Signpost International - Changing Lives (Spring/Summer 2010)
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Transcript of Signpost International - Changing Lives (Spring/Summer 2010)
ChangingLives
Empowering People Transforming Communities
The magazine of Signpost International Spring/Summer 2010
2 www.signpost-international.org 3
Empowering People Transforming Communities
www.signpost-international.org
8 health watch How a group of mothers are tackling the problem
of ill health in their Filipino shanty town
10 “money is not the only answer!” Stories of an empowered community
12 a remarkable woman: the Bamusuuta orphanage A new home for some of Uganda’s tragic orphans
14 India: the struggle for civil rights The desecration of a burial site sparks a village’s struggle against caste discrimination
16 “I’d go with the devil if he had a drink in his hand!” One woman’s story of how her family was affected by her drinking
18 discovery projects: theatre transformation How art is being used to tackle youth crime in inner city Dundee
20 the in-depth interview Talking to the ‘eyes and ears’ of Signpost India
22 news What’s going on?
Signpost InternationalThe Mark Henderson CentreAnn Street, Dundee DD3 7TH
Tel: 01382 660072
enquiries@�signpost-international.org www.signpost-international.org
Registered Charity No. 1057437 OSCR No. SCO38850
Signpost International is a member of the Fundraising Standards Board.
For more discussion on issues of faith and development visit Kerry’s blog: http://kerrydixon.wordpress.com/
Patron: Dr Tony Campolo
President of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education (EAPE)
Changing Lives is the bi-annual magazine of Signpost International.
Design and artwork by: The Malting House Graphic Design Studio, Dundee. www.themaltinghouse.co.uk
Produced by: Fairprint www.fairprint.co.uk
This magazine is printed on paper from sustainable forests.
Packaged in environmentally friendly biodegradable polywrap.
© April 2010, Signpost International
4 starfish club A response to the earthquake that devastated Haiti
6 restaveks: a modern form of slavery Taking a look at the lives of some of Haiti’s unfortunate slave children
contents
Empowering People Transforming Communities
As I sit here writing, I can hear bulldozers just outside my window: all around Signpost’s offices the buildings are literally being torn down.
This is part of the regeneration of the Hilltown, the area of inner city Dundee where Signpost works, and it is painful to watch the destruction of familiar buildings that have been homes, shops and community centres.
Occasionally, as the outer wall of a house is torn down, I can see the wallpaper someone once chose and I am reminded that this is all about people. Reconstruction will certainly improve the area, but it is people who give it life and create a community.
The controversial demolition of the buildings on our street has caused many to ask, “Who is responsible for our community?”
But this is not a new question.
When Cain kills Abel, God asks him a simple question, “Where is your brother?” And Cain’s angry response - “Am I my brother’s keeper?” - is the question we must all answer:
“�Is�it�my�responsibility�to�care��for�the�needs�of�others?”
For those of us who try to follow the example seen in the life of Jesus, the answer must surely be “Yes!”
By declaring and revealing the kingdom of God in all he did, Jesus demonstrates a new way of living, and being, community.
In this revolutionary community the weakest become the strongest, the powerful are humbled, the poor are blessed, the peacemakers are called God’s children, and sacrifice and surrender are praised above power, wealth and fame.
When Jesus announces that this kingdom has come to grant freedom to the captives, justice for the oppressed and dignity for the outcast, his walk towards resurrection begins.
Running through the story of the Bible we can see the cords of grace that bind us together: a deep-rooted commitment to social justice and social responsibility.
At Signpost International it is this way of being that we are trying to model. It is this resurrection and regeneration that we long to see in our community and in other communities around the world.
Like�Jesus�before�us,�we�are��simply�trying�to�love�our�neighbour�as�ourselves.
Thank you for walking with us!
Kerry Dixon Signpost International
“ Is it my responsibility to care for the needs of others?”
4 www.signpost-international.org 5
Empowering People Transforming Communities
www.signpost-international.org
The January earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince was the most severe earthquake to affect Haiti in over 200 years. It smashed the country’s already impoverished infrastructure and left many tens of thousands of people dead or missing. In its immediate aftermath a Starfish grant was given to help the people of Haiti, most of whom were already living in abject poverty before the earthquake struck. The grant was given to the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education (EAPE), working in Haiti for over 30 years through partner organisations Beyond Borders and Haiti Partners.
Survivors of the disaster, who had lost everything, were given emergency assistance of food, water, tents, generators, medical personnel and supplies.
Your donations have also helped provide two ‘safe havens’ for the hundreds of children found wandering, dazed and lost, on the streets of Port-au-Prince.
Haiti earthquake responseThese children are being cared for until their families can be found, or a safe placement can be made where they will be clothed, fed and housed.
Soon after the quake Haiti’s Minister of Education Joel Jean-Pierre announced that the country’s education system had “totally collapsed”. One of the most immediate and important tasks in the aftermath of a disaster is to re-establish education – particularly for children – and our sister organisations in Haiti have been providing teachers, and educational resources for the hard-hit communities where they work.
Now, several months on, work is taking place to resettle refugees in outlying areas away from the devastation in Port-au-Prince, integrating them into their new communities. Reconstruction has begun, particularly focusing on the rebuilding of schools and economic centres to improve the situations of displaced people until they can rebuild their communities.
Haiti’s earthquake - what the UN has
called the worst disaster it has ever
experienced – will continue to affect
the people of Haiti for years to come.
Thank you for your kind donations that
are going some way towards rebuilding
Haiti’s future.
the starfish club
“A boy was walking along a beach after a great storm. The storm had washed thousands upon thousands of starfish onto the beach.
The boy began to pick up the starfish and, one by one, he would throw them back into the sea and save their lives.
An old man watched the boy as he came towards him. When the boy was close enough the old man asked, ‘What are you doing?’ ‘Putting
the starfish back’ he replied. ‘Why bother?’ asked the old man, ‘After all, there are so many you can’t possibly make a difference.’
The boy looked quizzically at the old man. He stooped down, picked up a large starfish and threw it back into the sea.
‘Well it sure made a difference to that one!’ he said.”
HAITI FACT FILE:
• Haiti is the poorest country in the
Americas, with foreign aid making up
over one-third of the national budget.
• The UN has called Cité Soleil, Haiti’s
largest slum, ‘the most dangerous
place on earth’.
• The richest 1% of Haiti’s population
owns nearly half of the country’s wealth.
• Half of Haiti’s children are unvaccinated,
with just 40% of the population having
access to basic healthcare.
• Most Haitians live on less than $2 a day.
When we use the term
‘dollars per day’, this does
not define what one US
dollar can purchase in a
poor country – which might
be quite a lot. The phrase
is actually a creation of the
World Bank to measure
purchasing power parity
(PPP).
PPP measures what things
cost around the world,
allowing for exchange rates.
That is, a woman in Haiti
living on two dollars a day
can buy in her world what
you could buy for two
dollars in yours.
Crowds queue for scarce water supplies
Supporters of Signpost’s Starfish Club commit to giving small monthly amounts of money, or can alternatively give larger one-off gifts. Together these individual amounts make large sums of money that can help change many hundreds of lives.
To join the Starfish Club on a regular or one-off basis please contact our offices, fill in the form on the back of this magazine or visit the Starfish page at www.signpost-international.org.
4 5www.signpost-international.org www.signpost-international.org
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
One month on Haiti’s government confirmed that the death toll equalled that of the 2004 Asian Tsunami, with as many as one million Haitians left homeless by the disaster.
Shortly after the quake Tony Campolo, President of EAPE,
announced “We have set up short term, middle range
and long term programmes to alleviate the immediate
suffering caused by the earthquake, as well as dealing
with the ongoing need for the social, economic and
spiritual development of the Haitian people.”
7
Empowering People Transforming Communities
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In spite of government regulations that surround the practice of child labour, restaveks are brutally treated. Working up to 18 hours a day, often unable to attend school, they can be abused, beaten, thrown out onto the streets or even killed.
Parents are often unaware of how their children are being treated, and believe that their children will have a better life as a restavek. Any news they do hear tends to be from their child’s new family, telling
them that ‘all is fine’. For many parents, struggling to feed, clothe and school all their children, one less child to care for is a welcome relief.
Unicef estimates that there could be as many as 300,000 restaveks in Haiti – almost 4% of the population – with numbers continuing to grow as poverty and political turmoil increase. Now, in the wake of Haiti’s recent earthquake, the fate of the restaveks is even more uncertain.
Restaveks: a modern form of slavery
Desperate poverty in rural Haiti fuels a particular form of child slavery.
Meeting Jesus in the Poor In Luke 16:19-31, we read the story that Jesus told about a certain rich man and a poor man named Lazarus who lay suffering with hunger and a diseased body just outside the rich man’s house. Jesus tells us that the rich man ate ‘sumptuously’ while the poor man would have loved to have ‘the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table.’ Eventually, the rich man died and ended up in Hell.
But why? Does Jesus say that he committed some great sin; that he murdered someone; that he committed adultery; or that he broke some other of the Ten Commandments?
In telling this story Jesus lets it be known that the sin of this rich man was living in luxury, while ignoring the needs of the suffering poor man who lay on his front doorstep.
Is this not a warning to us that living out an affluent, consumerist lifestyle, while being indifferent to those who suffer the pain of poverty, is to stand under God’s judgment?
The only description that Jesus gives of Judgment Day is found in Matthew 25:31-46. There he declares that not to feed the hungry; clothe the naked; care for the sick; heal the brokenhearted; and reach out to those in prison translates into a rejection of Him as Lord and Saviour. This is because Jesus chooses to present Himself to us through the poor and the oppressed, so that to reject them is to reject Him.
Under the restavek system very young children are given to another family by their poverty-stricken
parents. These children cook, clean and collect water without any payment and, although they are meant
to receive food, shelter and a place at school in return, for many children the reality is very different.
Dr Tony Campolo
For many parents, struggling to feed,
clothe and school all their children, one
less child to care for is a welcome relief.
6 www.signpost-international.org
In Haiti there are 250,000 restaveks. Restaveks are children who have come from families that are so poor that these children are given away to become domestic servants. In reality, they become the closest thing imaginable to slaves.
The scriptures clearly teach that if anyone says that he or she loves God, but does not love their neighbour, such a person is a liar (1 John 4:20). This affirms that God wants to be loved through one’s neighbour — and especially through the neighbour who is in need. In 1 John 3:17-18, we are asked how anyone who has ‘this world’s goods’, knows of a brother or sister who is suffering in poverty and keeps what he or she has, can say, I have the love of God in my heart’.
Signpost International workers take these scriptures seriously and, both in Scotland and in foreign countries, are responding with love and service to people in need. They have learned what they hope all of us will learn, that giving to those who suffer is not simply a responsibility, but a privilege.
The Apostle Paul taught that to give is to be exercising what he called ‘a gift of the Holy Spirit.’ That is why they never hesitate when they call on fellow Christians to give sacrificially, because they know that in doing so Christians are exercising a calling from God that carries with it its own blessings and facilitates the spiritual actualization of those who do the giving.
In Haiti there are 250,000 restaveks. Restaveks are children who have come from families that are so poor that these children are given away to become domestic servants. In reality, they become the closest thing imaginable to slaves.
When the recent earthquake destroyed Port-au-Prince, panicked families who had restaveks in their households did everything they could to take care of their own children, but turned the restaveks out onto the streets. These poorest of the poor children had to fend for themselves.
Beyond Borders, a sister organisation to Signpost International, has been gathering these children into “safe houses” to protect them from human trafficking and to care for them until good homes can be found for them. These children are those whom Jesus called “the least of these,” and it is such as these that Signpost International is committed to serve and to love into God’s Kingdom.
Dr Tony Campolo
President of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education (EAPE) & Patron of Signpost International
Empowering People Transforming Communities
8 www.signpost-international.org 9
Empowering People Transforming Communities
www.signpost-international.org
health watchFor two days the seminar, run by Dr Demie
Tidon the president of Signpost Philippines,
taught participants first aid skills and basic
community health practice. Monalisa and
other local mothers learned how to take
blood pressure, use a nebuliser, weigh
babies, take a temperature and sell over
the counter medicines at very low cost.
“ Before Health Watch I could never
have imagined myself working to
provide medical services in the
community!” says Monalisa.
Now, armed with their new skills, these
community mothers are working as
volunteers, augmenting the barangay
[community] health service, since the
community doctors and nurses only visit
the North Baluarte area once a week.
Although they are volunteers, the women
charge a nominal fee of 5 Pesos (around
7 pence) to take blood pressure readings.
This helps them save enough money to
repair or replace their medical equipment,
ensuring this valuable medical service can
continue long into the future.
Improved health care services are really
changing the quality of life for the local
community.
“ I love being able to serve my fellow
residents,” says Monalisa, “And share
my new-found knowledge with them.”
Like most mothers, Monalisa Malabago worries about her
child’s health. But for the Malabago family, living in North
Baluarte on the outskirts of the Philippines’ Iloilo City, their risk
of ill-health is high. The area is a shantytown, poor and densely
crowded, with little access to clean water and sanitation
limited to the filthy tidal waters that run under the houses.
Last year Signpost started to build stable concrete bridges over the dangerous tidal waters of the Philippines’ North Baluarte community. Here is how that project has impacted the life of one woman...
news updateJesusana Garnica suffers from polio which has weakened her legs. Because of her disability she finds it difficult to walk on the rickety bamboo walkways that bridge the tidal waters surrounding her home. Jesusana needs to be accompanied if she wants to go out of the house but, because her husband is at work and her children at school, she spends most of her time alone.
A year ago Signpost started to build concrete walkways next to the block of houses where the Garnica family live. Sitting with Jesusana on the newly constructed bridge, Signpost staff member Jairus Broce asked how she felt about the new concrete walkways.
“My long time wish has come true,” said a delighted Jesusana.
“I thank God, who is close to the heart of the needy!”
One of Jesusana’s sons is sponsored through Signpost International and, when his UK sponsors heard about her disability, they wanted to help.
School boys William (7) and Thomas (5) gave up a visit to the cinema, donating the money to Signpost instead. With the boys’ gift, local Signpost staff were able to buy a special walking stick, to increase Jesusana’s mobility, and enough money was left over to buy the whole family food and medicines.
The concrete walkway and quad cane have given Jesusana Garnica a much-longed for independence, and freed her from having to stay at home.
She says proudly, “Now I can walk freely by myself. My life is different now!”
When Signpost announced that a Health
Watch seminar was to be run at their offices
in the North Baluarte community, Monalisa
was one of the first to sign up. She says,
“At the time there was a real risk of
pandemic [swine] flu. I was scared and
wanted to do what I could to be prepared.”
8 9www.signpost-international.org www.signpost-international.org
POVERTY LEADS TO POOR HEALTHThe major cause of ill health for people in developing countries is poverty, a lack of resources and the unequal conditions in which people live and work:
• Poverty often means that people do not have access to even basic medical services.
• When healthcare is available people are unable to afford it, or prices are prohibitively high.
• The lack of access to clean water and sanitation can lead to illness, infection and disease.
• Worldwide, over one billion people lack the basic education needed to understand the causes of ill health and take appropriate preventive action.
• Educated women are more likely to use health services and health-related information, particularly impacting child and maternal mortality rates.
Empowering People Transforming Communities
10 www.signpost-international.org
When Signpost sponsored one of Dolores Guieb’s children, she didn’t realise the positive impact it would
have on her own life, too.
She remembers being “very shy, with few friends”, and not at
all interested in community activities. However all that changed
when Dolores joined the Signpost Parents Association (SPA).
“I developed good relationships with the other mothers,”
she recalls “And I was soon acting as volunteer neighbourhood
co-ordinator for the sponsorship scheme.”
Dolores found herself following up the sponsored children’s
school records, paying school fees from the sponsorship accounts,
occasionally representing Signpost at school meetings and feeding
back any concerns of the scheme’s parents and children to the
Signpost offices.
“My self-confidence has increased,” says Dolores,
“ Especially when learning how to deal with problems!
I like working with people and getting them involved, too.”
Through the SPA, Dolores has also learned new skills to help
earn a living; making ginger tea, frozen food and puto [rice cakes].
“My husband used to be the only earner in our household” says
Dolores. “Now I can make my contribution too!”
Now elected President of the Signpost Parents Association,
Dolores is very grateful for the new opportunities she, and the
other parents, have been given.
“My passion is to help people, but I wasn’t putting that into
practice. We can express our love through giving people our
skills and our time. I have learned that money is not the only
answer to our problems.”
“money is not the only answer!”
Signpost International works to empower people and transform communities. This is about development: giving people the skills and confidence to tackle for themselves the poverty and social issues that they face each day.
From the Philippines, here are some of their stories...
For the past seven years Mera Princes Casabuena has been sponsored by Signpost International. Although she shows a lot of promise as a student and always works hard, Mera is also very shy and reserved.
Each month Mera attends the monthly gathering of Signpost’s sponsored children and, with her confidence growing, she gradually began joining in the different games and activities.
Last November Mera hosted a Theatre Dance Workshop held in one of Iloilo City’s largest shopping malls. After standing in front of a huge crowd with confidence, Mera said,
“ I thank God for Signpost giving me the chance to discover my talents. I will never forget this day’s great experience!”
Mera will be 18 later this year, and hopes to continue her studies at University.
When Rey talks about that difficult time it is clear to see that
he is left with painful memories. Increased local competition,
deliberately targeted at his store, led Rey to nearly lose his capital.
With a wife and two children to provide for, Rey was desperate
and struggling to continue.
Rey credits Signpost International with inspiring him to keep
going, after attending one of their entrepreneurship seminars.
He says, “I learned many new things and was able to make
improvements to my business with confidence, despite my
many competitors around the corner.”
Rey has put his new business knowledge to good use. He has
diversified his products and is now proud of being the foremost
seller of frozen food in the area.
Rey is clearly excited by the up-turn in his business and is very
grateful to Signpost for the help and support that he has received.
“Signpost helped me through a very difficult period when I thought
I might not survive. Now I am confident that I can provide a good
future for my family.”
From the activity around his small store it is
easy to see that Rey Jayme’s business is thriving.
But it wasn’t always like that – a few months ago
Rey nearly lost everything when his livelihood
was on the brink of collapse.
growing potential
Empowering People Transforming Communities
11www.signpost-international.org10 www.signpost-international.org
tough times for sponsor familyWhen Mr Dingcong, who suffers from mental illness, wrecked his family home, the situation was bleak for this Filipino family. The attack so badly damaged their small bamboo hut that it was not fit to live in and, with no income to repair it, the family became increasingly desperate.
Hearing of her situation, Mrs Dingcong’s Self Help Group (SHG) rallied round the family, using the group’s savings to pay a skilled carpenter to make repairs to the house.
The women carried donated materials of wood and bamboo to the house themselves, and several of their husbands made up a free labour force to help repair the Dingcong’s home.
Catherine Bulacan, one of the women involved in the rebuilding effort, said, “ This is Bayanihan [communal help] at its best. We are just so pleased that we had money available to help the Dingcongs when they needed it, and for all the people who gave their time and skills to repair their home.”
Mrs Dingcong has now joined Signpost’s livelihood skills training programme, learning to make sweets, so she can begin to earn an income that will bring stability and support to her family.
12 www.signpost-international.org
Ester lives in Kiboga, a rural district of Uganda that suffered from a devastating
guerrilla war that raged in the area between 1980 and 1986. The local people were
either internally displaced, living in makeshift camps for six years, or had to move
to other parts of the country. Large numbers of people (estimated at 300,000) died
in the crossfire, and their houses and livestock were either looted or destroyed.
Twenty six years later the war in Kiboga is long over, but the need remains. Today Ester
cares for 20 children in her home, a small crumbling mud hut. She tells the heart-breaking
story of how each child came to be with her: found in a pit latrine; a victim of child abuse;
left in some bushes; parents dead of AIDS.
Beyond Ester’s home the scope of the project now extends to a further 500 children living
nearby with a single parent or guardian. A loose support network operates from the site,
and they grow enough food on the land to feed the children.
Ester’s story is remarkable because, despite living in abject poverty, she has given a home
and a future to all the children she has cared for. Today two of the teachers in the local
school are from that first group of orphans to arrive on Ester’s doorstep. But for all these
children, coming to Ester as orphans, being made part of a family is perhaps the greatest
achievement of all.
The Bamusuuta orphanage is supported
through the Uganda Change Agents
Association (UCAA), an indigenous
organisation that transforms communities
by developing people, training them and
empowering them to be ‘change agents’
within their communities.
Their motto is ‘self reliance’, teaching
people the tools and skills they need to
tackle the social and poverty issues they
face for themselves.
a remarkable woman: the Bamusuuta orphanageOne day in 1984 a neighbour appeared on Ester Nanvubya’s doorstep bringing 40 war orphans with her. Ester took them in and cared for them, and has been taking children into her home ever since.
We are delighted that UCAA is currently
working in partnership with Signpost
International and the sponsor families
of Gaba village.
At the families’ request, the scheme is
moving away from sponsorship to small
income generating businesses that will
bring the families increasing financial
independence. UCAA is working with
the sponsor families to teach them the
skills needed to create and sustain these
businesses in the years to come.
Ester tells the
heart-breaking story
of how each child
came to be with her:
found in a pit latrine;
a victim of child abuse;
left in some bushes;
parents dead of AIDS.
14 www.signpost-international.org 15
Empowering People Transforming Communities
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On the outskirts of the village is a piece of
land that has been used as a burial ground
by Thandalam’s Dalit families for the past
century. Earlier this year the higher caste
landlord falsely claimed legal ownership of
the cemetery and demolished all the tombs,
digging up the ground to make the land
ready for cultivation.
Seeing the desecration of the site, and the
remains of their relatives treated with such
contempt, the outraged leaders of the local
Dalit community went to the home of the
landlord to ask for justice. His response
just humiliated them further and some of
the young men, angry and frustrated by
the situation, retaliated by damaging a car
outside his house.
Immediately the landlord went to the local
police. He bribed them to arrest the men
who were ‘causing trouble’, and they were
taken into custody.
The caste system has been
embedded in Indian culture for the
past 1,500 years and has one basic
precept: all men are created unequal.
Outside the caste system are the
untouchables or Dalits; those
considered too impure and polluted
to rank as worthy beings. Prejudice
defines their lives, particularly in
rural areas where nearly three-
quarters of India’s people live.
Discrimination against India’s lowest Hindu castes is illegal. But try telling that to the 160 million Untouchables, facing violent reprisals if they forget their place...
The sins of Girdharilal Maurya are many, his attackers insist. He has bad karma.
Why else would he be born an Untouchable, if not to pay for his past lives? See, he is
a leatherworker and Hindu law says that working with animal skins makes him unclean,
someone to avoid and despise. And his improper riches are a sin. Who does this
Untouchable think he is, buying a small plot of land outside the village? Then he actually
dared to speak up, to the police and other local authorities, demanding a right to use the
new village well. He got what he deserved!
One night, while Maurya was away, several men from the higher Rajput caste came
to his property. They broke his fences, stole the tractor, beat his wife and daughter
and burned down their home. The message was clear: stay at the bottom, where
you belong.
India: the struggle for civil rights
Although most of the one hundred families that live in the Indian village of Thandalam are from the ‘untouchable’ Dalit community, its economy lies firmly in the hands of the minority upper caste. Recently Signpost was alerted to a disturbing incident of caste-related violence in Thandalam, where many of our sponsored children live...
Despite their low status, the Dalit people
are actually a majority population in this
region of India. CRDS is therefore mobilising
the various Dalit networks so that their
potentially powerful voice can be heard,
lobbying regional politicians and holding a
series of peaceful protests in the area.
Now, with the help of CRDS, the smaller
Dalit community of Thandalam is making
a legal challenge through the court system
against the actions of their village landlord
and corrupt police. Under the Prevention
of Civil Rights Act the landlord can be
arrested and the police suspended.
By bringing their case to court, the villagers
are asking for wider powers of protection
from discrimination: protection for Dalit
communities, the granting of their legal land
ownership rights to Dalit families and the
restitution of their Dalit cemetery.
We will keep you updated on the
progress of this civil rights action in
future issues of Changing Lives.India’s Constitution actually outlaws caste
discrimination of the sort seen in Thandalam, but in practice these laws are rarely implemented.
To demand justice for this lower caste community, one of Signpost’s Indian partner organisations, the Chengalpattu Rural Development Society (CRDS),
is now working to challenge the situation.
Empowering People Transforming Communities
People Power: Dalit communities protest against human rights abuses
Untouchables are shunned, insulted,
banned from temples and higher
caste homes, made to drink and
eat from separate utensils and in
extreme, but not uncommon cases,
are raped, burned, lynched and
gunned down.
“There is apartheid in India”, says
the Rev. Basaiawmoit, vice president
of the National Council of Churches
in India. “The caste issue is a racist
issue, when Dalits are not seen as
human beings.”
THE CASTE SYSTEM
“ There is
apartheid
in India...
The caste issue
is a racist issue,
when Dalits
are not seen as
human beings.”
14 www.signpost-international.org
discarded gravestones
16 www.signpost-international.org 17
Empowering People Transforming Communities
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Pat started drinking at 15 and continued for another 18 years. She says, “Drink wasn’t
a problem for all those years, but there’s a thin line between social drinking and compulsive
drinking and for me it was a progression.”
“ Eventually I reached the point where I would shoplift food so I could keep the housekeeping money for alcohol. I was waking up in strange places with no idea of where I had been, or what I had done.”
“By the time I had kids I was doing to them what my dad had done to me. I would drop my
son at nursery and be incapable of picking him up because of the drink. Someone else had
to do it for me. When my children got older they couldn’t bring friends home from school,
because they didn’t know what sort of state I’d be in.”
Eventually Pat says she was ‘kidnapped’ by a work colleague and taken to Alcoholics
Anonymous. At the time she was working as a domestic in a mental hospital and would
turn up to work with a few drinks inside her.
“I thought I was okay” says Pat, “that the drink made me invisible. But even the patients
would ask me if I had been drinking!”
Patricia didn’t stay at Alcoholics Anonymous and didn’t get sober. “I thought I was
listening”, she says “but I wasn’t taking it in.” For Pat’s children, aged 13 & 15, it was a
difficult time. “Their expectations had been raised by me going to AA, so it was very
difficult when I continued to drink.”
“I’d go with the devil if he had a drink in his hand!”
Sadly Pat’s marriage of 20 years didn’t
survive, although it was after she was sober
that her marriage broke down. She married
young, like all her sisters. “I did it for all
the wrong reasons. I was desperate to get
away from my father’s drinking.”
Thinking about why her marriage failed after
surviving years of drink Pat says, “Maybe it
was because I was less dependent on him
and could take charge of my own life.”
“It’s about learning how to live without
alcohol one day at a time, and saying no to
that first drink.”
“If there’s no first drink then there can’t be
a tenth one!”
When Pat finally returned to Alcoholics
Anonymous and used the programme
to really look at her life, things began to
change.
“It’s hard to explain” says Pat, “ but I had a spiritual awakening. Something happened that was beyond me, like a light being switched on. I didn’t even realise it myself for a while.”
For the past 16 years Patricia has
been attending meetings of Alcoholics
Anonymous and remains grateful for the
opportunity of a new beginning in life.
Regular attendance at Alcoholics
Anonymous meetings has been an essential
part of recovery for Pat. One such group
is New Beginnings, an open meeting of
Alcoholics Anonymous that meets twice
weekly at Signpost’s Mark Henderson
Centre.
Alcoholics Anonymous open meetings give
family and friends the chance to share a
path back to recovery with an alcoholic,
and to learn how other people meet the
challenge of living with a problem drinker -
even when they no longer drink.
Patricia (not her real name) says that she was an alcoholic before she ever picked up a drink. “As a child my life was affected by my alcoholic father. I was shy, a square peg in a round hole. Drink did for me what I couldn’t do for myself.”
Regular attendance at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings has been an essential part of recovery for Pat. One such group is New Beginnings, an open meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous that meets twice weekly at Signpost’s Mark Henderson Centre.
“I didn’t realise
that Alcoholics
Anonymous has
the solution,
but you’ve got
to work at it.
You don’t get
something
for nothing.”
“ I’d been emotionally dependent on someone for my whole life and I’d never lived on my own before. It wasn’t easy, but I was determined to keep going and not go back to drinking. I didn’t want him to be able to say, ‘See, you’re still not well!’”
17www.signpost-international.org
18 www.signpost-international.org 19
Empowering People Transforming Communities
www.signpost-international.org
Dundee’s Dramatic Society knows about
graffiti only too well: the constant unsightly
damage to their theatre’s walls is not only
an expensive eyesore but a real point of
frustration for the Society and local residents.
Now Signpost staff have been combating
this vandalism by engaging the young
people who frequent the park around the
Little Theatre, trying to turn their energies
to more acceptable forms of art.
Working with a local primary school, Signpost staff asked a class of 8 year olds:
“What makes community?”“Co-operation.”
“What does that mean?”“Everybody working together!!”
This was the challenge that faced Signpost International last year when trying to
engage local people in the process of the major physical regeneration of Dundee’s
Coldside area. Residents had already filled out countless questionnaires for
countless organisations but seen very little positive change. It was not surprising
they were now reluctant to get involved.
Signpost decided to tackle this problem by inviting people from
different local agencies and organisations to form a partnership that
would undertake a collective consultation, making the most of the
community’s skills and knowledge.
Rolling up their sleeves, the partnership decided to experiment with a completely
different and highly creative approach to consultation. With not a clipboard or suit
in sight, the aim was to make the process as unobtrusive and fun as possible,
taking place on the day of the area’s Christmas celebration to make the most of
the large amount of local people expected to attend the Festival.
Trying to fit in with the ‘fun’ ethos of the Festival, after a great deal of brain-storming
and hair-pulling, the partnership decided on a theme of “the Land of Oz”. The event
was a great success, with local residents able to nominate what made the ‘heart of
their community’ and the buildings they liked and wanted to keep, and the buildings
that needed to be a part of the regeneration process.
Currently the partnership is focusing on feeding back the consultation results to
the community and building on their suggestions. Timon Scheven, a Signpost
community worker said,
“ We want to encourage a sense of meaningful dialogue and action at
a grassroots level across the community. It is the only way that we can
start to tackle some of the many inner city issues that need resolving.”
Captured on FilmThe four month-long planning process and the actual consultation has been documented by students of Film
Making at Abertay University.Now complete,
the film is a record
of a remarkable local initiative. The Partnership
plan to make the
film available to other groups so that other communities,
thinking about starting a similar process, can gain
momentum from the DVD.
discovery projects: theatre transformation
Graffiti is one of the most widespread problems in our urban areas. It tends to be an expression of
boredom or frustration but, for those people whose buildings are defaced, it is purely an act of vandalism.
‘Art in the Park’ is a joint project with the
local community regeneration team and
community artists. For the young people
involved in the local graffiti issues, many
of them budding or gifted artists, it gives
them the chance to try alternative forms
of creative expression; making mosaics,
doodle art and creating large communal
art pieces using spray paint and stencils.
Contributing to the buzz of activity around
the Little Theatre, Signpost has also helped
organise two workdays to remove the
graffiti painted on the walls of the theatre.
It was a project that brought together a
diverse group of volunteers that included
local residents, a youth project and
members of Dundee’s Community Church.
Katie Allan was involved in organising the
workdays and painting the building. She
says, “People who had never met before
were soon talking and laughing together.
By the end of the day everyone was asking
when the next project would be!”
“It is really rewarding seeing people local
people giving back to their community -
and really enjoying themselves!”
Signpost International’s Discovery
Projects help to bring much needed
physical regeneration to people’s
homes and community spaces,
through individual acts of service.
“It is really rewarding
seeing local people
giving back to their
community - and
really enjoying
themselves!”
Empowering People Transforming Communities
Q: How do you actively involve local residents in having a say about important issues in their community when they are suffering from severe consultation fatigue?
20 www.signpost-international.org 21
Empowering People Transforming Communities
www.signpost-international.org
It’s a good job title, but what do you actually do for Signpost?
My job is basically to be Signpost’s eyes and ears on the ground in India!
I work with our four Indian partner organisations to design and implement
development programmes, also helping to build their capacity when needed.
I help to strengthen partnerships and develop Signpost’s networks across
southern India, while also making sure that the Dundee headquarters are
kept up to date with all the necessary project information.
Tell us a bit about your background
I come from a Christian family and, although we were poor, our family
was based strongly on the values of faith, love and sharing.
How did this impact your life?
It is important to practice what you believe! And for the past ten years
I have been trying to do so, working with youth and student movements
and community based organisations in rural southern India. Eventually, after
finishing my Masters in Social Work six years ago, I became a professional
development worker and began working for Caritas India, the official social
work organisation of India’s Catholic Church.
How did you hear about Signpost?
Being with Caritas taught me a lot about the Church’s social teachings that
I had never known before. Their emphasis on human dignity, solidarity and the
demonstration of God’s love in action gave a new inspiration to my professional
social work.
When I met Kelly McAulay [previously head of Signpost’s overseas projects] on
a visit to India, I recognised a similar ethos that was not paternalistic but valued
the individual, desiring to grow them and see them succeed.
What are India’s ‘difficult issues’?
India has complex social issues. These lead to discrimination of caste, class,
race and gender as well as religious disharmony. Signpost works with the
people most affected by all of these issues, the vulnerable Dalit and tribal
communities who have very low social status and very poor living conditions.
What do you see as Signpost’s role
in India?
Our main role is to work with communities
to help bring about social change, because
the disparities between the upper and
lower castes, the rich and poor, male and
female will vanish only when people are
empowered.
But what does ‘empowered’ mean,
in practical terms?
The people that we work with – the Dalits,
tribal communities and women’s groups
- need to have a clear understanding of
their situation if they are to be able to
tackle it. That means an understanding of
the oppressive climate around them, their
rights, duties and responsibilities.
As Signpost works with these different
groups, we teach them the knowledge,
strategies and skills that they need
to address their particular situation
for themselves. And it is the words
‘for themselves’ that demonstrate
empowerment!
What physical help do we offer?
Signpost supports many of our Indian
communities with skills training,
resources and seed money for economic
development. This economic development,
financially being able to ‘stand on their own
two feet’, is a very important part in the
holistic development of a community.
How do you see the future of
Signpost’s work in India?
Signpost’s role, to facilitate and
help impoverished communities in
the empowerment process, is a big
responsibility and a huge task.
Anthony Sagaya Raj, or Sagay as he is better known, has been employed as Signpost’s
India Field Support Officer since 2008.
Although most readers of Changing Lives magazine will not recognize his name, Sagay’s role in Signpost
India is pivotal and we interviewed him to find out more.
in-depth interview
Working with such huge populations of poor and oppressed people, of course we need more resources in terms of staff, volunteers, money, time and commitment! However all the time I have been working with Signpost International, I am constantly affirming one value:
Whether our intervention is big or small, when we work with an individual or a small group, we not only transform them, but we transform their families, their society and their future generations to come.
It is good for us to remember that!
My job is basically to be Signpost’s eyes and ears on the ground in India!
Community consultation and training
20 www.signpost-international.org
Signpost India: sponsored children
22 www.signpost-international.org
Empowering People Transforming Communities
23www.signpost-international.org
do you want to join us?Signpost International’s internship programme is a great way to gain hands on
experience of working with an international development agency.
Practical, relevant and project based, this structured programme lasts from 6 to 12 months
and will provide you with a range of valuable experiences that include overseas development,
fundraising, public relations and community development.
Applicants should have a relevant degree and a desire to wrestle with issues of poverty,
justice and community. Successful candidates will start their placements in August 2010.
For more details about Signpost’s internship programme please contact our offices or email
Signpost reps wantedDo you want to get more involved in the
work of Signpost International and feel you
could be our voice in your church or local
area? Why not consider becoming an Area
or Church Representative that can promote
the work of Signpost International in a more
local context.
Please contact us, or fill in and send off the
form on the back of this magazine for more
details.
Pupils and teachers from a Scottish secondary school will be visiting Signpost
projects in India for three weeks this summer.
While in India the team from Monifieth High School are linking up with two schools –
one private and one a poor rural school – to experience the different standards of
education available to India’s children.
“ The trip promises to be a challenging one,” says Signpost’s Jamie Morrison,
also accompanying the team to India. “It is certainly a land of extremes of wealth
and poverty, and seeing the issues firsthand will be a shock for the team.”
“However the visit should stimulate the team to start to think through some of the poverty
and justice issues that we see around us today. This is not about seeing something and
then forgetting about it, this is about development education that leads to positive change!”
facebook fansIf you enjoy social networking then why not join Signpost International on Facebook?
It’s a great way to keep up to date with Signpost’s stories, news and events. Just visit www.facebook.com/signpost international and become a fan!
staff changesWe are sorry to say goodbye to Davy Bain who has moved on after almost three years working in Signpost’s accounts department and as the administrator of Signpost’s child sponsorship scheme. We wish Davy all the best with his accountancy studies and for his future plans.
Gemma Williams has taken over Davy’s role as child sponsorship administrator, on a temporary basis, and it will be her friendly voice you hear if telephoning Signpost’s
offices with a query!
hadrian’s wall walk
news - what’s going on?
take the 50:50 challenge!This April Signpost International launched its first
annual fundraising event. Called the 50:50 Challenge,
this is your chance to get involved and raise money
to help redress the world’s poverty imbalance.
Taking place from the 18th to the 26th of September
you can choose from a list of fifty varied challenges
with the aim of raising money for charity and having
fun! For more details of how you can get involved
please contact our offices or log on to our challenge
website: www.5050challenge.co.uk
volunteers tackle centreA group of young people have recently
helped to spruce up some of Signpost’s
office and community space.
The Prince’s Trust works with disadvantaged
young people, many of whom are long-term
unemployed, have been in trouble with the
law, or are in difficulty at school. Over the
winter months a group of around twenty
volunteers from the Trust’s employment and
skills training programme descended on the
Mark Henderson Centre to give parts of the
building a fresh coat of paint.
“ It’s a great scheme”, said Signpost
director Kerry Dixon. “As a charity
we benefit from some helping hands,
while the young people
have the chance to learn some
valuable job skills and be a part
of a community effort.”
Scottish school to visit India projects
As part of September’s 50:50 Challenge,
Signpost director Kerry Dixon and other
of Signpost’s staff will be challenging
themselves to walk the length of Hadrian’s
Wall in just three days!
Stretching from England’s east to west
coast, walking Hadrian’s Wall is something
that Kerry has always wanted to do.
“ I wanted to do something memorable
to mark turning 50 earlier this year”
he says, “and this will fulfil a long
held ambition.”
If you want to join Kerry and the Signpost
team on their trek, or even sponsor their
efforts, then please contact our offices.
Empowering People Transforming Communities
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