MOVING ON TO A WEB SITE!

 Not before time you might say we are getting our act together and using part of our Scottish Government grant and the expertise of our new Trustee Scott to get a web site up and running-SOON!
So we may not use the blog for while as we see how the website goes. Thanks for your interest. The work goes on!

2019 - THE FIRST 8 MONTHS.

In the first 3 months of the year we completed work on our first Capacity Building programme. The report on this was submitted to our funders, the Scottish Government, in April. The new ZTA Strategic Plan 2018-2022 was completed and launched in February 2019. It sets out our aims and direction for the next 4 years.  It is the culmination of all our capacity building work in 2018-19 and was produced thanks to our grant funding from the Scottish Government.

Liz Hall and Simon Willoughby-Booth made a visit to Zambia,  in April/May 2019. Liz delivered a very successful workshop for teachers, psychologists and others who work with children. The training workshops were on trauma recovery approaches for children and young people and were held at UTH. Twenty two people completed the training and, based on the very positive feedback we received, this may be a future strand of work for ZTA. Liz's visit was funded in part by MAITS,  (Multi Agency International Training and Support). Simon was able to with some key  people in Zambia and with the Zambian trainers group, ZART,  to support and plan the next phase of the group's development.

We held our AGM on 28th May and said goodbye to Colin Boxer, who is stepping down after 2 years as a trustee. His input has been invaluable and he has helped to guide ZTA through a period of development and growth. Two new trustees have joined the Board - Scott Renton and Rachel Bruce and Lesley Hill has re-joined the board. We are looking forward to working with them. Our trustees are now Joanna Pearce, Vera Steele, Simon Willoughby-Booth, Scott, Rachel and Lesley. Joanna gave the Chair's report on our work over the last year and our successful application for a second Capacity Building grant from the Scottish Government for 2019/20.

Margarate Munakampe, presented a poster titled "The Zambia Therapeutic Art Course: Improving Mental health in Zambia" at the Zambia Quality Improvement Conference, held in Lusaka from 4-6 June. Margarate is our link person with SCHEME at University of Zambia. Kestone Lyambai, one of the ZART trainers and a lecturer at UNZA, was also able to attend the poster session and the conference. This was the first time we have been represented at this conference and we are delighted to get wider recognition for our work.

Joanna presented ZTA's work at the International Art Therapy Practice/Research Conference, 11-13 July in London, England. She was part of a joint presentation, Art Therapy in Africa: Now and Next, with four other presenters who described very varied approaches to developing work in sub-Saharan Africa. The panel session was well attended and was our first opportunity to present the work in Zambia to an international audience of art therapists.

We began this year's Capacity Building work during the visit to Zambia in April, focussing on developing training projects for the ZART trainers in response to their requests and on developing the fundraising and digital resources of the charity in Scotland. We have established links with Challenges Worldwide who are a social enterprise training NGO, based in Lusaka, and with the Psychology Association of Zambia. We plan to set up training packages with their involvement.

Joanna will be making the next visit to Zambia and will be there from 29th August to 30th September. She will taking forward the training projects, linking to a wide range of key Zambian people and organisations and setting up a new Therapeutic Art training in Livingstone. It will be a very busy month and we have lots to do to achieve our aims in this year's capacity building work!

OFF AGAIN

Some of the evaluation responses

Quite sad to be leaving as the purple haze of the jacarandas is just starting to show and I think they are one of the most wonderful sights you can see anywhere. But time is up and the scheduled trainings all completed. The RMHN students were a lively crowd and entered enthusiastically into the training. The 3 Trainers Trainers also gave it their all so I had a very easy time by enlarge. I managed to catch up with a lot of the senior staff at Chainama to get their views on how the practice of TA might be supported within the Hospital and got some interesting ideas which will be passed on.

2 of the latest Trainers getting their certificates

We also managed another meeting of the ZTrainers group though not everyone was able at short notice but the Group is strengthening its roles and taking on some of the negotiating to be done with places where training might be wanted. It is great to have 7 already to go. So we are well into our Capacity Building year and making good progress!
Lesley plans to be out here in November to work alongside Margarate to build on the contacts already made.

BACK AGAIN and it is warmer!

an Italian meal for Paola's core group

After a fascinating visit to Dar es Salaam I am back to Lusaka to undertake 2 training blocks for the RMHNs from Chainama College. The plan is to use this opportunity for 3 more ZTrainers to complete their certification. At Muhumbili
in Dar I was lucky enough to be hosted by Paola Luzzatto and her husband Lucio who are based there at the moment. Paola is a very experienced art therapist and it was fascinating to be allowed to see her training programme there in Open Studio Practice.

I was able to present our work and to run a couple of workshops. There is a lot of really interesting work going on. I did mange a weekend on the wonderful Zanzibar and then to complete the trip came back on the Tazara train. An amazing journey but unfortunately this time instead of 2 days it took 3! Meaning I had to rapidly appeal to my colleagues here to do some timetable shifting! Today is a holiday so I am just gearing myself up for the next few weeks.

Back home my colleagues have been meeting to feedback from the July trip, to catch up on where the Capacity Building programme has got to and to coordinate the plans for the next stage. A lot of work has been done with the help of our Alliance Mentor to develop our Strategic plan and clarify our roles. 

WINTER IN ZAMBIA

I have given this post that title as I am sitting here at Gossner wearing almost every garment I possess! We knew it would be colder but were not prepared for quite such a wintery feel. Thick walking socks, shawls the lot have come into use! Anyway enough complaints - it has been a short but eventful trip as usual and we have been very lax at posting anything I am afraid. We have been three this time, Simon, myself and a new Scottish based Art Therapist, Liz Hall.

"Sitting here in the garden sketching the cacti, and reflecting on my first trip to Zambia, I am struck by how well they capture the experience ~ beautiful, thorny, difficult to grasp, and yet full of life affirming substance. The paradox of these aspects all coexisting at once is perhaps what life always is, but in this unfamiliar place they become illuminated in their stark opposition and challenging extremes. During my time here I have given two presentations and a puppet workshop on art therapy and child trauma abuse, and visited mental health facilities, nursery, primary and special schools to gain a broad introduction to childrens' services here. It has been a stimulating, thought provoking time, both professionally and personally, and I am thinking about the possibilities for my next visit already." Liz.
Liz is going to be a valuable addition to the Scottish based ZTA group,

This trip has been the first of our year of Capacity Building, based on a Scottish Government Small Grant so the emphasis has been divided between completing Trainings and Training of Trainers  and starting the consultations with various stakeholders to look at how we build here in Zambia the capacity to integrate, coordinate and develop the training and practice of Therapeutic Art.  Margarate Munakampe is helping us with this aspect of the programme. There have been 2 training programmes, one at Chainama Hospital for UNZA nurse students on Mental Health placement, this was delivered by Kestone Lyumbai to complete his certification as a trainer and the other in Ndola general  Hospital, Psychiatric Department for unit staff. Here Susan Ntengwe completed her Training so there are now four certificated Zambian trainers. The Scottish Grant sadly does not cover everything we need to do and it was owing to a Grant from the Schehallion Group that we were able both to bring Liz over here and fund the training in Ndola so Susan could complete Stage 2. Though the Hospital there provided funding for materials and refreshments which was a great help. We have had a good range of responses to the training from the different trainee groups with a lot of emphasis on the new experience of what simple  art making can achieve and how sharing this with patients has challenged assumptions and changed attitudes.

We held an gathering last evening of all the Zambian Trainers. It was really great event with a wonderful meal cooked in the Gossner kitchen by Miriam with help from Felisitus and Patricia. We had time to enjoy ourselves and have useful discussions about the way forward and what needs to be prioritised. It is a powerful team and they are going to play an important part in the next stage of the programme.

Simon and Liz have now left and I am going to Dar es Salaam to find out more about what is happening there and then returning in August to continue the Training programme and the development work.

Back to Scotland

It feels like such a short visit for me at least, Lesley is still in Zambia with more meetings for the M and E and planning but I am back to the sleet and snow of a Scottish Easter.

Evaluation exercise

The last week was again full. The training at UTH was completed with interesting points coming out of the evaluation and comments on the training. All those who completed the course passed
and the certificates have been
presented. I certainly learn so much each time I am involved in the training.

congratulations!

Monica in delivering this training is now recognised as a Trainer in Therapeutic Art alongside Wala who completed in November last year. There are definite plans now to fit in the delayed training in Ndola where Susan can complete her training. This is to be in  our June/July visit. We have been in discussion with UNZA nurse training and Chainama College and the plan is to be able to programme training for some of theses students. We have to recognise our limits as a small group of trainers with a very limited budget and plan to make best use of our resources. We have got funding to include a new UK trainer in our next trip so we are hopeful that our team will grow enabling us to get more Trainers into the system.
We are now also able to confirm that we have been awarded a Scottish Government Small Grant for 2018/19 which is wonderful and we are grateful for their belief in what we are trying to achieve. The purpose of this award is to strengthen our capacity as an organisation and also to support the coordination and sustaining of the training and practice of Therapeutic Art in Zambia so it can develop as an integral part of the Mental Health system.

lunch break

On 26th of March we were pleased to be able to arrange a meeting of some of the major stakeholders who have supported the programme and begin the discussion of how we proceed. It was good to get feedback and learn more about the developing Mental Health systems as well as the training schedules of the Institutions/Universities. The meeting was called at short notice and we were grateful that so many people were able to make time to attend; the plan is to hold a further meeting in July to build on these discussions. We need to spend time finding out a lot more from all the experts!

FIRST FULL WEEK

We gather it is still snowing back home. We watched the rugby match at Twickenham yesterday with an Irish friend and as we sat in the warmth listening to a live band it was strange to watch the snow falling and see everyone huddled in their anoraks! Anyway to more serious matters. The week has been full as always. Joanna has been delivering the training at UTH  alongside Monica who is completing her Training as a trainer. It is a large and varied group and as we are delivering it in a new structure over 2 weeks instead of 6 there are always adaptations to be made along the way. The group are very involved and the responses have been interesting and thought provoking.

Lesley's focus has been on the M and E, organising follow up interviews with the trainee trainers and contacting MHUNZA about the experiences of those involved in Taster Session last year. Another focus for both of us has been exploring the opportunities for further training venues, this is an important part of our ongoing Training of Trainers programme as well as of embedding the practice. We have also had a lot of support in arranging a stakeholders meeting where we can feedback and start the process of exploring the issues around sustainability. The plan is to follow this up later in June/July with a full stakeholders meeting to present the results of our Feasibility Study in full and move on with the next step.
To our friends in the UK we offer sympathy about the return of winter and please get rid of it quickly!