Posts filed under 'Journal of the week'
“I have found out that there is still a gap that needs to be filled. At the local level, there is an immense need to involve the minority community.�
Doris Koyabe reflects on what she has learned from Opening Doors.
Why did I join the shadowing scheme?
There were three simple reasons. First of all, politics affects everything we do from the water we drink to the things we buy. Why should we leave matters relating to our well being in the hands of politicians? I have always been interested in knowing how politicians and policy makers come to a consensus since they affect each one of us on a daily basis. Given that policies and the politics of a country go together, I thought this was the best way to experience exactly how decisions are made.
Secondly, being part of the minority community I felt that we are not well represented in the policymaking arena. I wanted to know what mechanisms have been put in place to involve the minority community in politics but even more so in decision making.
And thirdly, I wanted to know what we as the minority community are doing in order to get ourselves involved and recognized as one voice when it comes to integration and implementing policy.
I was delighted to shadow Councillor Dougie Kerr not only because he is involved with issues relating to equality and discrimination in areas such as employment, gender and race. But also because I got the opportunity to see how politicians connect with local government and how local government connects with people in the community.
Councillor Kerr gave me a tour of the council building, explained what happens at the council and gave me a glimpse of the councillor’s daily routine schedule. As I shadowed him at different meetings, social gatherings and the full council meeting, I gained a better understanding of policy making.
What did I learn?
The image I had of politicians was a misconception. They have very busy lives and responsibilities that never seem to end. They have to go from one meeting to another and wherever they are – whether it is a business meeting or a social gathering – they are confronted with issues regarding decision making. Anyone can approach them and ask about anything and however trivial it maybe a lot of factors have to be considered. Basically it is very demanding and challenging and one has to be on top of things in order to succeed.
It may not seem significant to many people but now I know what newspapers to read in order to know what’s happening in the political scene – to find out what I would call “political gossip�. If I need to adopt the political culture of this country, then I have to know where to get the information. This is not to say that the press is always right but it gives an insight into what each party is doing, positive or negative. At the end of the day it’s up to an individual to decide what information to take from the media because it can be used to build or destroy the party’s image.
Most of all I have found out that there is still a gap that needs to be filled. At the local level, I feel that there is an immense need to involve the minority community. When I went to the full council meeting, my main concern was to see how the minority community would be represented in the meeting. I was surprised to see that they are so under represented.
For the future?
There is need to build up the participation of the minority community especially the blacks in this area. One may argue and say that the government is doing a great deal to integrate the minority communities in the system. But communication seems inadequate. How is information being transmitted to the minority community? Why is it that some minority communities are represented and not others? Who speaks on behalf of the minority communities in policy implementation? I feel there is a great need to examine inclusion of the minority communities in all aspects of policy implementation.
Women empowerment needs to be reinforced as well. Women are working hard in voluntary and community development projects but they also need to be directly involved with the policy makers.
But as much as I felt the minority are isolated, I also felt that we are not all working in unity with all minority communities to be one voice. United we stand and divided we fall.
February 20th, 2007
My aim is to encourage Sikh women to be more involved in politics. I wanted to be able to show how we can help to influence decisions that have an impact on our lives.
“As a Scottish Sikh I can see both sides of the coin.”
It’s a cold winter day but a warm and spicy smell greets you as soon as you open the door. Wednesday is curry day at Dr Bell’s Family Centre in Leith and that is why Asha Devi Singh suggested meeting here for lunch.
Over a delicious plate of chick pea and potato curry with poppadom and coriander relish on the side, Asha explains why she decided to take part in the Opening Doors Shadow Scheme. “My aim is to encourage Sikh women to be more involved in politics,� she says, “I wanted to be able to show how we can help to influence decisions that have an impact on our lives.�
The venue for this interview therefore makes perfect sense. Our food is brought to the table by two volunteers from Sikh Sanjog, the Edinburgh women’s group who are taking part in a pilot scheme to provide Wednesday lunches at Dr Bell’s for a month. As one of the founder members and current Chair of Sikh Sanjog, Asha clearly enjoys bringing together the two cultures that shape her family life.
“As a Scottish Sikh woman I can see both sides of the coin,” she says, “and having three generations of my family, I have an understanding of issues affecting both young and old.”
Community involvement comes naturally to Asha who was born and brought up in Glasgow. “Both my grandfather and father were always helping others. I suppose you could say it is in our genes.� Because Asha’s mother could not speak English her seven children quickly learned social responsibilities outside the home, moving effortlessly between two cultures.
“As soon as I came home from school I would start making chapattis on the griddle. At weekends I went with friends to the City Mission, singing Michael Rowed the Boat Ashore. There was never any sense of, ‘No you are not allowed to do that’, from my parents.
“Being a Scottish Sikh does raise some problems for me. We are not asylum seekers or immigrants. We were born and raised in Scotland but what is our identity? I think that is something we have to address.
“I don’t think difference should be a problem. Look round this room, we are all different, we all have our own individuality. But it’s the bigots who mind differences that we should feel sorry for. They are the real minority.�
Asha is one of six people taking part in the Opening Doors shadow scheme which aims to encourage greater ethnic minority representation in both local and national government. Like Subash Punn and Celina Mbwiria (you can read their reports by clicking on Journal of the Week), Asha decided to join Opening Doors after completing the Get your Voice Heard programme run by the Centre for Human Ecology with City of Edinburgh Council.
“What I have discovered is that it is not all that difficult to get your voice heard. At first it seems like something out of your reach, you sit in meetings and don’t like to open your mouth because you don’t think what you have to say is all that significant. Then someone else says it and you think ‘I should have said that’. But once you start to get involved you find that other people are willing to listen to you.”
During the Opening Doors scheme Asha has shadowed Councillor Gordon Munro and now hopes to develop what she has learned by exploring the work of community councils.
Meanwhile, the pilot scheme at Dr Bell’s has been such a success Wednesday will continue to be curry day for the foreseeable future (see more in Out to Lunch in Leith).
[Asha was talking to Fay Young co-ordinator of Leith Open Space Group]
February 10th, 2007
The Opening Doors visit to the Scottish Parliament was a first for Subash Punn. Here he describes why it made a lasting impression.
Subash Punn on the Scottish Parliament: “Never judge this building by the cover”.
My first and as yet only visit to the Scottish Parliament was full of profound surprises, the three-hour experience as monumental as the building itself.
It is a building full of contradictions almost challenging you to free up your mind and open yourself up to creative debate, the very essence of democracy itself. It is palatial but at the same time intimate. The texture is cold but framed by raw warmth. The erratic ceiling heights, though clearly defined, appear to undulate smoothly.
It is a building that seems to give you a sense of the passage of time, where history appears to be created before your eyes, in the present. I watched solitary figures pass by and as they wisped through what I can only describe as a foyer area I became curious as to where they had come from and where they were going. And as they disappeared one by one through a large door, they had already made an impression on history, and by doing – what? – something as trivial as making their way from one place to another. Had I imagined these people or did they exist? But seriously seeking the answer to this question would be a betrayal to the building’s illusion itself.
I had on many occasions walked or driven past the Scottish Parliament, always dubious about its existence and appearance. After having seen the interior I feel it has helped me gain an affinity with the exterior. Never judge this building by the cover.
The parliament also gives you an insight into the architect, Enric Miralles, who sadly died in the year 2000. His presence, I feel, is still felt in the building itself, almost making you question as to whether his presence would have been so profoundly felt had he still been alive.
January 12th, 2007
“For me …politics had always existed in some virtual world far away where politicians meted out decisions that affected people’s lives either positively or negatively.� Celina Mbwiria records her reactions to a first full council meeting.
Thursday 26th October 2006
A lovely autumn morning. I woke with a purpose and a spring in my step. My colleague and I were to visit the City Chambers in Edinburgh, to observe for the very first time, the workings of a ‘full council meeting’.
We arrived at the City Chambers at 10 am and my mentor (Councillor Phil Attridge) took us to the café area to meet other Leith councillors while a lady with a register came in and out checking which councillors had not yet arrived – like school roll call. The atmosphere and the banter were relaxed and helped relieve any anxieties we may have had about participating in such a venture.
For me the whole experience was a momentous one as I had never done anything like it before. Politics always existed in some virtual world far away where politicians meted out decisions that affected people’s lives either positively or negatively. And while I have most times exercised my democratic right to vote, I had never thought deeply about how such things affected my personal life. Through programmes such as this, I am stimulated to question things more, which I think is a very good thing.
In the public galleries, I was quite surprised to see so many ordinary people come to observe such proceedings. My colleague and I were the only people from the BME communities there and only because we are in this programme. This brings home to me the importance of programmes like this in raising awareness within the BME communities and encouraging them to come and witness decisions which affect them.
Heated debate
Below us sat all the councillors with the Lord Provost chairing the proceedings. Labour councillors were furthest away, Conservatives just in front of us and Liberal Democrats just underneath us. The acoustics were quite bad and it was hard to hear what was being said. Issues of great interest were discussed and I could catch one word here and there – I made note of these: a heated debate about council money being inappropriately spent; housing affordability; inequalities and reducing the gap; carbon emmissions, global warming and parking charges. My mentor gave me a copy of the report and that helped to a certain degree.
Some time was spent discussing the furnishings of the chamber – whether to buy new chairs or refurbish existing ones. This is the only debate I could follow because we could quite clearly hear the Lib Dems and the Conservatives as they made their argument for restoration of the chairs to preserve them for posterity against Labour’s case to replace them with more storage-friendly ones to reduce mounting storage costs.
Gender balance and BME representation
It was clear from the start that great gender imbalance existed in the chamber and there was only one councillor visible from BME communities. In fact I could only count three female Labour councillors and two Conservatives and I was informed that there were four female Liberal Democrats. Of 56 councillors present there were 9 female councillors – equivalent to 16%. Clearly there is a big gap here and I can’t help but wonder why this is so. When I later inquired from our host I was told that there was a time when women councillors were labelled the Knitting Club, a term women took in their stride and turned to their advantage. Still, it’s sad to see the glaring gender imbalance and I hope something can be done about it. As regards to BME communities, there is great need for programmes like ‘Opening Doors’ to inform and encourage BME communities to become more involved and claim their rightful place in the national politics.
Lunch with councillors
Over lunch we had a chance to talk with Leith councillors about issues that affected us individually or as a community. Later our host took us to see the office he shares with another councillor, with many pictures and photographs on the walls. Two pictures stood out for me. A South African one showing a tiny black man being kicked about by four burly uniformed white men – the other was of a dessicated body of a human victim of hurricane Katriona hanging on a barbed wire fence like a ragdoll. Seeing these pictures was poignant for me because they clearly indicated what the powerful few are capable of doing to the majority poor who have no voice.
Is the developed world as civilised as it claims to be?
At the end of the day, the whole experience was worthwhile and I enjoyed it all immensely and would encourage others to take part in such projects. I would like to thank the organisers of the project and my mentor for organising the activities and for looking after us through the day
Celina is one of six ‘shadows’ taking part in the Opening Doors programme to encourage black and minority ethnic representation in local and national politics. For more about Celina see the Local Heroes section of this website.
November 6th, 2006
