What I will do now....
"What will you do now?" is the question asked after I explain that I have resigned from Help & Shelter, and from SASOD.
A few people thought that something was wrong with me. Others thought I was employed and therefore would become out of work. A few wondered whether I would shut up.
Which organisation do you belong to?
None of the persons that I knew in my generation had ever imagined that we would be involved in social justice.. most of us wanted out of Guyana and/or dreamt of professions and making money.
But.. through middle-class ideas of doing charitable work, I was made aware of the important work outside of charity to deal with the injustices which fuel domestic violence and child abuse. The work became more than just a few hours a week in another office. The protests had to become political . But being in an organisation helped.
I learnt a few years ago from others who were mobilizing citizens, that Article 13 of our Constitution states that
“the principal objective of the political system is to establish an inclusionary democracy by providing increasing opportunities for the participation of citizens and their organizations in the management and decision – making processes of the State with particular emphasis on those areas of decision–making that directly affect their well-being"
This hit home recently when I looked at an application for a scholarship to attend a workshop.. there is a field to put in about " organisation."
So.. you put 'none' and then that removes you from having access to the decision-making fora which are designed for representatives from organisations. Constituencies matter, and there is no way to show constituency when you are own.. Some of the individual have formed 'one man' organisations and this has given them access to different spaces.
So, the organisation I am in is 'none' . Designation is no longer 'Member of.. " but 'citizen' . I have started calling myself a 'human rights educator/advocate' in some settings. There have been other labels which have been applied, and those are welcome as well.
"Why doesn't he do something.. ?"
A journalist posted a picture of me on his Facebook page. The picture was from a picket I had participated in. There was a comment on the picture 'why doesn't he..." Something about the posting of the picture, and the comments, it was like being exposed without having any way to engage with the people who wanted to question. I asked the journalist to take down the picture.
The protest had other persons in it. I have not had that courage/ level of insanity to protest on my own and the seeing the picture hit home that any kind of activism which I do now, would be on my own.
The experience of having the picture of my house on the Office of the President blog has me , not being silent, but preparing myself every time I say something which might be controversial.
We are learning about transparency now, and I am glad that it is easy for me to be accountable for my ideas and actions. I used to be nervous about appearing to be self-defensive, but then I realised that the more questions one is asked, even the cussing up ones, the better the chances of thinking through what ever is being done.
"Who are you speaking for..?"
I can only speak for myself now. I would not assume to speak for those who are 'voiceless' . There are no objectives really, beyond standing up to injustice where it happens. At the same time, the privilege of having been exposed to learning about the issues means that I should make myself available to share that knowledge with others to use as they deal with the injustices.
"How will you account for the money...?"
One donor agency made their funds available to individuals. It was interesting, and I applied. The rejection letter said that I did not demonstrate enough capacity to manage the money. I am not sure what capacity I need to demonstrate. There is no audit report for individuals. So an interesting challenge for me now, is that in doing the work, that the investments will have to be personal. It is going to be interesting to find ways of identifying ways of educating people, challenging injustice, mobilising , learning about ways of dealing with the injustices which are not going to be expensive.
The other problem with money is also to manage the time and energies so that the ability to earn money is balanced with the time consumed with dealing with the issues.
"What is your training/experience in this area.. ?"
This one is tough - being able to prove that I know what I am talking about, while also being positioned to learn more and to remain informed and relevant.
I have not been academically trained in any of the areas, and the knowledge I have gained was validated by the organisations of which I was a part.
Some social workers had questioned my credentials when dealing with domestic violence and child protection. In rebuilding my CV , I am now documenting any training course which I attended, and every session which I ever delivered and which had been evaluated. There are one or two places to articulate ideas and to write, so that others who know can critique and review. This will take time.. while also managing the career development for the IT work.
The consolidation of the experience is good, as it is now giving me time to reflect on what the learnings have been.
10 years of LGBT rights advocacy seems to have changed the local landscape as it relates to how people deal with sexual orientation and gender identity. The work here is to keep monitoring, to reinforce, to educate and to build on the successes.
However, it is difficult to assess the impact in almost 15 years of working against domestic violence and child abuse. The gender inequalities remain and the violence has intensified. Woman blaming is still common. Children are no safer than they were fifteen years ago, despite the legal provisions. The questions have to be asked and ideas have to be developed to understand what is happening here. I am not sure what I will do as individual beyond doing the same things which I have been doing.
A few people thought that something was wrong with me. Others thought I was employed and therefore would become out of work. A few wondered whether I would shut up.
Which organisation do you belong to?
None of the persons that I knew in my generation had ever imagined that we would be involved in social justice.. most of us wanted out of Guyana and/or dreamt of professions and making money.
But.. through middle-class ideas of doing charitable work, I was made aware of the important work outside of charity to deal with the injustices which fuel domestic violence and child abuse. The work became more than just a few hours a week in another office. The protests had to become political . But being in an organisation helped.
I learnt a few years ago from others who were mobilizing citizens, that Article 13 of our Constitution states that
“the principal objective of the political system is to establish an inclusionary democracy by providing increasing opportunities for the participation of citizens and their organizations in the management and decision – making processes of the State with particular emphasis on those areas of decision–making that directly affect their well-being"
This hit home recently when I looked at an application for a scholarship to attend a workshop.. there is a field to put in about " organisation."
So.. you put 'none' and then that removes you from having access to the decision-making fora which are designed for representatives from organisations. Constituencies matter, and there is no way to show constituency when you are own.. Some of the individual have formed 'one man' organisations and this has given them access to different spaces.
So, the organisation I am in is 'none' . Designation is no longer 'Member of.. " but 'citizen' . I have started calling myself a 'human rights educator/advocate' in some settings. There have been other labels which have been applied, and those are welcome as well.
"Why doesn't he do something.. ?"
A journalist posted a picture of me on his Facebook page. The picture was from a picket I had participated in. There was a comment on the picture 'why doesn't he..." Something about the posting of the picture, and the comments, it was like being exposed without having any way to engage with the people who wanted to question. I asked the journalist to take down the picture.
The protest had other persons in it. I have not had that courage/ level of insanity to protest on my own and the seeing the picture hit home that any kind of activism which I do now, would be on my own.
The experience of having the picture of my house on the Office of the President blog has me , not being silent, but preparing myself every time I say something which might be controversial.
We are learning about transparency now, and I am glad that it is easy for me to be accountable for my ideas and actions. I used to be nervous about appearing to be self-defensive, but then I realised that the more questions one is asked, even the cussing up ones, the better the chances of thinking through what ever is being done.
"Who are you speaking for..?"
I can only speak for myself now. I would not assume to speak for those who are 'voiceless' . There are no objectives really, beyond standing up to injustice where it happens. At the same time, the privilege of having been exposed to learning about the issues means that I should make myself available to share that knowledge with others to use as they deal with the injustices.
"How will you account for the money...?"
One donor agency made their funds available to individuals. It was interesting, and I applied. The rejection letter said that I did not demonstrate enough capacity to manage the money. I am not sure what capacity I need to demonstrate. There is no audit report for individuals. So an interesting challenge for me now, is that in doing the work, that the investments will have to be personal. It is going to be interesting to find ways of identifying ways of educating people, challenging injustice, mobilising , learning about ways of dealing with the injustices which are not going to be expensive.
The other problem with money is also to manage the time and energies so that the ability to earn money is balanced with the time consumed with dealing with the issues.
"What is your training/experience in this area.. ?"
This one is tough - being able to prove that I know what I am talking about, while also being positioned to learn more and to remain informed and relevant.
I have not been academically trained in any of the areas, and the knowledge I have gained was validated by the organisations of which I was a part.
Some social workers had questioned my credentials when dealing with domestic violence and child protection. In rebuilding my CV , I am now documenting any training course which I attended, and every session which I ever delivered and which had been evaluated. There are one or two places to articulate ideas and to write, so that others who know can critique and review. This will take time.. while also managing the career development for the IT work.
The consolidation of the experience is good, as it is now giving me time to reflect on what the learnings have been.
10 years of LGBT rights advocacy seems to have changed the local landscape as it relates to how people deal with sexual orientation and gender identity. The work here is to keep monitoring, to reinforce, to educate and to build on the successes.
However, it is difficult to assess the impact in almost 15 years of working against domestic violence and child abuse. The gender inequalities remain and the violence has intensified. Woman blaming is still common. Children are no safer than they were fifteen years ago, despite the legal provisions. The questions have to be asked and ideas have to be developed to understand what is happening here. I am not sure what I will do as individual beyond doing the same things which I have been doing.
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