Making connections

Melissa discovered arranging a meeting in Botswana involves a great deal of running around
Melissa discovered arranging a meeting in Botswana involves a great deal of running around

TOCaDIThose who work with me at FMC know that my technological skills are somewhat limited. In fact, it is a running joke at the firm that I call the help desk on a daily basis. That makes it all the more comical that, while working at TOCaDI in Shakawe, Botswana, I’m often asked to help people with their computers. The Internet, when there is any kind of connection, requires that the modem be tapped and wiggled around in the electrical socket every half hour or so in order to work — and yes, I came up with that ingenious technical solution myself. What’s more, since replacement parts for computers, printers and faxes can only be found in Maun or Gaborone (five and 12 hours drives away, respectively), there is one sole printer cable that is being shared by everyone in the office. What people lack in supplies and tools, however, they certainly make up for in patience and camaraderie.

TOCaDI has a broad mandate to support Community Based Natural Resource Management , youth programs, community-based tourism, the preservation of San (also referred to as “Bushmen” or the “Basarwa”) oral history, low-cost housing, health/HIV initiatives and the acquisition of land. The trust is specifically charged with helping the San people to improve household income, preserve and share their culture and to build San capacity to enable the San to play a more central role in the management of TOCaDI’s initiatives. The San people, traditionally hunter-gatherers, have been severely marginalized in Botswana society and have had their land and way of life dramatically changed due to government-mandated modernization programs in recent decades.

The consultation process in Shakawe is slow, to say the least. The emphasis on community and group decision-making for all the beneficiaries of the trust also complicates the process since the various villages must each hold their own traditional Kgotla meetings to discuss issues.

When I first arrived at TOCaDI, I was keen to get started. But when I asked a colleague how to go about setting up a consultation the following day with the various trustees involved in the constitution redrafting process, he laughed at me. In the villages surrounding Shakawe, he explained, many people do not have telephones. This means that in order to have a meeting, somebody from TOCaDI has to drive out to the furthest village and ask around until the required person is located. This process is repeated through all the villages until each meeting attendee has been piled into the 4×4 and is brought back to the TOCaDI conference centre. Often times, holding a meeting will also require arranging for tents for attendees to camp in (there is no inn in Shakawe) and food for them to eat while they are away from home.

At FMC I practice securities law with a focus on mining. Many of the transactions that I work on involve people from several jurisdictions hopping on a conference call to settle issues. People on the west coast often get (rightfully) cranky about 9 a.m. diligence calls and it seems often impossible to satisfy everybody’s busy schedule. But after working at TOCaDI, I will never complaining about the logistics of organizing a due diligence call in six time zones again.

Next time: A breakdown of my mandate at TOCaDI, which involves redrafting the constitutions of various community based trusts that fall under the organization’s umbrella.


FMC lawyer Melissa Ghislanzoni joins us this month to blog about her time working as a volunteer lawyer in Botswana.