Civic Exchanges
Council employees from Bristol have offered capacity building workshops in Beira, and some functionaries have visited Bristol to observe the working environment Over the years, several of Beira’s mayors have visited Bristol. Mayor Daviz Simango attended the 2018 Annual Summit of the Global Parliament of Mayors in Bristol, and received the Benjamin Barber Global Cities Award. Bristol City Council and Bristol Link with Beira hold events in Bristol to celebrate Beira's "Dia da Cidade" on 20th August.
Young People
Schools in Bristol have been linked with schools in Beira and have
benefited from teacher exchanges. Children from both cities are encouraged to
understand the lives of each other through projects supported by the BLB
BLB and ADEL have facilitated volunteer placements, in Bristol and in
Beira, in particular students from the Department of Hispanic Latin American Studies
at the University of Bristol.
Women & Girls Promoting Change
This project to strengthen the capacity of vulnerable women, with funding from the Hilden Trust, and facilitated by BLB, was implemented by AMPDC (Associação de Mulheres para a Promoção do Desenvolvimento Comunitário) in Manga. After introducing the project to local leaders. AMPDC created and trained a local Women’s Legal Committee on Gender Based Violence (GBV), Psychosocial Support, Legal Processes, Human Development, Associativism and Leadership and set up a Help-desk AMPDC held awareness sessions on GBV in public spaces, and the Committee reinforced the information to women and girls, house-to-house. During this work, AMPDC identified specific cases of GBV and provided counselling: resolving some cases and escalating others to the legal process. The women in the Committee are now seen as “local peacemakers”. AMPDC also held classes for vulnerable women. The mothers in the literacy class said they had never dreamed that they would be sitting in a classroom learning to read and write, and are happy that they can now sign documents (especially ID cards), read phone messages and more; adding “no-one will be able to deceive us now”. One of the women in the sewing class said “I am passionate about sewing and it makes me happy, because I hope that if and when I get a sewing machine ....... and have an opportunity to support my children.” The savings group have been paying in £1.50 each per fortnight and are now starting to have enough money to pay interest and lend out to members who want to start small businesses.
Knowledge of Citizenship & Participation
ADS (Associação para o Desenvolvimento Social), financed by the Coles-Medlock Foundation and facilitated by BLB, have engaged young women as mentors, and arranged workshops to examine issues, generate themes and take part in panel presentations. The facilitator encourages the girls to have fun while they discuss serious issues in a sociable setting. Themes discussed included human rights, political participation, gender-based violence (including electoral violence), early and unwanted pregnancy, sexual and reproductive health, sexual harassment, forced and premature marriage, sexually transmitted infections, and economic empowerment of young women. These workshops inspired the young women to further research, speaking out and activism. The young women are now spreading the word informally in their neighbourhoods and signposting helpdesks. Through additional sessions at girls’ clubs, many girls can use the information to make responsible decisions regarding their lifestyles and actions. One girl expressed her appreciation of the programme: “Because I didn't know what to do, I had to go to someone ……. we went to court and won. This happened because I didn't stay silent…….. Thank you.”
