THE work of a charity linking Brecon and Molo, a town and sub-county in the Rift Valley of Kenya, was recognised on the evening of January 29, during a national award ceremony at the National Museum in Cardiff. The award recognised the Link’s work to empower and enable disabled people in Molo.
The Brecon Molo Community Partnership (BMCP) took first prize in the Inclusion category. This was in recognition of 10 years work with disabled people. This work has included supporting disability self help groups, training and developing the capacity of therapists, health workers and teachers, as well as promoting civil rights for disabled people. The ceremony was hosted by Hub Cymru Africa, an organisation funded by the Welsh Government to develop Links between Wales and Africa. The event was to celebrate the achievements of the sector. Glyn Thomas, the chair of the BMCP Trustee Committee, said ìeveryone associated with the charity are thrilled to have received this recognition.” Bishop James Karanja, chair of the Kenyan partner organisation the Molo Brecon Self Help Group, said ìthis is great news and we say to you and everyone a big thank you.î
Since the BMCP began in 2008, the charityís linking work with the people of Molo has included enabling a womenís group to sell their jewellery in Wales, training in and developing maternal support, assisting with public health and paediatric service development, as well as pairing schools and supporting a street children project. The Link also has plans to develop biogas technology and to forge agricultural connections, particularly related to sheep rearing. However, this award recognised a 10 year focus on disabled people and their families, which dates back to the very beginning of the Link between the BMCP and the Molo Brecon Self Help Group.
Paul Lindoewood, chair of the BMCPís Disability Group, remembers how, in 2009 and 2011, a group from Embu, a town and county to the south of Mount Kenya, came to Molo to share the ideals of Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR). The group, including disabled people, talked to community leaders and disability activists in Molo about how their lives had been changed by, not only improved services but also, self help groups and a positive self image. From these foundations, the people of Molo have been able to engage with their disabled communities.
The role of training has been ongoing within the Linkís disability work. The most recent undertakings started in May 2016, when, led by Dr Rachel Lindoewood, BMCP secured funding from the Tropical Health Education Trust (THET). This enabled Powys Health Board therapists, and a community nurse, to train Community Health Workers in the Molo area to support and signpost disabled children to appropriate services. This programme resulted in the BMCP Disability Group working with its Health Group, which is called the Powys Molo Health Link.
The community awareness, created by the Community Health initiative, led on to further training programmes. The first was called Getting to Know Cerebral Palsy. This was focused around the needs of parents of disabled children, working together with community health workers, to raise awareness and ability to support such children. The second developed Disability Community Workers and groups amongst disabled adults of Molo and surrounding areas. This was designed to become a catalyst through which disabled people can assert their rights.
As part of these training programmes it became clear that a prime need of disabled people, and their families, was to generate income. With this in mind, BMCP started discussions with a UK based organisation, Bees Abroad. This culminated in a scoping visit, in November 2017, to look at the potential of developing entrepreneurship in this area.
The work of BMCP has not only benefitted people in Molo but has also provided invaluable experiences for both professional and lay people from the Brecon area. Short - ie seven to 10 days - and, occasionally, medium to long term, volunteering opportunities have been arranged for people with appropriate skills. Health workers learn new techniques and expertise from their Kenyan colleagues; disabled people are able to make new relationships and share experiences; school pupils develop a better understanding of community and global citizenship.
In 2013 Hilary, a retired Speech and Language Therapist spent three months in Molo. Her main role was to train teachers regarding children with various communication disabilities.†She also introduced the members of the Molo community to Appropriate Paper-based Technology (APT). This is a technique to make low cost disability equipment from cardboard and other locally available materials. Hilary describes this visit as life changing and challenging because of the many misconceptions which exist concerning disability and disabled people. She has returned on several occasions since then.
The next disability initiative, planned for Molo in March 2018, is a series of community screenings of the film Lisilojulikana (The Unknown).†It is a drama film shot in Nyahururu, Kenya, and tells a story about a teenage girl with cerebral palsy. She has to go and live with her aunt and uncle because her father has recently died. It shows how she deals with the stigma and discrimination in her new community. Made by Purple Fields Productions, based in Somerset, the film is designed to raise awareness of the needs of, particularly, people with Cerebral Palsy and their lived experience in Kenya.
Everyone who works for BMCP, in both Wales and Kenya, is a volunteer. The charity does not have a lot of money and our ethos is to work in partnership with our colleagues in Kenya, with both parties sharing, and learning from, each otherís ideas and experiences, as we try to find ways to overcome the problems being faced. During the 10 years of the Linkís existence, people from Molo have been able to visit us in Brecon as well as vice versa. Possibly, one reason for our enthusiasm to include the disabled community in our work in Molo is the involvement of disabled people in Brecon. It provides a common identity which can run through all Brecon Molo activities.
If you would like to get more information about the BMCP, disability work or otherwise, then please contact Paul Lindoewood on email [email protected]. Alternatively, if you are interested in looking at and/or buying some of the jewellery, made by the womenís group in Molo, BMCP run regular stalls in the Brecon Farmers Market on the second Saturday of each month. The jewellery is also sometimes available on the Fairtrade stall at the Llangynidr Farmers Market on the last Sunday of each month. If you see us, please say hello.