When you drop a stone in water, it creates a series of waves that spread out, affecting the surrounding water and anything in contact with it. In Physics, this is called the ‘ripple effect’. Borrowing from it, the concept easily describes how actions can have a far-reaching impact on people, way beyond their immediate point of contact. We witnessed this with Oola John, a community leader from our outreach programs.
Our Community Engagement team offers training for community leaders on various issues affecting their communities. During many such trainings at the BarefootLaw Box in Paicho, the participants requested a follow-up session on “the role of local leaders in protecting customary land and alternative dispute resolution.” The session was organised, held and well attended by the leaders.
Oola John, Local Council 1 (LC1) of Ajanyi Village, was an active participant in all these sessions. With the knowledge he gained through them, he went on to support his people through proper resolution and documentation of cases, especially the land and family matters brought to his office.
Caption: Oola (holding mic) speaking at a local leaders training with LRA war survivors at the BarefootLaw Box in Paicho
One example is a widow from his community who came to the BarefootLaw Box for support with a complaint against her male in-laws. Through a video consultation, the lawyer she spoke to realised that the complainant had not yet approached the LC1 or the cultural land official to help resolve the dispute. Serendipitously, her LC1 was Oola. She was referred back to him for support.
With the new knowledge he gained from the training sessions, he successfully mediated the issue and resolved it. He brought the agreement to the BarefootLaw Box for guidance on whether the agreement was correctly written. He was reconnected with the lawyer who reviewed it, provided support to edit it in compliance with the law and approved it to complete the matter.
Caption: (Far Right) Oola John, LC1 of Ajanyi Village, pauses with a family whose land issue he mediated successfully at the BarefootLaw Box, Paicho.
We have woven a mutually beneficial and sustainable relationship with Oola and more local leaders. Throughout the year, they have referred more people to use the services of the BarefootLaw Box, and with continued guidance, we have referred issues to them for resolution. We are grateful to our partners for making this work possible.
This work supports our efforts toward community movement and partnership-building, in which we collaborate with like-minded institutions to create referral pathways for more people to access customised solutions to their justice needs, ultimately creating peaceful communities in which everyone can thrive.
