How integrity and a caring activism can change the world!

So, here I am again at the end of my trip to Nepal.  It's beautifully sunny today and getting warmer every day. Yesterday I was with the CWISH staff (in a VERY cold office!) reflecting on the research training, the pilot and planning the rest of the project.

It's been an absolute joy to work with the staff and researchers of CWISH.  They are well organised, conscientious and thorough but most important of all they have integrity - bucketloads of it!  I've learned a lot about 'partnership' while I've been here and the trust that is integral to any kind of relationship.  And I believe that the trust I have for the key people I'm working with in CWISH  - Milan and Writu - is based on an integrity that is behind everything they do.  It is important to them and it is important to me that the focus and the aim of our work and, I suppose, our lives is clear - 'empowerment'.  I hope that the research team, after this week of training, is now empowered to take on the responsibilities of this project.  I certainly feel empowered by the whole process.  But at the centre of it all is the empowerment of children and I witnessed this becoming evident during the course of the week - from the way people were thinking, from little things they said and particularly in the reflections we all made together.  Inadvertently, on the last day of the training, I asked people to commit themselves to the project or face punishment after death!!  I organised a 'reflection' where we all sat in a circle around some candles, in turn, we took a candle and said what we had taken or learned from the research and then placed it back saying what we would 'give' to the project.  Milan told me afterwards that this ritual with candles was very common in Nepal but that people believed that when they made a commitment with a candle, they would be punished in the after-life if they broke their commitment!  We had a good laugh about that of course!

Before I got distracted by the candle story I was leading up to saying that I think the empowerment element of the training was quite consciously present, I believe, because all the 'facilitators' are activists.  I like to call myself an activist but feel ashamed to do so in the presence of a true revolutionary like Beth Protacio de Castro.  Although Beth was officially representing the funding agency for this project, Oak Foundation (she is a professor of psychology) she was imprisoned by the Marcos regime in the Philippines in her youth!  The other facilitator with me (also from the Philippines) Faye Balanon has a passion to her facilitation that is based on her social work background and activism and Milan is currently very involved in the activist movement of Nepal.   This activist spirit, to use a military term, infiltrated the discussions - but not in an angry and political 'let's overthrow the government' kind of way.  It felt much more caring and quiet; it was particularly present when we discussed the ethics of the research and everyone was nodding their heads and agreeing that we should 'do no harm' to the child participants.

So, I have to write my reports for today, I fly back tomorrow but will be back in Nepal in September.  I'm looking forward to it, I'm very excited about this research - it's going to change the world!!!

Overcoming challenges: logistic, academic and gastronomic

I've been in Nepal for 4 days and was going to do a video blog while I was here but the sight of the bags under my eyes and the serious difficulties in communication (14 hour electricity black outs every day) have prevented me.

So, a traditional blog instead...I was here 10 months ago with Jonathan investigating whether Children Unite could work in partnership with a local NGO here that works with child domestic workers - called CWISH.  And here I am now setting up a one year research project with CWISH on the concept of 'resilience' and child domestic workers.  Today we piloted the research methods (life-story interviews and focus group discussions).  It's been a bit of a logistical challenge because of the electricity black outs, the cold (and no heating) and also the strikes - there is a national strike tomorrow by students (due to a massive hike in fuel prices which affects the cost of pretty much everything in Nepal).  But the academic challenges we're facing are, to be frank, more interesting.  We've been training 6 adult researchers (teachers who are also counsellors) and two young researchers (one is currently working as a domestic worker and one is a former child domestic worker) and they are all used to the concept of child domestic workers facing difficulties (abuse, isolation, discrimination, violence etc.) but are struggling with the idea that in the face of these difficulties, something 'positive' can emerge.

This is resilience - it is a new concept and is particularly challenging for those who work with children 'in need' (such as child domestic workers) - as you have to shift your thinking about children from the welfare perspective (where children are often seen as victims and vulnerable) to a more 'positive' view of children.  Resilience is the ability to 'bounce back' in the face of adversity and we have been trying to find a hundred different ways of explaining this concept to the researchers, who, in turn have to explain resilience to the child participants in the research.  So far, we've come up with 'coping with or overcoming your problems'.

The other challenge the researchers are facing is NOT helping the children they are researching.  As counsellors their natural reaction, when a child tells them about an abusive situation they are facing, is to offer solutions.  As researchers, today, they found they had to stop themselves from doing this, distance themselves from the child and focus on getting the child's story (the data), not judging or analysing what the child was saying.  They said they found this hard.  But it was helped when we explained that we are undertaking 'action research' and that the findings will, we hope, help child domestic workers in the long term.

So, the challenges continue - mine are rather less severe - can I cope with curry for breakfast tomorrow!?  (Ah ha but I am prepared for this one and have brought my marmite with me!!)

The Season of Good Marketing Ideas

I faced the dilemma this year of whether or not to send Christmas cards (as a marketing exercise) as Children Unite, I guess, officially exists (although we don't officially launch until March).  It’s because I’m signed up to a number of ‘small business’ related email subscriptions that seem to constantly be promoting the need for flyers or re-branding or how to get 20,000 followers on twitter in 5 minutes.  So, I felt under pressure to use the Season of Good Will as a marketing opportunity and ‘promote my business’ to everyone I know!   On the other hand, it makes a refreshing change to get something ‘nice’ like a card through the post (rather than junk mail) – but only if you actually know the person who sent it I tend to find.

On balance I sent a virtual Christmas card.  And I don’t think I can be accused of bowing to the pressure to use it as a marketing ploy – as you can see for yourself (below) it’s from ‘all the staff at Children Unite’ and is an animation of Jonathan and I dressed up in Santa hats, dancing with Santa to…you guessed it…’Santa Claus is coming to town’!! Not a desperately serious card.

But I realised that nearly all the people I’d want to send a Children Unite Christmas card to - I’d be happy to make them laugh. I have no need to ‘promote my business’ to them. In fact, the ‘family’ Christmas card that Jonathan and I sent out to people this year was very similar – slightly more embarrassing as it happens - consisting of both us with our two daughters dressed up in flares and huge afros dancing to some vaguely Christmassy funky tune!!  (and no, I am not adding that here!).  But many people on the list got both cards as it is hard for Jonathan and I to differentiate between our friends and our work colleagues...all one big happy family!!

So, for anyone who didn’t get a card (sorry) and wishing you a belated Happy Christmas and Merry New Year from all of us at Children Unite!!!