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FOR close to five years, the
Montgomery Recreational Centre in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe was illegally used as a
beer hall. The local authority had closed it and for close to two years, it was
abandoned. The Creative Centre for Communication and Development (CCCD) saw how
the recreation centre was strategically positioned as an easily accessible meeting
space for women and girls in Queens Park, Kingsdale and Woodville.
“We had been operating from home
[Queens Park West] for close to two years. During this period we were working
and learning with the community to understand the needs and concerns of women
and girls in relation to advancing their communication rights,” says Gertrude
Pswarayi, the Director for the CCCD.
Pswarayi says her organisation attended
the 2011 Chief Executive Officers (CEO) Forum in Kenya that was funded by the AWDF.
It is at the forum that she learned about the AWDF’s capacity building
programme and the aim of the CEO Forum which is framed on providing a unique space
for collective thinking and strategizing.
“We approached the AWDF with a
proposal for organisational development because we felt that we were ready to
scale up our work. We realized that we could only contribute to long term social
change if our organisation had a solid base. We wanted to develop our strategy for
the next three years, establish an office and strengthen staff capacity to
deliver quality services to the women and girls that we serve,” explains
Pswarayi.
CCCD received US$20, 000 from the
AWDF as a small grant for organisational development. The organisation got permission
from the residents’ association to use Montgomery Recreational Centre as their
new home.
“When we were first shown the
space we now call ‘home’ almost everything was in bad shape but we were
confident that we could transform the place into beautiful offices where people
could feel safe, comfortable and welcome,” says Pswarayi.
Pswarayi says her team
immediately engaged six volunteers from the community. She says after a week of
hard work, the place was restored. Within a few days, scores of marginalized
and vulnerable women, girls and some few men visited the new offices and
requested CCCD to work with them.
The former beer hall is now a
thriving community communication centre. The funding from the AWDF has seen us purchasing
two laptops, office desks and chairs. We also established a telephone line and
we have internet connection. This means that we no longer have to travel to
town daily to access the internet. Our work has been made much easier as people
feel free to approach us at our new offices as compared to working from home.
The equipment and improved communication system is contributing enormously to improved
communication with our stakeholders who use telephone, skype, emails and social
media. We are also able to research and use the internet for mobilizing additional
resources for our programmes.
“There is so much good that has
come as a result of the grant that we received from the AWDF. For some it may
appear as a small grant but to us every dollar invested in our work counts. We
know this is true because we are already beginning to yield positive results,”
says Pswarayi.
