Partnership with Hamer women’s group arranged

Got a very packed bus back to Turmi and headed to the police station which would be my home for the next few days. They first suggested I put my tent pretty much in the middle of the road junction. Not so subtle and private! I shifted back a little behind the pile of logs that the police lounge around on most the all day. Headed to meet my first cooperative which was a women’s group set up by a lady called Yashi.

Yashi is Hamer and was born around Turmi. Once very traditional in every way, she got married but realised she felt really trapped by the traditions and wanted something more. One day she decided to change her clothes to make a shift physically and mentally, completed grade 10 of school and although with enormous backlash from her community was determined to really make the change. She started an organisation to empower pastoralist women and show others the light. They now educate women about how to use money, live life and become enterprising. Currently they focus on buying and selling basic products locally. They also make and sell traditional crafts on a small scale. There are 57 members who are all voluntary at the moment until they have enough income to pay salaries. We aim to help them achieve this with ideas and guidance. Their dream is to grow into a big NGO and expand to other locations. They want to be empowered to recruit permanent staff and are very excited about the possibility of working with Big Beyond volunteers emphasising they don’t want to be given money but shown the way to an income. For me I felt like I’d hit gold in a Big Beyond sense and believe I’ve found the perfect place and group for us to start working with. I was starting to think nothing was going on at all yet in this region in terms of local organisations. This is what Big Beyond is supposed to be all about. I love their philosophy and mission and they genuinely want to partner up.

In the evening we went to the posh lodge again, climbed a big rock with great views over bush that reaches far to the horizon and had a sundowner. Became a favourite spot. Spent some time hunting for a house to rent in Turmi. A bit limited but managed it eventually! Gadi went off to find the chairman of a rural village nearby with a school we were looking at working with. I managed to discover that the posh lodge did massages so I had an incredible massage for about 6 quid, including a much needed inclusive shower!! Wow little things. We took the bike for a spin in the afternoon down the road towards Omerate to check it out. I quite like just cruising around on the back of the bike aimlessly. It was basically endless bush with a few pastoralists wandering around but gorgeous scenery in my eyes. This place was really growing on me. It has such a simple but nice feel about it. 

I met the Turmi school head as well who is very keen on the prospect of volunteers integrating there. A really great school actually and loved the innovative teaching materials in the playground - they used stones to illustrates the solar system and world maps - different from the usually bare environments. They’ve got loads of after school clubs going on and are really excited about the involvement of the volunteers. We came up with a few good ideas in our meeting. I also met the administrator for Turmi who really supports our idea too which is always helpful. I visited another school a few kms from Turmi which is totally contrasted to the school in the town. This is very rural and the kids are visibly more traditional. The teachers were so lovely. It’s looks like we’ll also be linking up with them. 

The other major project we’ll also be starting with is in-depth research and mapping of the Hamer region and people to start to fully understand the challenges and opportunities as the basis for new projects. My research so far hasn’t even scratched the surface as far as I’m concerned. And, when I can manage to raise the funds for the Big Beyond vehicle, they want us to start a wildlife monitoring project in the park to help them improve their management plan. I’d hope to invite local students to work with the volunteers on these projects too. So all in all, it’s been a really great start after so much doubt at the start… now I need to inspire volunteers to travel there to help get it off the ground!