First short course

On Tuesday and Thursday of this week we have run a short course called 'Looking back and looking forward' during which we have looked at the feelings of the students about what they have learned on the Child Care Training, how it has affected their lives, for better or for worse, and how the delay to the opening of the Children's Centre will impact upon them. I am left this afternoon feeling like a wet rag! I am struck yet again by how difficult life is for ordinary people in Malawi. There is no Social Security here and in the cities at least, those who do not work do not eat or pay the rent unless they are supported by the extended family. Perhaps things are not quite so bad in the villages where families have their land where they can grow food, I daresay there are different problems, but there are certainly many of our students whose lives are profoundly affected by the decision to postpone the opening of the Children's Centre. Of course the reasons for the delay are complicated and it is not possible to provide child care in a building site. I am not suggesting that it would have been possible to make a different decision, but I am appalled by the hardship which a few of our students will have to go through in the next few months as a direct consequence of the delay. We used a community conversation technique which involved each student having about a minute to tell the whole group how they felt about the delay and how it would affect them personally. Annie fed back to each person the main points of what they had said and I took notes, trying to pull out common themes. The following words were used to describe feelings: frustrated, discouraged, disappointed, angry, cheated, worried, impatient. There were many comments along the lines of:

'I was looking forward to putting what I have learned into practice and am frustrated at the delay.'

'I was expecting to have my Diploma by Christmas.'

'Some things are not in the control of Beehive.'

A significant proportion of the students seem to be resigned to the situation. I think they realize that at this stage there is little that can be done about the delay. However the comments of some of the others I found harder to deal with.

'I hoped that for the first time in my life I would be spending my own money this Christmas.'

'My family has lived for a year without me bringing in a salary while I did this training, now it will be another four months.'

'I could get work as a teacher, but I want to work for Beehive. I don't think I can afford to wait another four months.'

'I have been dependent on my brother for nearly a year. He understood I would have an income from September, and now he must support me again, but I have not received my sack of flour. I must eat anything, whatever I can get.'

'I have made plans based on having an income from September, I like to plan and know what will happen next. Now I am confused and disappointed and my family is asking if there will be more delays.'

'I am wondering whether I can have a future in Beehive after all.'

'I am responsible for others. I do not know what I am going to do.'

'My family thinks I am unreliable because I said I would have a work placement by now, and I don't. That MK8000 a month would have made all the difference.'

Despite all these comments which show considerable difficulties, there were also many positive remarks and a great willingness to look at how to develop strategies to help get through the difficult four months which are coming.

'There is creative thinking needed.'

'I want to start working with children.'

'I am ready to put the course into practice.'

'I am worried, but I will wait.'

'Can we work to try to get the subsidized meals reinstated?'

'Is there anything Beehive can do about helping with Transport costs for the short courses? I want to come, but I need the money for food for my family.'

'Could Beehive send out notes for the courses to those who cannot afford the transport to get here?'

'Could the salaries (and fees) be reviewed in the light of the recent devaluation of the Kwacha?'

Despite all these difficult issues the courses raised many positive points also and to my delight a few creative, if not necessarily realistic ideas about how we could help to overcome difficulties. Some are concerned about getting to work for 6.30am, which is the start of the early shift and someone said, 'What we need is a dormitory where we can stay over the night before we are on an early shift.' Whether this would actually work in practice I don't know, but it was an interesting idea.

I asked about how doing the training had brought about changes in their lives, and whether they were good changes or bad changes. There were many comments about interest in, knowledge about, relationships with, approach to and understanding of children. All these were considered good changes. There were a whole collection of changes about relationships. An understanding and respect for confidentiality, listening skills, new friendships. There were a collection of changes that related to enjoyment of classes, learning together, singing, dancing, and then a few comments showing the effect of the course on what they do in their private lives e.g. I write more, following the sessions on creativity. The input in the course on interview skills, writing a CV, application letters etc was also raised as something that had been usefully applied.

 

Since I wrote this David and I sat down and discussed the issues raised and some of the students' ideas for strategies to help to solve some of the problems. We have also had a meeting with Vince and a few things have been decided. Firstly the subsidized meals have been reinstated for the Child Care students as Vince recognized that their situation is not exactly the same as the other students at Beehive. We also had considerable discussion about the way that we fear the trust we have built up throughout the course, between Beehive and the students has been undermined by the delays, and the timing of, and way in which, news of inevitable delay has been communicated to the students. I felt it was a constructive meeting and went home with spirits somewhat uplifted compared with earlier in the day.

Annie and Linda and I have talked a lot about what, if anything we can do to help some of the students who are in most immediate need. There are a number of key issues here and unfortunately there are no simple answers. Firstly how can you tell who is truly in need and who is not? Do you ask intrusive questions? If you give an allowance to everyone you are handing out money to those who already have plenty as well as to those who do not. Is dishing out azungu cash a good way to go? The Krizevac strapline, 'A hand up, not a hand out!' describes a principle that I feel is a good one. I would rather spend money encouraging others to develop themselves and thus move out of poverty under their own steam, than just buy a few hot dinners that in the grand scheme of things will not make any difference. On the other hand it is difficult to see people you know be hungry, and yesterday I did buy a couple of hot dinners. There is an important issue here in that some, by no means all, of the students have really struggled to enable them to come to our course. The prospect of a work placement in September and a job in January has been a beacon of hope and this delay must feel very tough. Nevertheless they are still here. The reasons for the delay are multi-factorial. Beehive and Krizevac could possibly have predicted and averted some of them, but there are others that were certainly completely out of our control. From a personal perspective, I do not want to lose any students in the period between now and January. My fear is that those we do lose are likely to be the best and the strongest candidates.