Men's travelling conference.

By Men for Gender Equality Now--Kenya and Zambia

Men for Gender Equality Now is a FEMNET initiative that was mooted in 2001 as a result of a regional man to men consultation in Nairobi. This was in view of FEMNET's recognition that the fight for gender equality necessitated the need to involve boys and girls, men and women.

The initiative has held a number of consultations, conferences, seminars as well as community based campaigns. In 2003, the initiative decided to mark the annual 16 days of activism against violence against women held from November 25 to December 10 in an extraordinary manner: the Men's Traveling Conference (MTC). This involved men traveling by bus from several countries to Malawi. The MTC drew participants from Kenya, Zambia, Ethiopia and Malawi. The MTC culminated in a two-day conference at the Capital Hotel in Lilongwe.

The main objective of the MTC was to send a message to men in the towns and countries passed through that violence against women and the HIV/AIDS pandemic are expensive and destructive; and that men hold the power, responsibility and opportunity to stop them.

In addition to this, the members of the MTC aimed to:

* Increase the number of men involved in the campaign through participatory activities including drama, song, discussions, written materials, media interviews and press coverage;

* Recruit and mobilise male supporters at all levels and sectors including grassroots, media personnel, religious leaders, private sector, the youth, community leaders and the transport industry in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia through the MTC:

* Mobilise the support of the media, transport industry, private sector institutions and the general public to bring messages about combating GBV and the spread of HIV/AIDS pandemic to men in the eight countries.

The MTC involved groups of men from Zambia and Kenya travelling to Lilongwe, Malawi by bus and sensitising the public on the way on issues of GBV and HIV/AIDS. The Ethiopian contingent travelled to Malawi by air.

KENYA

The contingent was flagged off on November 27, 2003 by Alicen Chelaite. the Assistant Minister for Sports, Culture, Gender and Social Services. She gave the participants encouragement with her presence, words of motivation and inspiration and volunteered to register the network. The Minister also invited the network to her Rongai constituency to sensitise her constituents.

The group made several stopovers all over Tanzania in towns such as Arusha, Moshi, Chalinze, Iringa, Mbeya, Songwe and spent as much time as we could singing along to the songs of the professional musicians who had accompanied us. In addition to this, we distributed campaign materials that were part of the multi-media kit (comprised of t-shirts, caps, posters, stickers and flyers) produced by FEMNET and engaged members of the public in discussions on GBV and HIV/AIDS.

The major problem participants had in Tanzania was that although there may be a high literacy level amongst the public, it referred to reading and writing in Swahili and not English, which was the primary language used to communicate in our written material. Most Kenyan participants found it hard to converse in the grammatically perfect Swahili that Tanzanians are used to. The Tanzanians met, however, were friendly and eager to hear about what the group had to say. They asked us to publish material in local languages and in provide them with preventive measures of contracting HIV/AIDS.

The group spent two days in Tanzania and reached Malawi on the third. The Malawian contingent met us at the border and together, we went to a nearby town called Karonga for a sensitisation campaign. We sang songs and danced in a bid to create awareness The Malawian group presented a hilarious play that educated the public on the dangers of GBV and the need to put and end to it.

The next stop was Mzuzu town where we set camp for the night. The morning was spent attending a church service at St Andrews Anglican Church, There we spread our gospel of gender equality and sang a few songs that the congregation danced along to. The pastor emphasised the need to do away with stigmatisation of those living with HIV/AIDS.

ZAMBIA

Ten men from the Men's Network Project of the Zambia National Women's Lobby participated in the Men's Travelling Conference (MTC) to Malawi. The group was made up of individuals from various walks of life and from different professional backgrounds including psychosocial counsellors, teachers, media practitioners and social workers. This diversity gave the group the leverage needed to undertake public awareness campaigns, on gender-based violence (GBV).

On November 29, 2003, departure, we conducted public awareness campaigns In Nyimba district. On November 30, 2003, we conducted public awareness campaigns in Katete and Chipata districts of Eastern Province. In Nyimba, the campaigns were conducted at the markets while in Karate and Chipata, the awareness campaigns were done at bus stations and the markets. On the way back to Zambia, public awareness campaigns were conducted in Chipata, Sinda and Chongwe districts. The target places were chosen as they attract a lot of people from different backgrounds at any given time. To attract people, the we at the bus stations and markets, played drums, sung songs and performed dances. This generated curiosity and helped attract scores of people. We used the Public Address (PA) System to reach out to as many people as possible out the journey to and from Malawi.

During the public awareness campaign, focus was placed on sensitising the general public on:

* The various forms of GBV i.e. wife battery, rape (including marital rape), child defilement etc

* The social, economic and political contributions that women could make in a violence free society;

* The negative ramifications of GBV and HIV/ AIDS on survivors and society as a whole, on women and girls;

* Zambian law relating to GBV.

We left Chipata for Malawi on November 30, 2003 for the main proceedings of the conference that took place at the Le Meridian Capital Hotel, Lilongwe.

December 1-3, 2003. Lilongwe, Malawi

The first day of the conference coincided with World AIDS day and participants had a plenary session to deliberate on issues of GBV and HIV/AIDS. The conference was officially opened by the Malawian Minister for Youth, Sports and Culture, Henderson Mabeti. The participants numbering 70 discussed problems and proposed solutions on GBV and HIV/AIDS. There were contributions from each participating country concerning the trip to Lilongwe, as well as personal testimonies on GBV and HIV/AIDS.

Some of the most touching testimonies were those of Mr Kazisonga and police superintendent Willie Mwaluka. Mr Kazisonga is a person living with HIV/AIDS. He recounted how he got infected and how he has dealt with his status. Determination and faith, he says, is what got him through. He adds that PLWHAs want is love, acceptance and equal opportunity. Mwaluka was a victim of GBV. This came as a surprise as most people do not think of male police officers as possible victims of GBV. Participants were told how hard it was for Mwaluka to live with an abusive spouse who was, coincidentally, also a police officer.

According to the testimony, he lived in the abusive relationship until the day he came home and found his house empty and flooded with water.

A lot of issues came to the fore during the deliberations.

Culture and Tradition

First and foremost, from all the presentations, what was note worthy...