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Textile expert required in Tanzania

April 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment

 

The  OxfordHR is helping the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, an independent private foundation, to find an Executive Director, Textile Development Unit  based in Dar Es Salam Tanzania

 

The Position

This is a specialist role for a senior Textile expert to establish a Textile Development Unit within the Tanzanian Ministry of Industry as a professional task force to stimulate the textile industry. It requires substantial work experience and knowledge of both textile and garment technologies and markets. The successful candidate will have a strong track record in international project management, preferably with some experience in Africa, and excellent interpersonal, analytical and communication skills.

Do you know anyone who might fit the bill and would like to spend a year or two in Tanzania? Gatsby have an excellent remuneration package.

There is also an opening for a Cotton Programme Manager, which does not require a textile background. The closing date for receipt of applications is Sunday 22nd April 2012.

If you are interested in either those positions  Full details can be found on http://www.oxfordhr.co.uk/index.php?pg=40

or Contact

Karen Twining
Senior Consultant
Oxford HR Consultants Ltd
The Old Music Hall, 106-108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JE
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Ugandan and American girls party via twitter

February 14, 2012 By 2 Comments

The year has barely got under way and in my world this promises to be the biggest Social Media story of the year. I was back in Uganda last month for the Villages in Action conference. This is where the rest of the world gets to listen to people who are never invited to conversations about them nor listened to.
In its second year now the organisers decided to shake thinks up by have having a children’s party the night before the main conference.

In Washington DC the @Grilup a UN Foundation initiative uniting girls to change the world was responsible for the American girls whilst we were responsible for the girls on the ground in Kikube Masindi NW Uganda girls aged between 12-15.

The Village of Kikube is rural with no electricity or phone lines and as such the girls here are far removed from the world of their peers in DC and were really excited about finding out about their lives. Before the tweet up the girls got together for a brainstorm session. They wrote down all the questions they would put to the American girls and it was fascinating to listen in from the sidelines. You could tell that there was a genuine interest in the lives of girls their age on different continent. The questions ranged from
• The weather
• Fashion
• School
• Authority
• Relationships with parents
• Food
• Culture
I was a little late for the party as technology failed me, the Orange dongle would not work but luckily for me most of the adults at the party were geeks! So one of theme advised me to take the sim card out and insert it in my iPhone instead. At this stage it transpired that I did not the pin to remove the sim in the iPhone and my earrings had to come to my rescue!

Having done all that and logged in the party got underway. We each had a girl or two and we helped them through the process by tweeting their questions and answers and at some point Ivanka Trump joined the conversation.

There was so much energy under that tree as night set in that I can’t tell you what that felt like.

The girls were surprised to learn that at some level they grapple with the same challenges that come with being a teenager regardless of what part of the world you live in.

I would love to see more of this type of exchange that allows children to hear first hand the stories of their peers from all corners of the world. If you would like to see the photos of the girls that were at the party head over to the Villages in Action Facebook page

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African Women’s reproductive health-she died for lack of £66

September 22, 2011 By 2 Comments

Doreen

A few days ago I came across  a story in the Daily Monitor a Uganda daily that has left me shaken to the core.

The story goes that Cecilia a teacher died in labour because she , her family and friends not raise the hospital amounting to £66.  According to the Daily Monitor Cecilia had been warned to expect a large baby and when the day came she made her way to hospital and was there by 6am but was  denied treatment until she settled the hospital bill. Her husband went out in the village to sell whatever possessions he could but this was not enough to save his wife and baby as she eventually died at 8PM that day. You can read the rest of the story here

If you are regular here you will recall a post about my late cousin Doreen who died earlier this year having developed a complication following a miscarriage. In that post I wondered what hope if any there was for African women when it comes to maternal health.  Doreen and Cecilia’s stories  do not answer that question. Unlike Cecilia, Doreen had a good job and so did her husband and they could afford to pay for decent maternal health care but that did not save her life.

I therefore ask the question again

What hope is there for African women when it comes to  reproductive health?

Goal Number 5 of the  the Millennium Development Goals is all about Reproductive health/maternal health but how is this really helping women.

Are African leaders even taking notice of this?   Stupid question I know given how things work in some African countries.

Here in the UK most politicians use the National Health Service so generally know how things are and my assumption here is that they are more likely to fight for service improvement.

On the other hand in most African countries politicians and those with money are unlikely to use a public hospital and chances are they will fly out to a country they believe offers good or better health care than their own. My assumption here is because they have no experience of those services they are unlikely to call for improvements. They do not know or have no experience of how  things could be improved!

Where does that leave the Doreens and Cecilias of this world?

Should a woman and her baby die because she cannot   pay a mere £66?

Over at The Guardian Poverty Blog there is an ongoing discussion on gender equality.

Can we realistically achieve Gender equality when we are yet to resolve issues of access to decent maternal health care?

Over to you folk, please do share your thoughts on this matter

 

 

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Filed Under: HEALTH, Latest Tagged With: , , , , , , ,