“Our ability to engage our leaders has improved tremendously and we are now interested in following up allocations in the national budget to our district. We had a look at the yellow book and saw what was allocated in the national budget (2011) such as construction of more schools, clinics and improving the road network but we have not seen anything to date”, Dorcus Siamasusu tells.
“So I called our current member of parliament to make enquires and he told us he was new as he had just been elected into power during the September general elections (2011). He asked for more time, so we will give him a few more months and then we’ll follow up”, Dorcus Siamasusu explains.
Advocacy training to boost the local development
Like in other rural areas in Zambia, very few women in Sikaneka Village were taking part in governance issues previously. Traditionally men are expected to take a centre role in governance issues while women are expected to take care of the household and fed for the children.
This has a negative impact on most women and girls and retards development as they are unable to contribute to most local issues and problems which affect their day to day life such as health care, education, markets for their agriculture products, acces to land and water, taking up leadership roles, etc.
The advocacy training that is offered by Monze Diocese helps to reverse this trend in the villages. The advocacy training is part of the Sustainable Economic and Social Empowerment of Vulnerable and Marginalized Rural Communities in Southern Province (SESE).
Empowerment of especially women and girls
The SESE is aimed among other things at empowering local communities to hold their elected leaders accountable. This project has deliberately targeted its empowerment and advocacy trainings towards young people especially young women to encourage them to participate in the local development and in society issues.
“I am also now able to stand up on my own and speak out without fearing anyone. And I know my right to say no if people put up demands that I don’t want to comply with – I also know when to say yes”, smiles Dorcus.
This assertiveness is what makes Dorcus Siamasusu to stand out and despite being a single mother of a two year-old son and under so much peer pressure from her colleagues and extended relatives to get married, she is still determined to get her tertiary education.
“They laugh at me here in the village for not being married. Most girls here choose to drop out of school in preference for marriage. But i am not planning to get married anytime soon until I start working and become independent and have my own money,” she says.
Her dream is to help contribute to improving the education standards in Zambia through a career in teaching.
“I would have already gone to college by now but we don’t have enough funds. We are so many in our family including extended relatives and my father finds it difficult to pay for everyone. I am currently teaching at a nursery school nearby and government has promised to pay for my college education in teaching if I serve for two year.”
By Linda Nordahl Jakobsen and Doreen Kambanganji, Communications officers