No Means No / Ujamaa

I've not felt the need to post in quite a while with Lily doing such a brilliant job of keeping you all up to date on our adventures but I did want to share a bit of what I've been working on here. I finished up my original 6 month contract with UNICEF last month when we launched the Violence Against Children Survey report and response plan. I'm now off for a few weeks, and assuming no unexpected complications, I'll be extending my contract for 9 months starting sometime around the end of April.

For my new contract, I will be mostly working on implementing the VAC (violence against children) response plan. One of the main programs we are really pushing here in Malawi has been making the rounds on social media for their amazing work in Nairobi.

First there was this reuters story about a Kenyan boy saving a girl from being raped. And now it's made its way to upworthy.

No Means No started as a girls empowerment and self-defense program and has now begun training adolescent boys as well. The results have been amazing ... and just as promising for me, verifiable, which unfortunately I've learned is quite rare in this line of work. There isn't always a lot of evidence evaluating the actual impact of the types of programs we are recommending to reduce the prevalence of violence against children and women, meaning at times I feel like we're working blind-folded. No Means No / Ujamaa is the shining exception -- they've done extensive research on its impact in Kenya and the results have been astounding -- published papers showing a 50%, 60%, 70% reduction in girls being sexually assaulted, etc.

Anyway, we've now brought them to Malawi and they are training thousands of children across the country. And assuming all goes according to plan, I will be proudly working a lot with them in the next 9 months.

Apologies for the lack of pictures / surplus of text. I suggest you read this post alongside the glorious picture below of me dancing with the Kenyans ... plus one Australian (my awesome boss Brendan), one Italian (our good friend Giulia), and one Lily ... at Norman's going away party last week. This was at the house where all of the people really implementing Ujamaa are living (nearly all came down from Kenya after working with Ujamaa there). It was a great time, minus the mishap where I embarrassed all Mzungus (white people) trying to open a beer sans bottle opener (I have the scars to remind me of my shame). Along with their company, I found I really enjoy the Kenyan dancing style -- basically get in a circle and follow the leader (i.e. copy what Norman is doing). ... And in my case, avoid at all costs getting pulled into the middle of the circle for a solo performance.

Will post again in 6 months! Miss you all.