integral part of the development process. Having this at the back of my mind I preserved and tracked each of the sessions under this thematic area. It was apparent that the realisation of rights did occur. However, this remained most often at the level of basic awareness. Clearly, this was one thing we all agreed that we had done enough off over the years. In respect of “making rights real” partners shared their experiences in promoting the realisation of rights. It was refreshing to learn that it was not all doom and gloom as the partners reflected on their experiences which ranged from successful experiences of beneficiaries claiming their rights collectively and making rights real by effecting small changes (like changing working hours at a community health clinic), to failed attempts that left both partners and their beneficiaries disillusioned.
Having absorbed all the discussions and debates from the sessions two quotes kept popping in my mind. One comment by Nkwame Cedile, from the Peoples’ Health Movement, whose statement, “development should be for us but not without us”, was the catalyst for bigger and more in-depth discussions. Sadly, time did not allow for further interrogation of this view but participants left acknowledging that active citizenship and public participation are critical in any democratic state as it entitles people to participate in, contribute to, and enjoy civil, economic, social, cultural and political development in which human rights and fundamental freedoms can be realised. The notion of participation is at the centre of any human rights-based approach. Participation does not stop when a ballot has been cast in an election. It is concerned with access to decisionmaking, and is critical in the exercise of power. Clearly this is the start of deeper discussions on what we mean by active citizenship and how we mobilise people to become active citizens. The second quote is from Stephen Harrison of the TAC, the guest speaker at the opening of the Intersections event. For Stephen “the wisdom of a country does not lie exclusively in its government but in the active participation of civil society”. Over and over again in the discussions that followed in each of the sessions either I kept hearing participants indicating that the state has the power to effect
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Human rights change, in a fundamental way, the relationships between service providers and service recipients, and between claim-holders and duty-bearers. Surprisingly, very little was said about accountability in a rights discussion. Why is this so? The state has the primary responsibility to create an enabling environment that facilitates the realisation of all rights. Therefore it is critical that the principle of accountability is upheld so as to secure an enabling environment for development.
“Human rights do not simply define the needs of people, but recognise people as active subjects and claim-holders, thus establishing the duties and obligations of those responsible for ensuring that needs are met.
Newsletter Contributors Thanks to all our contributors. These include: Allan Moolman, Program Manager, OAus
As a consequence, the identification of duty holders has to feature as an integral part of program development”1.
Urvarshi Rajcoomar, Policy Officer, OAus Wendell Westley, Program Officer, OAus Theresa Edlmann, Consultant
The Intersections event might not have given us all of the answers to our many questions but it did help point the way to where the answers may lie. Perhaps, we hold the answers to our own questions. 1 Poverty Reduction and Human Rights: A practice note, UNDP , June 2003 - http://www. undp.org/governance/docs/HRPN_(poverty)En.pdf
Sally-Jean Shackleton, Director,Women’sNet To contribute to the April 2010 issue or to comment please email us at this address: infosouthafrica@oxfam.org.au
MAIN PIC Photo © M Willman/OAus
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Photo © OAus
change, leaving its citizens helpless. People often seem to forget that they should view themselves as the principal actors of development rather than passive recipients. They are strategic partners rather than target groups. Are we conscious about the power we yield in making changes in our lives and the lives of others?
Fitting tHeM in...
sally-Jean shackleton Women’sNet
Article by Sally-Jean Shackleton Sally is the Director of Women’sNet and presented in a session called ‘Fitting THEM in…’ Due to popular demand a further partner driven session was held in the free time on Day Two. “If we are to liberate everyone from gender constructs, we must open the debate,” this was the view of Vanessa Ludwig of the Triangle Project in Cape Town at a session held at the Intersections event.
What followed was an interesting discussion on the inclusion (or exclusion) of LGBTI people in HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment and care. In another session later on in the day, intended to give more information
about Women’s Net Digital Stories methodology, people gathered to watch digital stories – or short movies. The room was full of eager movie watchers – those interested in the digital story methodology and those just needing a bit of down time. Nether got what they had hoped for. I started off with the stories of transgender men (or transmen – men who have changed their gender from female to male) and everyone there was fundamentally challenged – either to defend sex and gender as a reality or do defend individual choice and identities. What struck me afterwards was that the first story I showed, made by a white transman, did not elicit much comment, but the second, that of Charlie, a black transman living in the Western Cape – this was something that challenged viewers the most and prompted lots of discussion.
Sex, sexuality and sexual orientation are topics that we often do not engage with at home or in the public domain. Why is this so? Is it because we claim not to know much about the topic? Or is it because we are controlled by our own fears and prejudices? The “Fitting Them in” and Digital Stories sessions at the Intersections event allowed participants to explore and debate topics that are never spoken of, or if spoken, fall into a whisper behind closed doors.
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Photo © OAus
The “Fitting THEM in” session started by asking participants to introduce themselves and also to state their gender identity and sexual orientation. The objective of the exercise was to make obvious the ‘otherness’ of people who have a ‘different’ sexual orientation or gender identity. My focus in the session was on the ‘T’ in LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender and Intersex). In order to get the discussions started I presented a digital story on a transgender person’s perspective and spoke about transgender people and HIV. The session continued with Vanessa Ludwig of the Triangle Project, presenting perspectives on constructing HIV in the context of lesbian and gay identities.
Photo © M Willman/OAus
“Does she have a penis?” One of the fundamentally challenging things that transgender issues spark in people is a challenge to the gender binary – that if you have a penis, you are a man, and if you have a vagina, you are a woman – and everyone has one or the other. That your gender – the way you dress, behave and present yourself, must correspond with what’s in your pants. And, the content of your pants determines who you are allowed to love and have sex with. The notion that this is not the truth about being human, challenges some very deep rooted relationships of power and belonging. Race, class and ‘culture’ are intertwined with gender identity, sex identity, sex orientation and practice too.
“If you don’t have a penis are you still a man?” Being a man or a woman grants you entry to spaces, gives you authority to speak in certain spaces, and gives you entry into the kraal. Transforming gender means opening spaces, giving authority to voices not heard – and also, as Charlie says “liberating our minds and bodies” from gender binaries. Liberating ourselves from the gender binary is a necessary step in allowing others to access their human rights. Rights do not exist in isolation – there are people who gatekeep our access to rights – for instance, a nurse is the person who gives us access to the right to health care. The person behind the counter at the Home Affairs office gives us access to a social grant, a job, a
bank account. So, if I am not liberated from notions of gender, sex and sexual orientation, I can be an obstacle to those who live outside of the binaries.
So what is it that I have learnt? Clearly, we need more spaces to talk about those things that challenge us – because if they challenge us, we are frozen when we should act. As one participant pointed out “If I don’t understand this thing, how can I give services to these people?”. In some ways, we need to return to good oldfashioned gender workshops – where we explore our identities and understand how gender works in personal and political ways. We have to incorporate self awareness into our work with gender – because it is so deeply entrenched in all of us. We must also get back to talking about sex and our bodies. The digital story session was attended by far more people than the earlier session expressly about ‘sexual minorities’. After all – if ‘they’ are minorities, why should we all be concerned?
Gay, lesbian, transgender, intersexual people are a vulnerable group and must be included in all our programs – access to land, access to clean water and sanitation, to houses and jobs must integrate the needs of all of us. So, all programmes, including those that deal with HIV, must consider the needs of LGBTI people and all service providers must be resourced to recognise and accommodate the needs of LGBTI people. Links: http://genderdynamix.org.za
Gender DynamiX is a Human Rights organisation promoting freedom of expression of Gender identity and advocating for the rights of Transgender, transsexual and Gender Non-Conforming people. http://womensnet.org.za
Transgender, gay and lesbian, intersexuality – these issues are the catalyst for learning about ourselves and what challenges us and gives us opportunities to change binaries that bind all of us. We need to reframe debates about HIV that talk about ‘sexual minorities’ or ‘LGBTI issues’ to talking about sexual practices – this will open discussions and be far more effective in dealing with the reality of risk and prevention.
Women’sNet is a feminist organisation that works to advance gender equality and justice in South Africa through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).
News and views Resources
Youtube
Many Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) were used over the course of the Intersections learning and sharing event, from the planning and design of the event to the feedback we received.
YouTube is a video sharing website on which users can upload and share videos. Videos filmed at the learning event were uploaded to YouTube and links embedded in the Intersections live site.
Many issues and interesting sessions made the selection of what to include in this newsletter really difficult. An interactive DVD of the event website has been put together with all of the content generated during the event: video, blogs, tweets and feedback. A second, short video produced during Intersections is also included in the pack.
Bulk SMS reminders were sent by to all participants who supplied us with their cell phone number. www.bulksmsportal.co.za is an effective and reasonable method for bulk sms communication.
dId YOu KNOW? Over the course of four days participants produced: 26 blogs
survey Monkey To ensure we heard your feedback we designed a simple survey on the Intersections learning event using Monkey Survey. www.surveymonkey. com is an easy, online tool for gathering responses and feedback.
A positive response rate from the survey requests, with over 55 completed surveys submitted ensured that we can build on the success and learning from the Intersections learning and sharing event. Feedback on the survey was distributed via email with a link to the full report on the survey results. Survey Monkey provides good analytical tools and reports for ease of interpretation and use within further planning.
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8 videos uploaded and published on www.youtube.com 2 Live blogs during the final plenary Over 50 interviews conducted Various voice recordings And many photographs
Photo © M Willman/OAus
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News and views
Sally Jean Shackleton Women’sNet “Technology is an essential tool to employ in our work. We should be wearing a gender lens when it comes to technology.”
Bongani Mthembu South Durban Comity and Environmental Alliance “It’s been very useful sharing different experiences from different NGOs, I’ll go away taking the strategies that were shared and I am sure will work within the community and the youth, and be able to implement them and see where that will take us as an organisation!”
Mavis Nyakurimwa Oxfam Program Officer for Food Security “This event has been about sharing of ideas and knowledge, linking between organisations, transforming failures into successes and a learning experience.”
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Josianne Roma-Reardon Managing Director - One Voice SA “Participating in this Intersections event has allowed me to engage, contribute, share and most of all…learn!”
Remo Chipatiso Themba Interactive Theatre and Training “After this high quality program the next step is where we go from here. I am personally looking forward to implementation of these skills.”
Photos © M Willman
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Can social media serve NGOs? the learning event. Media gatherers were trained in basic interviewing skills and practiced using low technology equipment such as hand held video cameras. Their task was to go out and gather views from participants and facilitators to share on the www site set up for the event, and practice their new skills. Interviews gathered were used as part of the feedback in the final plenary on the last day of the learning event to get participants reflecting on the process and content generated over the four days.
Wendell Westley Oxfam Australia
Article by Wendell Westley. Wendell is a Program Officer with Oxfam Australia and is very excited about the value social media could bring to partners within Oxfam partners. Hands shot up with questions in the Social Media skills building session at the recent learning event in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. This was the first day of the four day event which brought together partners and Oxfam affiliates from South Africa and Zimbabwe. Over 140 people joined in the numerous skills building sessions and facilitated discussion groups. The buzz around gathering and sharing media was tangible with busy media gatherers using video and sound recorders, bloggers and tweeters all contributing live to the event site. The live site had the aim of building excitement in real time and for participants to have a platform to express their views and ideas about the various themes at
Some participants are already using Facebook as a marketing, networking and advocacy tool. Tweets are raising funds and awareness amongst followers and blogs get people thinking and sharing ideas and good practice with each other. Matthew de Gale of SANGONet, who facilitated a social media skills building session, said “social media technologies encourage sharing, openness and collaboration and I hope that participants will maintain and contribute to conversations with each other via these social networking tools.”
research confirmed that South African NGOs are leveraging technology, but not nearly achieving its full potential. Amongst other things, the study focused specifically on social media trends in the NGO sector. Although many people working in the NGO sector are already using social media personally, most NGOs have not implemented social media in support of their core activities. Facebook is the most popular social media tool, while only 5% are using blogs and 1% using Twitter. Fundraising through the Internet is still in its infancy, while very few NGO websites are mobile-friendly. However, given the global explosion of social media tools, South Africa’s high mobile phone penetration and the eagerly awaited increase in local broadband capacity as a result of the arrival of various undersea cables, the uptake of social media tools in the South African NGO sector will most probably experience significant growth and expansion in the next few years. 1
Lwazi Fihlela from Child Care South Africa who participated in the social media skills building session said “This was a new experience and it’s not just about a website. We could use these technologies as a tool for reporting our work, a tool for advocacy for change and for mobilisation of our community members.” NGO Pulse released the preliminary finding of the 2009 “State of ICT in the South African NGO Sector” recently. The
http://www.ngopulse.org/article/social-media-
and-ngo-sector-south-africa
NGO Pulse is SANGONeT’s NGO and development information portal. It is a one-stop Internet information resource for and about the NGO sector in South Africa and is a recognised and respected gateway to the development community. www.ngopulse.org MAIN PIC Photo © M Willman/OAus
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Photos Š A Moolman/OAus
The JOHAP LINK newsletter is compiled and distributed by the Oxfam Australia South African Country Office for the Joint Oxfam HIV and AIDS Program.