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In this season of SDGs Explained, we're exploring incredible projects under the leadership of
Mandela Washington Fellowship recipients across the African continent.
I'm your host, Cindy Burleson, chairman of the International Siblings Society.
Today we sit in the studio of the Innovation Center in Reno, Nevada.
Our guest comes all the way from Zambia.
Please welcome Priscilla Bander, the founder of the Center for Research, Advocacy, and
Consultancy on Gender-Based Violence in Zambia.
Priscilla, it's a pleasure to have you here.
Thank you.
It's an honor to be on the show.
So, Priscilla, your work is truly inspiring.
You're not only running an organization focused on gender-based violence, but you're also
pursuing an MBA and working with the Northern Nevada International Center.
Could you tell us a bit about your journey and what led you to champion sustainable development
goals?
Absolutely.
Thank you, Cindy, for the opportunity to be on this amazing, amazing podcast.
You guys are doing a great job, and it's just amazing to share your deep passion for addressing
the pressing issues that the world is facing.
And my passion for addressing women and girls in my community inspired us to start our work
with the center.
And now, just to provide context to where I come from.
I come from Zambia, and in Zambia, women mostly are marginalized.
And I guess these are stories that we hear pretty much all over the world.
And in Zambia, the marginalization is mostly experienced by women.
And now, women are the majority, and they share the unbanked population in the country.
And the reason why women have been marginalized for so long, I explained by the many factors
such as lack of finances, basic budgets, and a huge scale of personal responsibilities
that are placed on girls.
And now, these factors pretty much contribute to women not having the opportunities to
access resources such as education, economic empowerment.
Now, our work, my work in the center is not just usual work.
For me, this is a lifestyle.
I personally experienced discrimination as a girl growing up.
Now, I grew up in a time that taking a girl child to school was seen as a shame, as a
curse.
So, I was lucky that my parents really valued education, and they really did everything
they could despite the financial challenges that they experienced at that time to take
me and my siblings at school.
And now, I talked about how being a girl child was seen as a curse, and parents who had girl
children being seen as less than.
But at that moment, in a family of seven, where five of those children were girls, my
parents really did everything they could to provide an opportunity for me to go to school.
And now, in Zambia, currently, according to the research that was done by the recent demographic
health survey, it showed that we stand at 55% literacy.
And what that says is that most of our population do not really have access to education, and
women are a significant part of that population.
And this really inspired me to start the work with the center to make sure that women have
all the resources and opportunities for them to be empowered, to get an education, and
to ultimately get rid of the violence that is taking place in our communities, which
is exacerbated by these factors.
And now, most of these women that I've talked about that do not have access to employment,
for example, do not have access to education, most of these you will find that they find
themselves employed in informal settings, such as maybe just selling foods door to door
or at the market.
And we have seen in the recent past, especially after COVID, that the rates of teenage pregnancy,
HIV infection, and gender-based violence have been on the rise.
And so we were challenged due to these ongoing activities or challenges in the country to
start our work at the center.
And what we basically focus on is empowering a woman, a girl, to make sure that they have
opportunities and resources that they need to thrive.
And our work mostly, we work with young girls and young women in Zambia who are facing many
challenges when it comes to gender-based violence.
And our work speaks to the urgent need that we thought needed comprehensive solutions.
And so you will see that in our work, we provide advocacy, we provide consultancy, and we do
research that informs policy to enable governments, not only in our country, but many other platforms
that we find ourselves in, to have informed information that can speak to the barriers
and challenges that we're currently facing as a country.
And so in short, that's basically my passion or what speaks to the reason why we even started
this project.
Now, a little bit about myself, I have a bachelor's degree in education, that was my foundational
degree.
And I went on to do my master's in public health, which led me to work with various
agencies that work in HIV management, dealing with women's issues and girls' issues, menstrual
hygiene, mental health.
And so that work and experience has significantly also contributed to my passion in dealing
with issues in the community concerning health of young girls, education of young girls,
and also economic empowerment.
Now, I'm currently pursuing an MBA with the University of Nevada, Reno.
And my hope with this degree is that it will help me attend the necessary skills to manage
and expand our organization more effectively.
Additionally, I'm also currently working with the Northern Nevada International Center,
their refugee placement and resettlement program.
And what this program really focuses on is rehabilitating and restoring the lives of
many refugees that flock in the United States from their war-torn countries to provide employment
services, for example, housing, and just a decent life.
So that also speaks to my passion to bring positive impact in the lives of many people.
So basically right now, that's what I'm currently working on.
Well, that's absolutely remarkable, Priscilla.
Let's dive a little bit deeper into the specific sustainable development goals you're championing.
Sustainable development goal number three focuses on ensuring healthy lives and promoting
well-being for all ages.
How does your organization contribute to this goal, especially concerning gender-based violence?
Thank you, Cindy.
So at the Center for Research Advocacy and Consultancy, we recognize that gender-based
violence has severe physical and mental health implications.
And so we provide holistic support services to survivors of our violence.
We help with referrals to medical care, counseling, and psychosocial support.
And by addressing these health needs of survivors, we contribute to SDG 3, whose objective is
ensuring the well-being for all.
We also conduct research to better understand the underlying causes of gender-based violence
and use this knowledge to advocate for the policies that I already mentioned in the beginning
that prioritize prevention and support services.
Well, it's commendable how you're working towards SDG 3 by providing comprehensive support
to survivors.
Moving on to SDG 4, which focuses on quality education, how does your organization contribute
to this goal?
Now, I have already shared my story with regards to how a regular African girl has experiences
with education.
And so over the years, we have been working to ensure that we provide more opportunities
for girls and young women to have access to this education.
Because as we all know, education is the greatest equalizer.
It doesn't matter where you come from.
If you're empowered with that too, it is an opportunity that you can use to make yourself
more economically independent, make yourself more valuable for your community.
And so because we believe that education is a vital tool in preventing and addressing
database violence, we conduct awareness campaigns and educational workshops in schools, communities,
workplaces to promote gender equality, respectful relationships, and the importance of consent.
Our program aims to empower individuals with knowledge and skills to challenge harmful
social norms and build a society that respects and values everybody.
Now Cindy, we have worked on a number of projects, such as the Kumwezi project.
And now Kumwezi, people might be wondering what that means.
Kumwezi simply means moon.
And this came from the ancient days where our mothers used to believe that when the
moon is in a certain position, then a girl is supposed to experience menstruation.
And so this project is focusing on providing menstrual hygiene products for young girls
and women, especially in underserved communities, and also works on debunking the myths that
come with menstruation for young girls.
We have seen that menstruation is huge.
Almost every girl goes through that path.
And because of the challenges and the barriers, lack of resources to use at that time of the
month, we find that most of the girls drop out of school.
And so what this project does is that it has made it possible for more girls to stay in
school.
And apart from that, we also offer mentorship, scholarship for girls that are struggling
to stay in school due to financial constraints.
And by engaging with educational institutions and communities, we actively contribute to
STG's full mission of ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education for all.
Well, that's wonderful, Priscilla.
It's critical to start at the grassroots level and empower individuals through education
to foster positive change.
And you all sound like you're doing an amazing job in that regard.
Well, let's move on to sustainable development goal number five, which focuses on achieving
gender equality and empowering all women and girls.
How does your organization strive to achieve this goal?
Okay, so I have talked about how my experience has been with challenges of inequalities at
school.
And so we as an organization work with various stakeholders to ensure that there is affirmative
action.
We are working with organization to ensure that we keep our girls in school and we ensure
that gender equality lies at the core of every organization's mission, not only in schools,
but every organization.
And so we work towards achieving this goal through various avenues.
First, we provide safe spaces for women and girls to share their experiences and access
support.
We advocate for laws and policies that protect the rights of women and girls, ensuring their
voices are heard and their needs are addressed.
Additionally, Cindy, we collaborate with other organizations and stakeholders to create networks
of support and foster collective action.
And we believe that by amplifying the voices of women and girls and challenging discriminatory
practices, we contribute to SDG's five objectives of achieving gender equality and empowerment.
Well, that's incredibly impactful, Priscilla.
Your dedication to gender equality is definitely inspiring.
Could you briefly share any ongoing projects or upcoming initiatives that our listeners
can look forward to?
Certainly.
So, Cindy, we have several ongoing projects focused on community outreach and education.
One of the initiatives that we currently have involves establishing safe houses for our
survivors of gender-based violence, providing them with temporary shelter and support services.
And we are also on a research project to better understand the intersectionality of gender-based
violence and its impact on marginalized communities.
Furthermore, collaborating with organizations from Ghana called EcoPeriod has also significantly
helped our work.
And what EcoPeriod as an organization is focusing on is they provide and manufacture reusable
sanitary pads.
And so with our goal to provide menstrual hygiene products for our girls, we are working
with this organization to provide more resources for our girls and also provide menstrual hygiene
education for the girls that are in schools.
Additionally, we also have a project in the pipeline that we're currently planning, and
it's going to be called the Amakwewo Project.
Now, I know our listeners are probably asking themselves, what does Amakwewo mean?
Amakwewo is simply a word in Nyanja that means business.
And so this particular initiative's goal is to ensure that we provide and create a lasting
change and address the root causes of gender-based violence.
Now, I mentioned in the beginning that one of the biggest challenges and barriers or
factors that contribute to the rising number of cases in gender-based violence is economic
dependency.
And so what this project seems to do is it's going to be providing entrepreneurship mentorship.
It will provide seed funds for young women who are victims of violence.
So whilst we provide the shelter, whilst we provide the mental health support, the counseling
that these girls need, we also want to make sure that we provide solutions that are sustainable.
And for us, our belief is that sustainability comes by empowering the woman who is going
through this violence to be independent.
And so this project will provide mentorship like I already mentioned, and it will also
provide financial resources to help her start a business to support herself and her family.
That's incredible, Priscilla.
I'm sure our listeners are going to be eager to follow your organization's progress and
support your work.
We certainly wish you all the best in your endeavors.
Thank you, Cindy.
I believe that together we can make a significant difference in creating a more equitable and
violence-free society.
Well, let's build on what we've talked about here a little bit more.
Can you tell us more about your project and how it aligns with the United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals in a way that we may not have talked about before?
So I have talked about how our multiple projects and community initiatives are happening, how
most of them relate to the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women,
promoting quality education, and also providing opportunities that eliminate barriers to economic
empowerment and equality.
Our project focuses on improving all forms and eliminating all forms of discrimination
against women, not only physical but also economic and social forms of violence.
And our organization also works on menstrual hygiene promotion, economic empowerment, entrepreneurship,
and enterprise development for women.
And what we do is provide resources that provide women and girls access to recovery for more
forms of discrimination, such as physical, economic, mental wellness, support, and counseling.
And I believe that these are things that the UN is so much interested in as we are trying
to achieve the SDGs.
Right.
Well, that's wonderful.
And let's take a moment to talk about your country, Zambia.
Tell us more about who lives in Zambia.
Who lives there?
So Zambia is a beautiful country.
It's a landlocked country.
It's surrounded by eight amazing countries.
And we have a lot of safaris.
We have the mighty, one of the seven wonders of the world is housed in Zambia.
It's called the Victoria Falls.
And I hope one of these days, Cindy, you come and enjoy yourself.
Oh, fantastic.
Obviously, there's humans there.
But what about some of the other life that's there in your country?
What are some of the animals at this safari and what else?
In the safari, we are so privileged to have the big five.
The big five, we're talking about lions.
We are talking about elephants, the cheetah, and all these amazing animals.
And we see a lot of people coming in to just have a lion and cheetah walk.
I just did my walk a few months ago.
And I miss home.
I hope to go back and enjoy the safaris again one of these days.
That sounds fantastic.
Well, let's ping pong back to your project.
And we just I want what motivated you in the first place to pursue your project.
So like I indicated in the beginning of my introduction, this work with the center and
my co-founder, our motivation was seeing the challenges and the barriers that various women
go through.
And that really inspired us to do something.
I always believe and tell people that if there's one thing that frustrates you, if there's
one thing that makes you feel bad, if there's something that you see in your community that
really just sets you off, that's the universe of God telling you that you need to do something
about it.
And that was my case.
I looked at the various challenges I went through as a girl growing up, even now as
a young woman.
And I want to make an impact in women who have the same experiences as I do, because
I always say I am not a victim.
I am the person that provides solutions.
And this is why there's power, so much power in the SDGs, because it gives us a unity of
purpose.
It doesn't matter where you come from.
It doesn't matter if you come from Zambia, if you come from Nigeria, or if you come from
America or from Britain.
We all have one purpose.
And that purpose is to make the world a better place to live in.
And so for me, I am driven by that philosophy that wherever I am, the world is better because
I'm there.
And so this is the work that really makes me feel that I will make that impact, the
positive impact that my community needs.
Speaking of people around the world, I know you're an emerging leader from the African
continent.
If there's another leader on the other side of the world who's interested in doing a project
similar to yours, or if there's something in your leadership qualities that was inspiring
to them, could you just walk us through the process of how you implemented your projects?
What steps have you taken to ensure their success?
So one of the things that I always tell people every time that we're talking about topics
like this, starting projects, making a difference.
One of the things that in the initial stages really stopped me from doing what I was supposed
to do was procrastination.
And so I would speak to the person listening to this right now that if you have a passion
that is burning within you, do it and do it right now.
Because we are not here for a very long time.
I believe that we are not here for a very long time.
And so the limited time that we have in this world, use it wisely.
Connect with people that are passionate about the things that you're passionate about.
Connect with people that will help you to grow.
Connect with people that will help you to be impactful in your community.
Connect with people that will challenge you.
And that's what has helped me, knowing that I cannot do it on my own.
And so I have harnessed the power of collaboration.
Because sometimes resources can be hard to come through for projects that you start.
But one of the things that has really helped us is, for example, using strategies like
community engagements.
You will be surprised that communities are so supportive.
I come from an environment that believes in Ubuntu.
I don't know, Cindy, if you know about Ubuntu.
Ubuntu is just simply a philosophy that really advocates for collaboration, partnership,
and working together for one goal, which is to make life better.
And so when you put yourself out there and connect with people that can work with you
to achieve the goals that you want to achieve, do it.
Don't wait for tomorrow.
Do it today.
Excellent.
Excellent advice.
Are there any success stories or memorable moments from your project that you can share
with us today?
There are a lot of success stories.
And for us, it's impacting one life at a time.
And I will share a story of, I will use a fictional character name of Esther.
But this woman came to us when she was battered by her husband, and it was at a point of death.
She was almost dying.
And so when she came to the center, she was provided with the resources to recover medically,
physically.
We provided referral services to the hospitals in the community to help her to just recover.
We protected her, we made her get legal protection, Irish training order and all that.
And right now as we speak, this woman has gone back to school.
She's got two children and those two children also have been enrolled with the support that
we get from the community.
They have been enrolled back in school.
This woman has, as she's going to school, she's running a small business that sustains
her family, her children.
Now she's safe.
And so it's stories like this that really keep us going and keep our work going, seeing
that the work that we do really translates into a real life.
You can see the impact.
You can see the change that this woman is now at a point where she's mentally stable,
she's physically healthy, and she's about to take care of herself and her children.
That's truly inspiring, Priscilla.
It's incredible to see how the impact of your project is making on individual lives.
Now looking ahead, what are your future plans and aspirations for your project?
So I have talked about the center, which is a safe space for children.
So currently we do not really have a dedicated place where we house these children, or sorry,
where we house these clients.
We just work with the temporal help that community members provide us.
For example, motels, they would give us a room for a week or so, and then we work with
them to house our clients until they reach a point where they are stable enough and they
have a place to stay.
Because sometimes they come to us when they are at a point when things are really bad,
they are not safe, they're physically in a bad shape.
And so we are working to have a center that will house about 500 women.
So we are looking for a facility that will help us to house about 500 women capacity
so that we can have and provide all our resources under one roof.
Or sometimes we have to, because of the constraints that we have with financial resources and
funding, we have to house these women in different places.
And sometimes that can provide challenges to accessing the services that they need to
recover.
And so our biggest goal is to have this center by the year 2026.
And another goal is to have a training facility where we can train not only victims of abuse,
but just women so that we can keep them busy, we can keep them economically independent.
So those are some of the things that we are currently focusing right now.
Well, it's impressive how comprehensive your approach is, Priscilla.
Now, I'm going to ask you this question almost as if it was like a bullet point type of assertion
here.
Is there some positive impacts that your project has had in the communities that you've worked
with?
So when we have trained and provided support for over 500 women, we have distributed over
5,000 menstrual hygiene products in schools.
And sometimes we do prison visits for women.
And we have provided mental health support for victims of abuse.
We have provided support for even children or dependents that come with the women that
are abused.
Because those are also our clients, and we have also seen a need that not only do the
women themselves need their support, but the children also themselves need the support
and also resources that can help them.
So those are some of the things that we have scored.
And we are looking to multiply that impact into more numbers.
And it will require a lot of support, and that's why we urge people to come on board
and have conversations with us.
Well, that's incredible.
We're moving towards the end of our time together here today.
Do you have any key advice or key learnings you'd like to share with our listeners who
might be interested in undertaking similar projects in their part of the world?
So like I have already mentioned, get started.
I think that's the first step, get started.
Start connecting with people that are passionate about the things that you are passionate about.
And one of the things that I will also encourage you to do is to not only seek support and
collaboration and partnerships, but also have a mindset to say, even when things get tough,
we will still continue because at the end of the day, it's speaking to your purpose
as a person and it's also contributing to achieving the goals that the United Nations
has set for us to achieve.
I believe that together we can do amazing work.
It doesn't require one person.
It requires the efforts and contributions from everyone.
And if there's one thing that I know about you, Priscilla, is that you're ready to connect
with people who are interested in the work that you're doing.
Absolutely.
So I hope that...
Absolutely.
I'm so ready to connect with people that are passionate about the work that we're doing.
We believe that we can do more when you come and join us.
Well, your dedication and vision are commendable.
Is there anything else you'd like to share or any message you'd like to convey to our
listeners?
Apart from inviting them to come to Zambia, the beautiful country, I encourage you to
reach out.
We'll provide contact details for those that are interested.
You can reach out with us.
Then we can have a conversation on how we can make an impact together.
Tell us where we can find you both on the planet and Zambia and online.
Okay.
So...
If any of our listeners want to reach out, how can they contact you?
Okay.
So I am on LinkedIn as Priscilla Simone Banda.
You can reach me on LinkedIn.
And I also have a Facebook profile page.
It's called Priscilla McMillan.
And you can also find me on Instagram as Priscilla Banda.
You can reach out and we can have an awesome conversation about that.
Fantastic.
Well, Priscilla, thank you for sharing your incredible project with us today.
It's been an honor to highlight your work and the impact you're making in Zambia.
We wish you all the success in your future endeavors.
And to our listeners, thank you for tuning in to the International Siblings Society
SDG Explained podcast.
Stay tuned for more inspiring stories and projects aligned with the Sustainable Development
Goals.
Remember, together we can make a difference.
Priscilla, it's been an absolute pleasure having you here on the show today and learning
about your impactful work.
And thank you for joining us.
Thank you so much, Cindy.
Thank you for having me.
It's been a pleasure to be with you this afternoon.
Well, and to our listeners, thank you for tuning in to SDG's Explained today.
Join us next time where you'll find our podcast here today.
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