Victoria Gregory (past volunteer) – Communications and Resource Centre Management Adviser in South Africa

Before leaving New Zealand Victoria was working with Government agencies on a gender pay and employment equity project in Wellington. She completes her assignment in December 2011.

What Victoria is doing in Mthatha

Victoria is now living in the dusty, tightly populated town of Mthatha in South Africa’s Eastern Cape advising Umtata Child Abuse Resource Centre (UCARC) on child human rights.

Her time is spent assisting with the implementation of a new project (The Children’s Rights Community Development Project) which Victoria says has the potential to bring community members, political leaders, government officials and other NGOs together to improve the lives of children.

Making a positive impact

Victoria is excited by the new project which she feels is not only identifying and resolving individual cases of child abuse, neglect and exploitation but also identifying systemic issues that prevent children from receiving the services they are entitled to, so their children’s rights can be realised.

As she says: “This work feels purposeful and the experiences and knowledge I have gained over years is helping me to assist UCARC in developing models to improve the lives of children.”

Victoria’s highlights so far

“We have established a media project which includes a monthly talk back community radio programme on children’s rights. For me, watching the three staff members laughing and dancing and exuding such confidence as they returned from presenting was a huge highlight. They said to me  ‘we did it and we didn’t know that we could.  We could answer all their questions. We now know, that we know about gender equity and its impact on children’s lives’.”

What South Africa has taught Victoria 

“When we take away our different backgrounds, our colour, our political history and our advantages and disadvantages, we are just individuals wanting the same thing in our lives: purpose, love, belonging, security, peacefulness and freedom.”

 “On day five with no electricity and water, reframing the situation to equate it with camping in NZ really works until services return (and they do).”