Charlotte's Web: Keembe field visit

Last week I went on a field visit to Keembe in the Chibombo district of the Central Province. It was an early start and bumpy road but completely worth it to meet with members of one of the communities where we work.

I started the visit with a meeting with the local MP's constituency representative who was surrounded by copies of the Constitutional Review. It was really interesting to hear how he's seen an increase in community members seeking out information about national policy changes following the change of government last year. He said that people often walk for miles just to pick up a copy. The main focus of the meeting was to learn more about community level engagement in local government level decision making and how Restless Development Zambia's Community Self Assessment tool has been working. The tool is designed to support community members to carry out a needs assessment and use the resulting report to hold local (and national) government to account. The idea being that community members themselves are better placed to identify the most pressing needs rather than us. So we support and guide them through the process rather than tell them what to do. It was great to hear about some of the highlights he'd experienced from including young people in the processes, as well as some of the (mainly cultural and traditional) challenges.

After my 1-2-1 with the MP rep, I met with community members participating in the Self-Assessment group. It was great to see, and hear from, such a wide range of people from local business owners, to school principals and young people themselves. It was also a good opportunity for our new cycle of International Citizen Services (ICS) volunteers to engage with the community. Takes me back to my first experiences of international development in Sri Lanka (ok now I feel old...)