Events
Zomba Support Visit
(Zomba, South Malawi)Details
Introduction
NILGA is organising a working visit to Zomba in South Malawi in October 2006 for 10 days, as part of Year of Women in Local Government. The small team of women from local government here will be led by Cllr Helen Quigley Vice President of NILGA and Heather Moorhead. The aim of the working visit is to strengthen and encourage the role of women in local government both in Northern Ireland and support work in the developing world.
Location
Zomba, a former capital of Malawi, is 50 miles from Blantyre, the main industrial town in the south of Malawi. It has a population of around 100,000. Malawi has three overlapping crises; poverty, AIDS and food shortages and is the 5th poorest country in the world with around 90% unemployment. 30% of the population is HIV positive. The average life expectancy has fallen from 50 to 37 years in the last 10 years. Despite these realities Malawi is known as 'the warm heart of Africa' and the people remain both friendly and practical.
You can see further information about Zomba on the Coleraine Borough Council website by clicking here
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Aims
The object of the visit is to support the residents of Zomba as they deal with their own issues within the municipality as well as helping to provide developmental opportunties for women in local government there. Participants on the visit will receive an orientation to life in Zomba as well as having the opportunity to visit local sites and a game park. However, the main focus of the visit will be to support local activities and projects within the municipality. Examples of key ongoing projects include;
- IT and communications
- Health
- Community Development
- Arts and Craft
- Business Development
- Waste management
- Governance
Practical Arrangements and Funding
The cost of the visit will be £1,150 for each person, comprising return flight, travel insurance, accomodation and incidentals. Accomodation will be in the Hotel Masongola. All participants are expected to raise the finance for their visit through sponsorship and other fundraising activities, Click here for details on the Quiz Night. Any monies raised over the cost of the project can be used to support local projects.
Applicants are required to be in good health and have a letter of support from their Council and confirmation that Council's employer's liability insurance will cover the visit. Applicants will need to organise their own time schedule, however, as a guide, staff will be expected to use some of their leave and be given 5 days special leave by their council.
A deposit of £500 must be paid to NILGA before the end of July, and the balance by the end of September.
Expression of Interest
Self-nominated expressions of interest, in the form of a letter, shoul dbe made to NILGA by the 5 May 2006 together with a letter of support from the Council. The letter should be no more than 2 sides of A4 listing:
- Your skills and experience
- What you hope to contribute
- What you would hope to gain
- How you would plan to raise the finance
- Your health status
Please mark FAO Heather Moorehead. Addressed to Philip House, 123 York St, Belfast BT9 6ES.
As numbers are limited we will endeavour to reserve one place for each political party, and 5 places for staff. Please note a panel will be established to select the team. The key criteria used will be to select a diverse team of individuals whose skills will be most applicable to projects in Zomba.
An initial briefing session will be provided in May for those persons short listed, in order to provide them a greater understanding of life in Zomba and help launch their fundraising activities.
