By Asha Emmerson | CEO & Country Director, Oasis Zimbabwe
Happy New Year to all! We don't know about you, but many of us recall all of the "progress" we imagined would be present when the year 2020 came around. There is so much that this new decade holds with our technical developments, our research and learning, our trajectory of medical advances. Maybe not the Jetsonesque flying cars once imagined, but progressive potential none the less. While this is true on one hand, we live daily facing challenges that seem not to have been impacted by the advances we see around us. While many of those challenge areas may be obvious in presenting themselves in the developing world, the reality is that they are present across our global community, and still require our global focus if we are to avoid transitioning into our next decade with their stains still present on us. The global prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence is certainly one of those challenges. You, us, and our global community are still needed in a very practical and present way in 2020.
Our passion and determination to be change through the ongoing work of our SWATT TEAMs is only strengthened as we look at 2020. While together we have been able to see a movement gather momentum here in the communities we are in, as well as through you who financially enable us to facilitate training and responses, we are ever aware of how much our community referral and support model is needed both in expansion across our areas of current focus and far beyond. Every day we encounter new opportunity to respond. Every day we have vision to be able to grow our shared efforts to do so with greater capacity. The potential, and the desire, is significant with your help in 2020.
The stain of sexual and gender-based violence may seem like it is too big a challenge, too prevalent to impact with any power. However, our greatest learning over the time we have been working as SWATT TEAMs, is that the seemingly little things we do within our daily contexts can create huge mindset changes and bring awareness of and action toward breaking down normalization of inappropriate behaviors. If you have not seen one of our staff and SWATT TEAM members, Barbra, telling her story of how a simple addressing of a common practice in a daily commuter bus resulted in changing the accepted common practice of commuter conductors inviting young female passengers to sit on their laps when traveling home from school in Epworth, at lease for those in the commuter that day, please watch the video (link below).
In addition to the video, we want to share another powerful change that occurred at community level recently as SWATT TEAM members chose to speak up Just one more evidence of how the power for change really is in the daily actions we choose.
The months preceding our rains in Zimbabwe, which have just properly begun in the last 10 days, are excruciatingly dry for the residents of Epworth. This means families have to travel far and stand in queues that are hours long, late into the night, to get a little water to carry home from a few public boreholes. It came to the attention of our SWATT TEAM members, a number of whom were in the queues themselves, that women and young girls queueing late at night were being harassed and at times assaulted. While there were not many other options for gathering water, our SWATT TEAMs did approach the community leaders with their reports and concerns over what was occurring. The leaders, who are seeing the impact of our community movement and whose trust is increasing in the SWATT TEAMs, took action and set curfew times around the borehole in order to reduce the vulnerability of the women and girls in the community.
It is these everyday actions and responses that are supporting change and healing for women, girls and families every day. It is the power of your action in supporting us financially that is supporting change and healing for women, girls and families every day.
2020 is another year for powerful, everyday actions toward change right where we are, and into expanded opportunities. Together we can!
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