Family Separation Is Back

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TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images

Back in the summer of 2018, two years and approximately an eon ago, you might recall a little political kerfuffle about the Trump administration separating families. Elie Mystal put it well when he characterized it as terrorism; this was the brainchild of alleged “white nationalist” Stephen Miller, who is willing to traumatize hundreds of children for life in the name of deterring immigration because he clearly doesn’t think Latinos are people.

Now, just in time for the anniversary of the original family separation scandal, we have what the American Immigration Council calls Family Separation 2.0. This time, instead of literally taking screaming children from their parents’ arms, they have framed it as a choice for parents to make. Parents can allow the children be released without them, or they can all be detained by ICE together for as long as ICE wants. Spoiler alert: ICE wants to keep them so long that they give up and take voluntary deportation.

To understand why the Trump administration is expressing its racism in this particular way, you need a bit more background. The rights of minors in U.S. immigration custody are governed by the 1997 settlement of a case that was, at that time, called Flores v. Reno. (It’s been reopened so many times, due to violations by the federal government, that most of the AGs of the past 30 years have been named at some point.)

The Flores settlement has been interpreted to protect minors accompanied by their parents as well as unaccompanied minors, and it requires (among many other things) that those minors be released “without unnecessary delay.” This is, obviously, directly contrary to the Trump administration policy of deterring immigration through abject cruelty. Unfortunately for them, binding contracts are binding even when you don’t like them, and the outright stealing of children turned out to be less popular than Miller believed, even when the victims have the bad taste to be brown-skinned.

So they had to come up with something new, and that turns out to be “binary choice”: Give up your child or give up your child’s rights. The administration has, in the past, argued in court that the mean old Flores settlement forced them to do this, an argument with a hole so big you can drive an ICE prisoner van through it. No law or rule or norm — literally nothing — is stopping them from releasing the parents with the children, as was routine for most asylum seekers under the Obama administration. But somehow, I doubt that possibility is going to make it into the briefs of whatever DOJ attorney has to defend this steaming turd in court.

Out of respect for the work the ACLU Immigrant Rights Project and other advocates are doing, I’d like to add that family separation never really went away. If you look through the docket in Ms. L v. ICE, the lead lawsuit trying to stop family separation, you will see that the Trump administration continued separating families whenever it had a thin excuse — a minor or accused crime by the parent, or “suspicions of trafficking” because the adult is an extended family member. America’s attention moved on, but the policy really didn’t. It just adapted, like a Borg drone.

That’s what I think they’re counting on now. I think they believe the pandemic is so distracting that we’re not going to notice them doing it all over again. Please notice.

Lorelei Laird is a freelance writer specializing in the law, and the only person you know who still has an “I Believe Anita Hill” bumper sticker. Find her at wordofthelaird.com.

International Law Firm Opts To Permanently Close Office In Wake Of COVID-19

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We knew, in the back of our minds, that our post-COVID work world would be very different than the one we left. Some firms are extending work-from-home policies, others are trying to make their spaces safer (office tents are for real, people), and now we’re hearing about a firm that is eschewing office space on a permanent basis.

According to a report from Law.com, Australia-based Slater and Gordon is saying goodbye to its London physical offices once its lease is up in September. That means all 200 of the firm’s London employees will transition to working from home for good, though Slater and Gordon said they may look for meeting space in London. Also the firm will provide extra screens or office furniture to those who need the equipment.

The firm’s chief executive, David Whitmore, had this to say about the change:

“Today we have announced to our staff that we won’t ever go back to how we worked before COVID.”

He added, “When we do look to return to our offices they won’t look like they used to and colleagues will be encouraged to continue working remotely for the majority of the time. Working smart is better for everyone.”

The firm has not made any announcements about office space in any of the firm’s other locations.

headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

Litigation Finance: Pricing

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(Image via Getty)

Ed. note: Litigation finance is transforming the fields of both law and finance. To help our readers gain a better understanding of what litigation finance entails, we’ve partnered with Lake Whillans to present a new series so you can better understand how litigation funding works, its pros and cons, and its past, present, and future.

By now you’ve likely heard about litigation finance and some of the advantages it can offer to claimholders (in a nutshell, the flexibility to pursue a claim without having to pay attorneys’ fees or other costs from the company’s balance sheet, as well as the ability to monetize all or a portion of a claim).  “Sounds great,” you might be thinking, “but how much is this going to cost me?”

This article will review the basic pricing structures that litigation funders typically employ and the reasons why a claimholder may prefer one approach over another.  At Lake Whillans, we have transacted using each of these pricing structures, and approach each transaction flexibly with the mindset of utilizing whatever structure works best for the claimholder.  Further, we provide pricing early in the process; you can generally expect to have terms from us within 5-10 days of reaching out to discuss your matter.

Factors driving litigation finance pricing

Litigation funders consider two primary factors when setting pricing for an investment: risk level and timeline of the case.  For a funder, investments in a single litigation or arbitration claim investment involves significant risk.  Funders provide capital on a non-recourse basis, meaning that if the claim fails, the funder loses its entire investment.  The greater the risk that a case will fail to achieve a return, the greater the cost of funding will be.  Key drivers of the risk level of a case are the strength of the claim (and any defenses), the certainty and amount of damages, and likelihood of collection.  When claims are bundled in a portfolio, the risk of loss is generally mitigated to a degree (as long as the claims do not all turn on the same risk), and therefore portfolios will generally receive lower pricing than a single claim.

As for timeline, the longer the funder anticipates its capital will be tied up, the greater the return the funder needs to reflect the time value of money.  Key drivers of the timeline of a case include the stage of the case at the time of investment, the type of case, and the particular decision maker (i.e., the court/judge/tribunal).  Litigation funders can make an investment at any stage, ranging from before the case has been filed through to after a judgment has been secured (but before it has been collected).  Early-stage cases tend to be riskier and to have a longer timeline than later-stage cases, and the pricing will reflect those differences.

Given the high degree of uncertainty inherent to a litigation investment, funders naturally must require a larger return than, for example, a bank would earn on a fully secured recourse commercial loan.  At the same time, responsible funders agree that the claimholder should keep the majority of any litigation proceeds.  An experienced funder like Lake Whillans will work with the claimholder to structure a funding agreement that makes sense for all parties.  Responsible funders will model various outcomes in terms of timeline, range of awards, and settlement projections, and may decline to fund a case if, in the likely scenarios, too little is left for the claimholder, in particular when the funding would prevent the claimholder from accepting a reasonable settlement.  

Fixed multiple vs. percentage of litigation proceeds

There are two basic models for structuring a litigation funder’s return on capital: fixed multiple and percentage of proceeds, and a combination of both is often utilized.  In the fixed multiple model, the funder recoups its capital along with a multiple of the amount it invested.  The multiple can vary over the duration of the case: for example, the funder may be entitled to a multiple of 0.5 on capital invested if the capital is returned within a year and then to a larger multiple as time increases.   As an example of this type of arrangement, suppose the funding agreement entitles the funder to (i) return of the capital it invested plus (ii) a 2x multiple on the capital invested.  Let’s suppose the capital invested is $1 million; when the matter concludes successfully, the funder would receive $1 million as return of capital, plus a 2x multiple or $2 million for a total of $3 million. (This might be referred to as 3x pricing since the funder receives 3x what it put in).  

In a percentage of proceeds model, the funder recoups (i) return of its invested capital plus (ii) a percentage of the proceeds from the litigation, 20% for example.  So using our $1 million investment hypothetical, if the claim recovers $10 million, the funder receives $1 million plus 20% of $10 million (i.e., $2.0 million) for a total of $3.0 million.  In the percentage model, the funder’s share of proceeds may be subject to a maximum dollar amount, or the percentage may decrease as the award size increases.

These two basic models can also be combined.  The funder may be entitled to a certain multiple, plus an additional percentage return.  In this hybrid structure, both the multiple and the percentage return are smaller than in a pure fixed multiple or percentage structure, but the combination of the two provides a risk-balanced approach to account for the possibility of achieving either the low end or high end of possible award size outcomes, which we will demonstrate below.

Reasons to prefer a given model

A claimholder’s preference for a given pricing model will depend largely on its risk tolerance and its assessment of the expected recovery relative to the funder’s investment. In our above example, assuming a $1 million investment and a $10 million return, the 3x pricing and the 20% of proceeds model yield the same result for funder and claimholder ($3 million to funder/ $7 million to claimholder).  But the ratio changes depending on the size of the award.

In our example, if the award comes in at the high end of the expected range at $20 million, the 3x multiple pricing yields the funder the same $3 million, and the claimholder receives $17 million (or 85%).  But if it was priced using the return of capital plus 20%, the funder recovers $5 million, and the claimholder receives $15 million (or 75%).   Thus, if the claimholder expects a large recovery (as compared to the capital provided by the funder), it might prefer a fixed multiple model because the claimholder retains more of the upside in a high-recovery scenario.

The converse is also true: in a low-recovery scenario, the fixed multiple is relatively more favorable to the funder.  Using the same example, if the award is $5 million, the 3x multiple pricing again yields $3 million for the funder, and the claimholder receives $2 million (or 40%).  This result would likely be undesirable to the claimholder, so it may prefer the return of capital plus percentage model.  Applying the return of capital plus 20% pricing would yield $2 million to the funder and the claimholder would receive $3 million (or 60%).  Thus, if the claimholder wants to protect against the downside risk of a lower recovery, it may prefer a percentage of proceeds model, in which it has to share more of the upside in the high-recovery scenario but is relatively more protected in the low-recovery scenario.  

Of course, the funder’s view of the case and its risk tolerance will also inform the pricing it prefers, and a hybrid model provides a compromise option that often appeals to both funder and claimholder.  For example, hybrid pricing may include (i) return of capital, plus (ii) a 1x multiple plus (iii) 10% of proceeds.   If the award yields $10 million, the split is the same ($3 million to funder, $7 million to claimholder) as it was in our two pricing examples above, but allots the risk/reward more equitably between funder and claimholder in the low recovery scenario ($2.5 million to funder, $2.5 million to claimholder) or the high recovery scenario ($4 million to funder and $16 million to claimholder).

The reserved facility vs. disbursed funds

To further understand pricing, especially in the context of a fixed multiple return structure, it is important to be aware of the distinction between the reserved facility and amount disbursed.  Funders typically do not pay out their full investment in one lump sum; instead the funder makes a series of payments over the course of the case.  The reserved facility is the amount that the funder sets aside to cover its full (projected) investment.  Disbursed funds are what the funder has paid out at any given point.  For a case litigated through trial, the reserved facility may equal the amount disbursed.  Conversely, if a settlement offer is accepted at an early stage, only a small proportion of the reserved facility is likely to have been disbursed.

From a claimholder’s perspective, it may seem most appropriate to pay the multiple on the amount disbursed: why should the claimholder have to pay for funds it never actually receives?  From the funder’s perspective, however, the reserved facility is capital that cannot be used for other investments and is at risk from the moment it is reserved or committed, so if the case settles before a large portion of the earmarked funds have been disbursed, payment of the multiple only on the disbursed funds will result in a low return to the funder that may not adequately compensate it for the risk that it took. These conflicting aims are frequently addressed by pricing that is based on a multiple of amounts actually disbursed, coupled with a minimum return for the funder.  

The waterfall

The last key term of a pricing agreement is the waterfall.  The waterfall is the order of priority in which shares of any recovery are paid to entitled parties, including the funder, the claimholder and, in some cases, counsel (if counsel has a contingent stake in the litigation). 

A standard waterfall provides for the funder to recoup its invested capital before any other party is paid.  The order of allocation of the remaining proceeds will be a product of negotiation, but it typically involves pro rata payments to the funder and counsel, based on their relative entitlements.  The claimholder typically takes the remainder, after the funder and counsel have been paid.

* * *

For an experienced provider of litigation finance like Lake Whillans, each funding agreement is the product of careful assessment and discussion with the relevant stakeholders.  There is no one-size-fits-all pricing structure.  The best way to determine which structure best fits the needs of your situation is to contact us.

Reopening Your Law Firm During COVID-19: There’s A Bar Association Guide (Or Two) For That!

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After months of business closures, many states are slowly beginning to allow more essential businesses to reopen their doors. In most states, law firms will be among the first wave of businesses permitted to resume providing services to the public.

This is a welcome development for lawyers but one that comes hand in hand with uncertainty. After all, resuming business in the midst of a pandemic is uncharted territory, and opening your firm doesn’t mean you’ll be returning to business as usual. A host of issues must be considered when reopening, not the least of which is to ensure that the health of law firm employees and clients is protected.

Establish A Reopening Committee

Safety is an important goal, but you’re a lawyer, not a public health official. You may be unsure how to proceed. That’s where the guides from two different state bar associations — Indiana and New York — come in.

First, there’s the “New York State Working Group Guidance on Re-Opening Law Firms,” which provides a useful roadmap for law firms transitioning back to the office. According to the guide, firms should establish a reopening committee whose responsibility is to create a plan for the return to work by putting in place processes that will ensure the safety of employees and legal clients.

6 Readiness Essentials

Once the committee has been established, it must address a number of important areas. As explained in the Indiana State Bar Association Guide, “Reopening Your Practice,” there are six readiness essentials that firms need to think about prior to reopening:

  • Prepare the building and workplace: Consider cleaning
    plans, pre-return inspections, HVAC, and mechanical checks.
  • Prepare the workforce: Develop plans to mitigate anxiety by creating policies for deciding when each employee returns and establishing an employee communications plan.
  • Control access points: Consider protocols for safety and health checks, building reception areas, shipping and receiving, elevators, and visitor policies.
  • Create a social distancing plan: Consider options to keep workers at a safe distance, which may include new seating arrangements and establishing office traffic patterns.
  • Reduce touch points and increase cleaning: Consider keeping doors open and develop protocols for cleaning work areas and common areas.
  • Communicate for confidence: Recognize that employees may have concerns about returning to work, so communicate transparently, and listen and survey regularly.

Reopening Committee Objectives

The reopening committee should keep those readiness essentials in mind when creating a reopening plan for the firm. As explained in the NYSBA guide, the committee’s primary objectives should be to:

  • Monitor oversight and implementation of the reopening plan.
  • Develop and update, as needed, internal policies and procedures for the transition from remote work to the workplace.
  • Communicate with legal and support staff with one voice regarding the transition process, set clear expectations, and offer firm-wide training, as needed.
  • Field questions or concerns.
  • Become familiar with federal and state statutes and programs governing office safety and human resource issues.
  • Develop a plan for testing employees for the virus.
  • Develop client and visitor policies.
  • Conduct business safely.

Ensure Necessary Technology Is Available

According to both guides, another important issue that the transition team will need to address is to establish processes that will facilitate continued social distancing efforts and allow staggered work schedules to be implemented. A necessary and important part of addressing this issue will be providing the necessary technology to allow firm employees to safely and efficiently conduct business from the office and from home.

As a result, providing offsite access to law firm information and the ability to collaborate with work colleagues, no matter where they are, will be paramount. A successful balance of those considerations requires, among other things, investing in technology like cloud-based legal software and videoconferencing tools to facilitate remote work.

Create Written Protocols

Finally, as explained in this Oregon Law Practice Management blog post, written protocols should be drafted, posted around the office, and shared with and explained to employees. The written protocols should address:

  • Recommendations or requirements for face masks for employees and clients.
  • Procedures regarding any daily health assessments for employees. These can include self-evaluation by each employee, and if deemed necessary, an evaluation conducted by someone in your office, to determine if it’s safe for an employee to return to work each day.
  • Processes should be put in place to ensure that employees are maintaining good hygiene at all times, are regularly washing their hands, and are prioritizing physical distancing.
  • Plans that provide for the cleaning and sanitizing of the office throughout, and at the end of, the workday.
  • Rules that limit the maximum capacity of various rooms in the office in order to comply with distancing guidelines.

Once the reopening committee has shared the necessary written protocols, the next steps include reorganizing your law firm’s workspace and addressing employee issues and concerns. Both bar association guides offer additional tips on those and many more issues, so make sure to read each one in its entirety.

Reopening your law firm during a pandemic may seem a bit overwhelming at first; that’s understandable since no one has ever done this before. But rest assured, as long as your firm follows the reopening schedule established by officials in your area and implements the recommendations set forth in the guides, you’ll be well on your way to successfully reopening your firm as safely as possible, with the health of your employees and clients top of mind.

Nicole Black is a Rochester, New York attorney and Director of Business and Community Relations at MyCase, web-based law practice management software. She’s been blogging since 2005, has written a weekly column for the Daily Record since 2007, is the author of Cloud Computing for Lawyers, co-authors Social Media for Lawyers: the Next Frontier, and co-authors Criminal Law in New York. She’s easily distracted by the potential of bright and shiny tech gadgets, along with good food and wine. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikiblack and she can be reached at niki.black@mycase.com.

Bill Barr Has Figured Out How He’s Gonna Sweep Richard Burr’s Insider Trading Under The Rug

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Morning Docket: 05.28.20

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* Three members of a $31.7 million fraudulent slip-and-fall ring have been sentenced to prison. Wonder if they got the idea from Slippin’ Jimmy. [Insurance Journal]

* Former presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard has abandoned her short-lived defamation lawsuit against Hillary Clinton. [CNN]

* A Louisiana attorney who was suspended from practice for chest bumping a prosecutor has been reinstated as a lawyer. Apparently the chest bump was not like the kind seen in football. [Advocate]

* The Los Angeles City Attorney has sued a company for selling allegedly fake COVID-19 tests. [Orange County Register]

* There is some hope that a TV series based on The Lincoln Lawyer will be produced after all. Thought I already saw the reboot, but realized it was just a Matthew McConaughey car commercial. [Hollywood Reporter]

* Since this website has not published a Lawyerly Lairs article in a while, just wanted to report that a top Chicago criminal lawyer has listed his posh pad for sale. [Crain’s Chicago]

Jordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at jordan@rothmanlawyer.com.

How a bench and a team of grandmothers can tackle depression

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BBC Future has brought you in-depth and rigorous stories to help you navigate the current pandemic, but we know that’s not all you want to read. So now we’re dedicating a series to help you escape. We’ll be revisiting our most popular features from the last three years in our Lockdown Longreads.  

You’ll find everything from the story about the world’s greatest space mission to the truth about whether our cats really love us, the epic hunt to bring illegal fishermen to justice and the small team which brings long-buried World War Two tanks back to life. What you won’t find is any reference to, well, you-know-what. Enjoy.

Late one evening, Dixon Chibanda, a psychiatrist in Harare, Zimbabwe, received a call from a doctor in an emergency room. A 26-year-old woman named Erica who Chibanda had treated months before had attempted suicide. The doctor said he needed Chibanda’s help to make sure Erica didn’t try it again.

Erica was at a hospital more than 100 miles (160km) away, however, so Chibanda and her mother came up with a plan by phone. As soon as Erica was released from the hospital she and her mother would come see Chibanda to reevaluate her treatment plan.

A week passed, and then two more, with no word from Erica. Finally, Chibanda received a call from her mother. Erica, she told him, had killed herself three days before.

“Why didn’t you come to Harare?” Chibanda asked. “We had agreed that as soon as she’s released, you will come to me!”

“We didn’t have the $15 bus fare to come to Harare,” her mother replied.

The response left him speechless. In the months that followed, Chibanda found himself haunted by the case. He also knew that Erica’s inability to access care due to distance and cost was not exceptional but, in many countries, in fact was the norm.

The grandmother volunteers come to the project with no medical training, but they get results (Credit: Cynthia R Matonhodze)

The grandmother volunteers come to the project with no medical training, but they get results (Credit: Cynthia R Matonhodze)

Globally, more than 300 million people suffer from depression, according to the World Health Organization. Depression is the world’s leading cause of disability and it contributes to 800,000 suicides per year, the majority of which occur in developing countries.

No one knows how many Zimbabweans suffer from kufungisisa, the local word for depression (literally, “thinking too much” in Shona). But Chibanda is certain the number is high. “In Zimbabwe, we like to say that we have four generations of psychological trauma,” he says, citing the Rhodesian Bush War, the Matabeleland massacre and other atrocities.

Yet those suffering from depression have few options due to a dearth of mental health professionals. Chibanda, who is director of the African Mental Health Research Initiative and an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Zimbabwe and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, is one of just 12 psychiatrists practising in Zimbabwe – a country of over 16 million. Such grim statistics are typical in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the ratio of psychiatrists and psychologists to citizens is one for every 1.5 million. “Some countries don’t even have a single psychiatrist,” Chibanda says.

Since 2006, Chibanda and his team have trained over 400 grandmothers in evidence-based talk therapy (Credit: Cynthia R Matonhodze)

Since 2006, Chibanda and his team have trained over 400 grandmothers in evidence-based talk therapy (Credit: Cynthia R Matonhodze)

In brainstorming how to tackle this problem, he arrived at an unlikely solution: grandmothers. Since 2006, Chibanda and his team have trained over 400 of the grandmothers in evidence-based talk therapy, which they deliver for free in more than 70 communities in Zimbabwe. In 2017 alone, the Friendship Bench, as the programme is called, helped over 30,000 people there. The method has been empirically vetted and have been expanded to countries beyond, including the US.

The programme, Chibanda believes, can serve as a blueprint for any community, city or country interested in bringing affordable, accessible and highly effective mental health services to its residents. As Chibanda puts it: “Imagine if we could create a global network of grandmothers in every major city in the world.”

Chibanda always knew he wanted to become a doctor, but dermatology and pediatrics were his original interests. Tragedy awakened him to his calling as a psychiatrist. While in medical school in the Czech Republic, a classmate killed himself. “He was a very cheerful chap – no one expected this guy to harm himself and end his life,” he says. “But apparently he was depressed, and none of us picked up on it.”

Chibanda became a psychiatrist. But it wasn’t until Operation Murambatsvina (“remove the filth”), a 2005 government campaign to forcibly clear slums, which left 700,000 people homeless, that he realised the scale of the problem in Zimbabwe. When he ventured into communities after the campaign, he discovered “extremely high” rates of post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues.

Opening up mental health conversations in Zimbabwe (Credit: The Friendship Bench Zimbabwe)

Opening up mental health conversations in Zimbabwe (Credit: The Friendship Bench Zimbabwe)

In the midst of this work, Erica killed herself, bringing extra urgency to Chibanda’s quest to find a solution for ordinary Zimbabweans.

Chibanda was the only psychiatrist in the country working in the public health space, but his supervisors told him that there were no resources they could give him. All of the nurses were too busy with HIV-related issues and maternal and child health care, and all the rooms at the local clinic were full. They could, however, give him 14 grandmothers and provide access to the space outside.

Rather than throw up his hands, though, Chibanda came up with the idea for the friendship bench. “A lot of people think I’m a genius for thinking of this, but it’s not true,” he says. “I just had to work with what was there.”

That’s not to say that Chibanda initially believed it would work, though. The grandmothers, who were community volunteers, had no experience in mental health counselling and most had minimal education. “I was sceptical about using old women,” he admits. Nor was he the only one with misgivings. “A lot of people thought it was a ridiculous idea,” he says. “My colleagues told me, ‘This is nonsense.’”

Lacking any other option, though, Chibanda began training the grandmothers as best he could. At first, he tried to adhere to the medical terminology developed in the West, using words like “depression” and “suicidal ideation”. But the grandmothers told him this wouldn’t work. In order to reach people, they insisted, they needed to communicate through culturally rooted concepts that people can identify with. They needed, in other words, to speak the language of their patients. So in addition to the formal training the received, they worked together to incorporate Shona concepts of opening up the mind, and uplifting and strengthening the spirit.

“The training package itself is rooted in evidence-based therapy, but it’s also equally rooted in indigenous concepts,” Chibanda says. “I think that’s largely one of the reasons it’s been successful, because it’s really managed to bring together these different pieces using local knowledge and wisdom.”

Efficacious and replicable  

As I stepped out of the car, Rudo Chinhoyi, a tiny woman with an easy smile and dusting of white hair, rushed out of her cinderblock house to meet me. “Hello!” she beamed, throwing her arms around me. “How are you doing? Welcome!”

Grandmother Chinhoyi, as she is known around here, has been with the Friendship Bench programme from the start. “I joined this programme because I wanted to help people in the community,” she says. “It was too much – the depressed people. There were so many of them and I wanted to reduce the numbers.”

“I’ve always been like that, wanting to help others,” she adds with a smile and a shrug. “I value human beings so much.”

Grandmother Rudo Chinhoyi, in the blue t-shirt, surrounded by a few of her three children, nine grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren (Credit: Rachel Nuwer)

Grandmother Rudo Chinhoyi, in the blue t-shirt, surrounded by a few of her three children, nine grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren (Credit: Rachel Nuwer)

Chinhoyi, who is 72, has lost count of the number of people she has treated on an almost daily basis over the past 10-plus years. She regularly meets with HIV-positive individuals, drug addicts, people suffering from poverty and hunger, unhappy married couples, lonely older people and pregnant, unmarried young women. Regardless of their background or circumstances, she begins her sessions the same way: “I introduce myself and I say, ‘What is your problem? Tell me everything, and let me help you with my words.’”

After hearing the individual’s story, Chinhoyi guides her patient until he or she arrives at a solution on their own. Then, until their issue is completely resolved, she follows up with the person every few days to make sure they are sticking to the plan.

Once, for example, Chinhoyi met with a man whose wife had just run off with the landlord of their rental home. “The husband wanted to take an axe to attack the couple, but I convinced him not to,” Chinhoyi says. “I told the guy, ‘If you go to prison, your kids will be left alone, it’s not worth it.’” Rather than resort to violence, the man divorced his wife, she says, and is now happily remarried.

Having come from the same communities as their patients, Chinhoyi and the other grandmothers have often lived through the same social traumas. Yet Chibanda and his colleagues have been shocked to find that the grandmothers themselves present surprisingly low rates of post-traumatic stress disorder and other common mental health ailments. “What we see in them is this amazing resilience in the face of adversity,” he says.

A friendship bench in Malawi (Credit: The Friendship Bench Zimbabwe)

A friendship bench in Malawi (Credit: The Friendship Bench Zimbabwe)

Nor do the grandmothers seem to get burnt out despite counselling people on the brink of crisis day after day. “We’re exploring why this is, but what seems to be emerging is this concept of altruism, in which the grandmothers really feel that they get something out of actually making a difference in the lives of others,” Chibanda says. “It gives them a lot of great benefits, too.”

By 2009, Chibanda was already sure the programme was working, both in terms or improving quality of life for participants and reducing suicide. Harare’s city health department, which pays for the programme, was fully on board, and patients were being regularly referred from clinics, schools, the police and more. But if the Friendship Bench was going to be recognised and replicated around the world, Chibanda would first need to prove scientifically that it works.

In 2016, Chibanda – collaborating with colleagues from Zimbabwe and the UK – published the results of a randomised control trial of the programme’s efficacy in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The researchers split 600 people with symptoms of depression into two groups. They found that after six months, the group that had seen the grandmothers had significantly lower symptoms of depression compared to the group that underwent conventional treatment.

“We were thrilled to bits with the results, which showed the intervention is having a big effect on people’s daily lives and ability to function,” says Victoria Simms, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and co-author of the study. “It’s about giving people the tools they need to solve their own problems.”

Two more scientific trials are now underway, she adds, including one examining a new Youth Friendship Bench programme in Harare and another set up specifically for young people who are HIV-positive.

The programme has also expanded to several countries, and in doing so, Chibanda and his colleagues have found not only that it translates well across cultures but also that grandmothers aren’t the only ones capable of giving effective counseling. In Malawi, the Friendship Bench uses elderly counsellors of both genders, while Zanzibar uses younger men and women. New York City’s counsellors are the most diverse, including individuals of all ages and races, some of whom come from the LGBTQ community. “We cover all the bases,” says Takeesha White, executive director of the Office of Strategic Planning and Communications at the NYC Department of Health’s Center for Health Equity. “New York City’s population is very broad.”

The programme, Chibanda believes, can serve as a blueprint for any community (Credit: The Friendship Bench Zimbabwe)

The programme, Chibanda believes, can serve as a blueprint for any community (Credit: The Friendship Bench Zimbabwe)

Many of the New York counsellors have successfully overcome addictions and other life challenges themselves. “We’re committed to having folks with lived experiences, who can speak the language of recovery and of dealing with addiction,” White says. “Before you know it, you’re not on a bench, you’re just inside of a warm conversation with someone who cares and understands.”

The New York City benches – which are bright orange – were piloted in 2016 and launched in mid-2017, attracting some 30,000 visitors during their first year. The city so far has three permanent benches in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Harlem, and the programme hosts pop-ups at festivals, churches, food pantries, parks and more. Friendship Bench counsellors also make themselves available immediately following community tragedies, including a recent suicide completed in public in East Harlem.

“When I visited New York, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the issues New Yorkers deal with are very similar to the issues here in Zimbabwe,” Chibanda says. “It’s issues related to loneliness, to access to care, and to just being able to know that what you’re experiencing is treatable.”

While many more psychiatrists work in New York City than in Zimbabwe, the ratio of doctors to residents – about one for every 6,000 people in New York – is still problematic for providing access to care, especially for the underprivileged. The same holds true in many other places around the world, including the UK, which is now considering rolling out a Friendship Bench programme in London.

“This isn’t just a solution for low-income countries,” Simms says. “This may well be a solution that every country in the world could benefit from.”

Zimbabwe COVID-19 Lockdown Monitoring Report 25-26 May 2020 – Days 57 and 58

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FILE PHOTO: A man is tested by a healthcare worker during a nationwide lockdown to help curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at a mass screening centre, in Harare, Zimbabwe April 30, 2020. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo

Monday 25 May 2020 was Africa Day, a day set aside to commemorate the formation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) on the 25 May 1963.  President Mnangagwa addressed the nation.  In his address he challenged Africa to pursue the vision of the founding fathers and promote economic integration and sustainable development for the continent.  In his address to the nation marking the 57th anniversary of the founding of the Organization for African Unity, now the African Union, on May 25, 1963, Mnangagwa commended Africans for defending the continent’s independence.Tuesday 26 May was day 57 of the national lockdown declared by President Emmerson Mnangagwa and has been in place since 30 March 2020, the Ministry of Health and Child Care reported that four hundred and thirty-five (435) tests were conducted. This increased the cumulative tests to thirty-seven thousand four hundred and seventy-four (37 474). Of these, thirty-seven thousand four hundred and eighteen (37 418) were negative. The number of confirmed positive COVID-19 cases remained to fifty-six (56) while recoveries remained at twenty-five (25) and the death toll remains at four (4).

2.0       Methodology
Information contained in this report is derived from the following Forum Members:

  • Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP)
  • Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)
  • Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)
  • Counselling Services Unit (CSU)
  • Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR)
  • Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights)
Excerpts from reports generated by Community Radio Harare have also been incorporated into this report.
3.0       Emerging issues 
          3.1       General updates
Village health workers in Mudzi have indicated that they at risk of contracting COVID-19 during the course of their duties as they do not have personal protective equipment or sanitisers. Health workers at Nyamanyora Clinic indicated that the clinic had run out of gloves and other protective equipment. The health workers indicated that they have resorted to using homemade facemasks as they discharge their duties since the government is not providing them with the required protective equipment.In Nyanga at Avilla, Councillor Mr Dzawanda convened a consultative meeting in to explain the processes and requirements pertaining to the food distributions that will be conducted by the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare. The councillor also highlighted that beneficiaries should pay a fee of USD1 for transport. The meeting had an attendance of more than 300 people and most of the people were not wearing face masks.

Chipinge Town Council demolished illegal structures in Gaza high density suburb. The illegal structures mainly consist of vending stalls and blair toilets. It was reported that people from Gaza high density suburbs have no running water hence they use blair toilets for ablution purposes.

3.2       Lockdown enforcement
In most major towns and cities across Zimbabwe, law enforcement officers have maintained checkpoints where they verify exemption letters and other COVID-19 regulations such as face masks.

In Highfield in Harare, it was reported that there was a violent clash between law enforcement officers and informal traders at Gazaland. Reports claimed that soldiers raided some of the informal traders who are operating in defiance with the lockdown. However, it was reported that the informal traders retaliated violently against the soldiers and other enforcement officers. It was reported that informal traders threw stones and bottles towards the law enforcement officers. In retaliation, police officers fired teargas canisters to disperse the crowds.

According to the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) official Twitter page, police officers arrested 40 682 since the beginning of the lockdown on 30 March 2020. According to the report, between 18 to 23 May, over 1 219 people were arrested in separate incidents countrywide. Most of those arrested violated movement restrictions. 14 were arrested for liquor-related offences, 43 under the Road Traffic Act, 68 for opening businesses without exemption letters, 754 for unnecessary movements, 15 for gathering, while 274 for failing to wear masks. Some of the suspects were fined amounts ranging between ZWL200 and ZWL500, while others are yet to appear in court.

           3.2       Right to water
In Bulawayo, it was reported that there is an upsurge in diarrhoeal cases since the start of the lockdown. It was reported that the Bulawayo City Council has introduced a 6-day water rationing program. It was also reported that when residence receive water, the water usually has a foul smell. It was reported that the city council has received reports from community members particularly from Luveve high density suburb and surrounding areas, of people getting sick from tap water when supplies are restored.

In Kuwadzana in Harare, community members indicate that tap water supplied by the Harare City Council was not safe to drink. In video footage widely viewed on social media, that was captured on 26 May in Kuwadzana 7 water coming from the tapes was black in colour. Residence also indicated that the water looked and smelled like raw sewer. Similarly, residence in Norton petitioned the Norton Town Council to provide portable water to prevent the spreading of COVID-19 since some locations have not received water since 2006.

          3.3       Mandatory testing and quarantine
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Nick Mangwana, indicated that Mashonaland East province has 167 returnees in its 4 quarantine centres with 16 more expected on 25 May 2020. Mashonaland East has 2 active positive COID-19 cases. One woman is at the Marondera hospital isolation centre and is stable while the other is self-isolating at home in Murehwa.

Meanwhile, it was reported that the temporary isolation/treatment centre at Mkoba 1 Clinic in Gweru which has a capacity of 20 patients is ready for COVID-19 patients. It was further reported that 3 returnees are already under observation at the centre.

It was reported that government has given returnees in COVID-19 quarantine facilities the option to have their tests done at authorized private laboratories. This comes as government has been failing to do PCR tests on time due to reagents and swabs shortages. Under normal circumstances, PCR tests are supposed to be done on day eight after arrival in the country. Health Minister Obadiah Moyo said that returnees who are unhappy with the slow screening process can now have their tests done at private laboratories for a fee.

In Chivi, 3 female returnees who absconded mandatory quarantine by jumping the border from South Africa were apprehended by authorities and sent to a quarantine facility in Masvingo. It was reported that community members alerted authorities in fear of contracting COVID-19.

            3.4       Re-opening of academic institutions  
Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA) has raised alarm on some of the challenges that teachers will face after schools reopen on 1 June as planned. ZIMTA submitted a list of questions to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Schools. The following are the questions that ZIMTA has referred to the government:

  • How safe am I if schools are opened? Are students’ books safe to mark?
  • Do I get free medication if I get COVID19 at work?
  • Is my family compensated if I die after getting COVID19 at school?
  • Will I get risk allowance when schools open?
  • Is it worth it to die for 40 USD which is not enough to feed, clothe and shelter my family?
  • Will I be able to teach six 35 minutes period classes in a day with a face mask on?
  • I have other health conditions that may affect me in this COVID19 pandemic and I am supposed to teach my Ordinary level classes? How do I go about it?

The government is yet to respond to these questions. Meanwhile, ZIMTA has indicated that teachers under their ambit will not be resuming work until these questions are answered.

According to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Nick Mangwana, in preparation for the re-opening of schools and colleges, the government has identified alternative centres to use for quarantining returnees. He further indicated that schools and colleges which are currently in use as quarantine centres will be disinfected before they are re-opened for use by learners. However, no further details were provided relating to the identified alternative isolation centres.

                 3.5       Abduction update
The Minister of Foreign Affairs General Sibusiso Moyo through a press statement dated 25 May indicated that the abduction of MDC female officials was a stage-managed theatrical display meant to tarnish the image of the government. Minister Moyo further added that the trio had violated the terms of the lockdown by staging an authorised demonstration. In the statement, Minister Moyo suggested that there is a third force behind the abductions and assault of the trio.

On 26 May, ZRP charged Joana Mamombe, Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova for violating Section 37 of the Criminal Code gathering with intent to promote public violence, breach of peace and Section 5(3) and (1) of COVID-19 Regulations SI99 of 20 on gatherings. The charges come at a time when the trio is receiving treatment following their abduction, disappearance and torture on 13 May. No arrests have been made to date for the enforced disappearance, torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment suffered by the trio.   MDC Alliance Harare West Member of Parliament Honourable Joana Mamombe and Youth Assembly leaders Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova went missing on 13 May and were located dumped in Bindura on 14 May.

Also related to this incident, the ZRP arrested and charged Lovejoy Chitengu, who is the Youth Organising Secretary for the MDC Alliance for also violating Section 37 of the Criminal Code gathering with intent to promote public violence, breach of peace and Section 5(3) and (1) of  COVID-19 Regulations SI99 of 20 on gatherings.

3.6       Transport Challenges
Due to lockdown regulations that do not allow travelling between cities, citizens have resorted to using trucks for transportation between towns and cities. As a result, the Ministry of Health and Child Care has noted that truck drivers passing through the country with essential cargo have become a COVID-19 risk. It was noted that as soon as they get cleared at Beitbridge Border Post, truck drivers carry passengers from Beitbridge to different cities across the country and most of these passengers are border jumpers.  There are allegations that the trucks are also being used by those who would have absconded from mandatory quarantine into various destinations within the country. In response, the ZRP has increased its surveillance searching for unauthorised passengers at checkpoints, roadblocks and patrols.

In Harare, transport challenges continue to bedevil community members as they try to access the CBD for work. Reports from Chitungwiza indicate that hordes of community members were observed at Junction C and most bus stops waiting for the scarce ZUPCO buses. In Glen Norah in Harare, it was also reported that community members experienced challenges in accessing transport to access the CBD. ZUPCO buses in most towns across the country are too few to cater for the transportation of people given the ban on commuter omnibuses. Community members have resorted to waking up as early as 4 am to be able to get to work on time. The situation is particularly unbearable for women and persons with disabilities who continue to endure long queues. Further, ZUPCO buses are not disability friendly hence persons with disabilities constantly experience challenges when accessing them.

4.0 Arrests
In Gweru, it was reported that fifteen (15) people were arrested and taken to Gweru Central Police Station. It was reported that the people were arrested for not wearing face masks, whilst others were arrested for loitering without having exemption letters. Only five (5) of the people were released after paying an admission of guilt fine of ZWL200. However, the status of the other ten (10) people is yet to be ascertained.

In Karoi, ZRP officers arrested at least sixteen (16) people for violating the lockdown by drinking alcohol in a bar. According to reports, patrons of a bar in Chiedza residential areas were caught unaware by police officers drinking alcohol in the bar. However, the patrons locked the doors from inside such that police officers could not arrest them. In response, police officers fired two teargas canisters into the bar to force out the patrons. The arrested persons were taken to Karoi central police station, however, details regarding the status of the arrested persons are yet to be ascertained.

5.0 Assault
In Chivhu, it was reported that armed members of the Zimbabwe National Army stormed Seequick Shop and assaulted five (5) people with fists and baton sticks. Among the people that were assaulted were two (2) CID Police officers who were assaulted for allegedly not putting on face masks properly. The soldiers also randomly assaulted everyone in the shop without asking questions. According to the Mirror newspaper, three (3) civilians were also assaulted during the crackdown by soldiers. The three (3) civilians have since reported their cases at Chivhu Police Station.

6.0 Summary of violations
The table below summarises human rights violations documented by the Forum Secretariat and Forum Members from 30 March to 26 May 2020.

Nature of Violation Number of Victims Location
Assault 258 Harare, Zvishavane, Masvingo, Bulawayo, Wedza, Chinhoyi, Zaka, Gweru, Chitungwiza, Bindura, Nembudziya, Chiredzi, Marondera, Mutoko, Chivi, Bikita, Zvishavane, Mvurwi, Mutare, Marondera, Beitbridge, Domboshava, Wengezi
Attack on Journalists 16 Mutare, Gweru, Chinhoyi, Harare, Chiredzi, Masvingo, Beitbridge
Arrests 369 Masvingo, Gokwe, Gweru, Bulawayo, Chinhoyi, Hwange, Harare, Magunje, Lupane, Norton, Bikita, Mutasa, Chitungwiza, Nkayi, Makoni, Chipinge, Beitbridge, Lupane, Tsholotsho, Mwenezi, Guruve, Hwange, Murwi
Malicious Damage to Property 2 Harare, Chitungwiza
Missing persons/Abductions 3 Harare
7.0       Court Update
The Zimbabwe Online Content Creators Trust (ZOCC) filed an urgent chamber application with the High Court seeking an order for suspension of the Zimbabwe Media Commission’s (ZMC) accreditation process set to commence in Harare on 26 May 2020. In its application filed by lawyer, Richard Manwick Dhaka of Atherstone and Cook, on 25 May 2020, ZOCC says the matter is urgent because the accreditation process by the ZMC is set to proceed based on categories that are not provided for at law
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights secured the release of journalists Frank Chikowore and Samuel Takawira after they appeared at Mbare Magistrates Court. The pair were given a ZWL 500 bail each in a case where they are charged with breaking the country’s COVID-19 lockdown regulations. It is the state’s case that the two journalists broke COVID-19 regulations when they entered a hospital to interview the three members of the MDC Alliance who were being treated for injuries sustained after being abducted and tortured by suspected security agents.  The matter was postponed to 15 June 2020.8.0       Conclusion
The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum calls upon law enforcement agencies to increase surveillance, especially in the border towns to curb the likely transmission of COVID-19 cases from border jumpers and truck drivers.  The Forum also calls on members of the public to ensure relatives coming from other countries go through the mandatory quarantine so as not to spread the COVID-19.

The Forum reiterates the calls for government to provide adequate transportation for community members. Currently, bus terminus in town centres and in the suburbs have become a risk factor as people are queueing for extended periods of time for busses without maintaining social distance.

The Forum calls on the government to immediately stop the continuous persecution of Joana Mamombe, Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova. Rather.  The government should instead divert its wrath to finding the so-called “third force” that abducted and tortured the trio.

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Zimbabwe COVID-19 infections spike to 132

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Credit: CC0 Public Domain

“Zimbabwe’s COVID-19 cases have now spiked to 132,” the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) reported.

“All new cases except one have been registered among returnees from South Africa and Botswana. Only one is a local transmission,” it said, adding that the 76 new cases were recorded in Beitbridge, Masvingo and the capital Harare.

Zimbabwe has recorded four deaths from the respiratory infection since the first case was reported on March 20.

In southern Africa, South Africa is the most affected by the pandemic, with more than 24,000 cases and 524 deaths.

Since the end of March, landlocked Zimbabwe has been observing a coronavirus lockdown imposed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Its nearly 15 million citizens have suffered more than decade-long economic downturn under the ruling ZANU-PF party including perennial food shortages which have forced hundreds of thousands to emigrate mainly to South Africa and Botswana in search of better lives.

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