On Thursday this past week we received a visit from Ms. Abeida R. Abdallah the Deputy Principal Secretary for the Ministry of Health, Social Welfare, Elderly, Gender and Children Zanzibar accompanied by her technical team at our headquarter offices in Dar-es-salaam.
Following our last visit to their offices in Zanzibar we were excited to have them see the work we do with the National Child Helpline in Mainland and the efforts we’ve invested in ensuring that women, children and young people have voices and are protected.
Our guests were able to sit down with C-Sema’s Chief Executive Mr. Kiiya JK, and talk about the important services the organisation provides through the National Child Helpline and how they could improve these services at the Childline in Zanzibar which was the core reason for this visit. Ms. Abdallah brought us up to speed on the plans for the new building expected to house the Childline. She has been working diligently with her team in ensuring that we get the needed space, despite the process being slow she believes it has prospect. The government team promised to be more proactive and keep following up on the matter and keep us updated.
Kiiya, JK thanked them for their candor and welcomed them to see the Helpline and our counselors in action. Ms. Abdallah was interested to know how the Helpline operates and particularly how the shifts are arranged to cater to the calls, the statistical portrayal of Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation (VANE) and Violence Against Children (VAC) cases and whether the calls are specified by gender.
Ms. Beatrice Kessy, the acting Helpline Manager – Mainland, with the help from Rosemary Mushi, a Team Leader, gave elaborate explanations on these questions starting with a step-by-step directive of how the cases are received to when they are handled, not leaving out the follow up and referral systems in place as well as the number of counselors per every shift. Mr. Michael Marwa, Director National Child Helpline spoke on the quarterly statistical analysis of the data we receive, how it’s recorded and stored thanks to our Technical Analyst and IT experts.
“It is important to understand that the Helpline does more than handle Violence Against Children cases, it is a resource that deals with all matters concerning children and gives the government a chance to communicate directly with parents and caregivers.” Kiiya, JK
Later on, we had a short meeting to wind up the visit. Ms. Abdallah expressed how much she would like to apply what they had learnt here to the Childline in Zanzibar for she believed that we are all working towards one goal and that is making sure that children are protected through the Helpline making it crucial to have a proper working space that is inclusive for all in order to keep expounding the services we render both here and Zanzibar.
“We need to keep collaborating and working together, motivating one another to help those who need us” Ms. Abdallah
With that, it is safe to say that the collaboration between C-Sema and the government of Zanzibar will continue to bear fruit as we continue to work together in ascertaining the Helpline services keep being top tier for the benefit of the children of Tanzania and all her citizens.
This story was written by C-Sema’s Media Team.
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