Working With Community Volunteers to enhance the decision ...

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Box 2: Being selected as acommunity volunteerJohn Bosco Mayinja in Kawempe stressed theimportance of trust as a selection criterion:“It was a huge responsibility and a humblingexperience when the community trusted us. Itwas hard to let them down after that gesture oftrust.”Margaret Nakalema (right), one of the volunteersin Kamuli, explains the selection criteria: “Onehad to have been affected by HIV/AIDS; to bea resident of the area and, if a woman, onewho had not left her marriage or not thinking ofleaving soon. And you also had to be social withpeople. I was chosen because I qualifi ed andother women feared coming out to stand. I wasunopposed”.Support from the programmeAlthough the volunteers were based in theirrespective communities, they benefi ted fromconsiderable support from the programme offi ces.According to the volunteers met for his study, thisproved invaluable. It included training spread overseveral years, with annual refresher courses: thiscovered several areas of the law (such as aspectsof the Children’s Act, relevant laws on domesticviolence, will-writing and inheritance laws), courtpractices, registration of births and deaths, as wellas awareness raising, communication, counsellingand dispute resolution skills.The training methods included lectures, role playsand questions and answers sessions, as well asplacement for 3 or 4 weeks with various legal andother institutions, such as the Police, the probationoffi ces, or the magistrates’ courts, to obtainpractical skills. The training was accompanied bysession plans for the fi eld meetings, as well asfacilitator’s notes, visual aids and other referencematerials developed for the purpose. There werealso frequent follow-up visits, review meetings andquarterly refl ection events where further trainingand clarifi cations were given, as well as providinga platform to learn from each others’ experiences,to assess progress, and to identify solutions tochallenges met.Material support was also provided in theform of bicycles, gumboots, raincoats andumbrellas, and stationery to record activities.A monthly allowance of Uganda Shs 20,000/=(approximately US$ 9) was paid to help thevolunteers with stationery, bicycle repairs andother costs.Volunteer work in practiceDay to day, the volunteers mobilised and heldcommunity legal awareness sessions, offeredsimple ‘fi rst aid’ legal assistance, mediated andresolved disputes, assisted in will-writing andlinked those in need with the programme offi ces,the police and other law enforcement agents.They helped FIDA to follow up certain casesand, where necessary, held meetings with clanleaders and Local Councils. They also distributedinformation materials, including forms for willwritingand simplifi ed booklets on relevant lawsand human right provisions.In the fi rst year of the programme, the volunteerswere overwhelmed by the demand for theirservices and they ended up working almost daily.They reported that abuses in the community wereso rampant that each handled at least two clientsevery day, and that there were also on occasioneven approached at night. A 2006 study foundthat they would spend 7 to 15 hours weekly on10Working with Community Volunteers to Enhance theDecision-Making Powers of Women
community work, rather than the anticipated 20hours per month. However, with time and growinglegal awareness, some clients started to handlethe problems themselves or contacted relevantinstitutions unaided, since they had by then beenadvised on the appropriate offi ce to approach.Pressure on time was especially strong in urbanKawempe: although the volunteers’ work therewas similar to that in Kamuli (Box 3) - whereapart from periods spent in their fi elds to growtheir own food, the rest of the time was free toserve their community - volunteers in Kawempe,by contrast, were faced with the many competingdemands of urban life, starting with having to fi ndmoney to buy food. This however did not deterthem: they mobilised the communities for all theawareness sessions that were organised andstill found time to handle the individual cases.Over the years, community volunteers have heldinformation sessions attended by thousands. In9 months in 2009/10, for instance, they met withalmost 16,000 people in Kamuli and 6,700 peoplein Kawempe.The challenge of being awoman volunteerFemale volunteers have had a more challengingtime than the men, although they worked justas hard. This partly stems from their domesticresponsibilities: women are caretakers of theirhome, their children and even their husbands. Oneof them, Aida Wagodo, for instance says: “The menhave more time than women so, although we dothe same work and have the same knowledge, wecannot do as much as they do because of manyresponsibilities.”Some women were also reluctant to putthemselves forward for volunteer selection, notonly because of the cultural expectation thatthey should stay at home, but also because ofa perception that any public involvement wouldexpose them to the dangers of promiscuity. Inaddition, women volunteers were handicappedby their initial lack of self-confi dence, arising fromculture and socialisation: this affected their work,especially in the early period of the programme.Joseph Mwase, the volunteer coordinator inKamuli, shares this observation (as well ascommon stereotypes): “When we started, thewomen were shy and less effective. In our fi rstyear, they were not even willing to follow up aBox 3: A day in the life of acommunity volunteerRichard Lubaale (above), a community volunteer inKamuli says: “In a day, I wake up to do some farmingor to attend to my other businesses because beinga Community Volunteer is voluntary work so I haveto sustain myself in other ways. I make a timetableto sensitise people, so even if you don’t fi nd acrowd, you sensitise them because that’s what youplanned for the day. I don’t postpone because of lowattendance. Cases come in the morning and at night.So an appointment cannot be postponed.“Sometimes it is challenging because I am a bodaboda(motorcycle taxi) rider - it’s my business - whenyou make a programme to sensitise the communityat 2pm for example, a customer may come at around1.30 or 2pm and he/she wants to give you business.I give up the business at that time to attend to peoplebecause I don’t want to get a bad name or to be seenas a non-serious uncommitted volunteer. I lose out onthat business because I like what I do as a volunteer.But it is not easy to make such compromises becauseI have a responsibility for my family too”.Working with Community Volunteers to Enhance theDecision-Making Powers of Women11
Page 1: WORKING WITH COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERSTO
Page 5 and 6: 1. IntroductionPlan has implemented
Page 7 and 8: In Uganda, legal institutions inclu
Page 9: 3. The Community VolunteersIn other
Page 13 and 14: 4. Impact On Women’s Decision-Mak
Page 15 and 16: Self-confidence and accessto justic
Page 17 and 18: making position. According to Lovin
Page 19 and 20: may marry other women who are willi
Page 21 and 22: training by FIDA empowered us to un
Page 23 and 24: Costa Nakimuli handling a client at
Page 28: Plan and FIDA gratefully acknowledg

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