Monday, November 03, 2008
Linkages among women ‘help communities survive’
A WOMAN, by nature, is nurturing.
“Women naturally are the nurturers of children. And with women being the nurturers of children, they are more attuned to their surroundings. If something is thrown out of balance by a disaster, then the women are the most affected,” said Tessie Fernandez, executive director of Lihok Filipina.
When a deadly tsunami hit Aceh, Indonesia in 2004, this ability to nurture helped them bring their communities back on their feet. The Urban Poor Linkage (UPLink) also served them well.
“UPLink saw to the empowerment of the urban poor women by implementing advocacy work in the urban areas. That way, women became more participative in the revival work,” said Linda Wati, a community worker of Aceh, Indonesia.
More active
Women, who generally are not involved in major decision-making in Indonesia, learned to find their voices through UPLink and helped in the reconstruction of communities devastated by the tsunami, she said.
Seeing the importance of having sturdy shelters, women helped in the reconstruction of houses and infrastructure in
Indonesia. More women are also joining livelihood and disaster preparedness trainings, added Wati.
“Now, four years after the tsunami, women are more active,” said Wati. “Women also now help in the daily economic activities of the household. They have joined sewing trainings and bought materials; that way, they help (bring) in the daily income.”
Closer to home, grassroots women leaders in Bohol Province have joined forces to address the growing problem of domestic violence. Though not a natural disaster, domestic violence has been identified by many as a “disaster” nonetheless.
“Domestic violence is a big problem,” said Carmela Mutya of Bantay Banay.
To address the problem and assist those affected, the women of Bohol decided to establish Bantay Banay.
“We have a crisis center where women can go when they are violated by their partners. But they can only stay there for three days,” said Mutya.
Support
Aside from setting up the safehouse, Bantay Banay provides support and care that domestic violence victims need, including legal assistance and referrals to the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
“In some cases, a barangay protection order is issued to protect the women from further violence,” said Mutya.
However, the need to get more women involved and empowered remains. Instead of focusing on disaster responsiveness, the public has to look into disaster risk reduction, added international leaders from the grassroots movement.
“(We recognize) that natural and human-made disasters need urgent local and national actions to ensure human safety,” said participants during the Asian Grassroots Women’s International Academy.
Don’t wait
“We should not wait for a disaster to happen, we should do something now, before a disaster happens,” added Fernandez.
“The right to disaster-free communities is an entitlement that women and their communities must claim and to do so, they should organize themselves to ensure their rights are respected by all,” the women said in their declaration.
In response to the call, grassroots women leaders have started to create a network of grassroots organizations across the globe to address disaster risk management and work to create resilient communities.
“If we won’t start helping each other, then we might start losing the only world we are living in,” said Fernandez. (EPB)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (November 3, 2008 issue)
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