1. INVISIBLE WORK. All women work but do not necessarily earn a salary. Traditionally, only productive work is categorised as a job and all other work, such as that in households or outside the formal economy, remains invisible and therefore unpaid. Women are doing 75 per cent of all unpaid work worldwide and do it for three to six hours per day. Much of the invisible work is within homes, taking care of children, the sick and the elderly.
2. EDUCATION. More than 130 million girls aged 6–17 do not go to school. A girls’ education can also be disrupted if her family needs her to support their daily life through household work or paid jobs. Menstruation or marriage can also put an end to a girls’ education.
3. MENSTRUATION leads to discrimination. In Nepal, for instance, families and the community restrict women’s movement and participation in activities during menstruation. In Myanmar’s Rohingya communities, women are traditionally not allowed to interact with other boys and men than their own family’s after they started menstruating. Many girls face the risk of early marriage after they have had their first period.
4. PERIOD POVERTY. The lack of sanitary pads causes multiple challenges. For instance, in refugee settlements, quality pads are hardly available or sold at a very high price. If the sanitary pads do not exist or cannot be changed safely in school, girls might be forced to stay home during their periods. Repeated absence from school might cause girls to drop out.
5. LAVATORIES are part of everyone’s daily life, but many women have to search for a safe lavatory every day. According to the UN, every third of the world’s women cannot access a safe bathroom facility where they can also wash during menstruation. Women need a door that can be locked not only because of privacy and dignity but because bathroom facilities put women at risk for abuse and sexual violence.
6. EMPLOYMENT. Traditional roles and models weaken the position of women in the job market. Their invisible work as caretakers of families creates further challenges for the women to find time for paid work. Research shows that public support for daycare services increases the number of women doing paid work. A woman with a job and salary has a better chance of impacting her own life and the surrounding society.
7. VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN is a severe violation of human rights and a far too common practice. Women are not safe even in their own homes – every third of the world’s women report having experienced violence in a close relationship. An estimated 38 per cent of all murdered women were killed by their spouses.
8. DISASTERS worsen the situation of those in the most fragile positions even further – conflict and war increase domestic and gender-based violence. Violence against women has reportedly soared in several countries during the lockdowns caused by the coronavirus, including the countries where Finn Church Aid operates. Due to Covid-19 restrictions and the pandemic’s burden on healthcare, women are struggling to access services related to sexuality and reproduction, and this might result in a rise in, for instance, unwanted pregnancies.
9. INEQUALITY IN POWER STRUCTURES. Men form a majority in decision-making positions worldwide. Research shows that women are more likely to consider women-related issues, family politics, education and care services when they are in a leadership position. Thus, leaving women outside decision-making significantly affects these areas of life. The influence of women is also undermined by them not being part of the informal, male-dominated networks that might have an unexpected impact on society.
10. ADDITIONAL DISADVANTAGES. While women per se are in an unfavourable position, the women with additional disadvantages caused by disabilities, age, poverty or sexual orientation face even greater challenges. In emergencies, such as natural disasters and conflicts, women with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to discrimination and violence and struggle to access support. Elderly and poor women and those with disabilities are dependent on the support of others, which makes them vulnerable to abuse.
+1 FINN CHURCH AID (FCA) includes and promotes gender equality in all its operations. FCA and the Women’s Bank work for women’s rights by supporting women’s education and livelihoods in fragile countries. Livelihood activities offer training in entrepreneurship, marketing and managing finances. Creating cooperatives and savings groups are central to the projects, and the cooperatives support their members’ business activities.
The livelihood projects also strengthen women’s rights in other ways. Participating in cooperatives and their management builds confidence and experience that support women in becoming involved in broader decision-making structures. The cooperatives also offer interventions and solutions to issues, such as domestic violence and other forms of gender-based violence.
The education of girls is one of the most efficient ways of securing sustainable development. Educated women are more likely to send their children to school, and education is the key to sustaining oneself and live an independent life.
Sources: Caroline Criado Perez (2019): Invisible Women, World Health Organisation, Plan International
Text: Noora Pohjanheimo
Illustration: Carla Ladau
The Northern Kenya Integrated Development project trains women in peacebuilding. Milka Rutonye explains how the women brought two conflicting communities together.
Three years ago, Milka Rutonye had had enough. The mother of seven children grew up in Kenya’s Pokot area but married a man from the neighbouring Marakwet. Milka could no longer bear with the impact of conflicts between the two communities.
Political incitement, livestock theft and a scramble for water between the Pokot and Marakwet led to shootings, violence against women and disruptions in the children’s education. Milka was determined to leave her husband’s home, leaving her children behind, and return to her family in Pokot just to run away from the gunshots.
“I always felt terrible when the Pokot – my people – came to Marakwet and caused chaos,” she says. “They forget that their children, sisters and nieces are married to the Marakwet.”
In 2018, Milka spoke with bitterness and complained of the area’s insecurity and its impact on her life. She began taking part in talking circles for women from both of the conflicting communities. Through the platform created by Finn Church Aid (FCA), the 57 women found a common cause and took it upon themselves to change the narrative of insecurity in the Kerio Valley.
The talking circles connect women from the neighbouring communities of Elgeyo Marakwet and West Pokot. Issues, such as water scarcity and cattle theft, have sparked violence in this area of Kenya.
Training gave birth to peacebuilding initiatives
Milka Rutonye has participated in women’s talking circles since 2018.
The group calls itself Endo Chamkalya. It encourages women to be resilient in all aspects of life and actively create a just, peaceful, and equal society through formal and informal structures. Ahead of the International Women’s Day on March 8, 2021, Milka speaks from inspiration.
“I was touched to see that FCA, coming from outside our communities, was concerned about our well-being. The talking circles have opened our eyes to the causes of our conflict”, she says.
“Water scarcity contributed to the fighting because we wanted to ensure that our livestock gets food. The training has built our capacity to hear and understand each other.”
The Northern Kenya Integrated Development project arranges training in peacebuilding. The training gave birth to various initiatives that the women undertook to restore peace.
Milka recalls a significant event in 2018; a protest against violence. During a border conflict between Elgeyo Marakwet and West Pokot, the Endo women crossed over to the Pokot side when the conflict had practically restricted all movement across the border. They prayed for peace.
“We had mobilized the Pokot women that are married to Marakwet and decided that we will seek peace by all means. Our only way was to seek an audience with the Pokot,” she says.
The women of Marakwet and Pokot gathering in prayers for peace.
Women from the Pokot community met the women that Milka’s group had gathered. The women from the talking circle ended up meeting with 35 village elders of West Pokot. In two mediation meetings, the women spoke out about how they wanted their children to go to school without interruption, their animals to graze freely, and enjoy peace like any other part of Kenya.
Peacebuilding may start with as simple things as learning to express oneself to the other person. Milka says that the Pokot elders did not know that they were attacking their blood relatives, those that were married to the Marakwet. They regretted it, and some of them even cried.
More importantly, according to Milka, the story shows that anyone can find a moment like this and connect to it – and eventually, become a peacebuilder.
“We were able to influence the village elders of both Pokot and Marakwet to come together and discuss.”
Clearing the road improved livelihood opportunities
Since the peace negotiation led by the FCA talking circle, the situation between the two communities and the entire Kerio Valley has improved.
Benedicta, a moderator in Milka’s women’s talking circle, says that youth from both Pokot and Marakwet joined in clearing the nine-kilometre-long road connecting the two communities. The thick bush had provided hideouts for armed robbers, and there were also other physical obstacles that restricted movement. In the past, Benedicta witnessed two pregnant women die due to the impassable road.
“They were on their way to the district hospital, which is two hours away in normal conditions. The peace engagements have kept the road safe. Now, no one will die because of the road,” she says
Marakwet and Pokot youth clearing the bush along the road connecting the two communities in Northern Kenya.
This road led to the opening of the Lodio market, an important centre for the communities’ livelihoods, and eased access to the health centre. According to Benedicta, it paved the way for people to trade and improve their living standard.
When Covid-19 restricted gatherings in the Kerio Valley, the women groups found creative ways to arrange peace meetings. Peace talks continued during the lockdown on radio channels, such as North Rift FM and Upendo FM Eldoret, with a substantial contribution from the women.
“The talking circles have empowered us women, and we are now committed to advocating for human rights and lead herders and the entire community to disarmament, development, livelihood and gender equality,” Milka adds.
Text: Elizabeth Oriedi
Photos: Aziza Maalim
The district formation process is implemented under the European Union (EU) funded project that aims to strengthen local governance structures. The inclusion of women and youth was essential in empowering the district council’s decision-making process.
South Galkayo district in Somalia reached a significant milestone on 24th of October by electing its mayor and his deputy.
Abdirahman Sheikh Hassan Jimale and Mohamed Abdi Elmi were elected as mayor and deputy mayor of the district respectively for the coming four years in a fair and inclusive process that saw 5 women and 17 youth elected in the newly formed district council. The successful process, funded by the European Union as part of its support to local governance structures, advances the government’s decentralization plan as well as the Wadajir National Framework on Local Governance.
The event was attended by Galmudug’s Minister of Interior and local government Mr Abdi Mohamed Jamac (Abdi Wayel), other state ministers and deputy ministers, members of parliament from the state, and various community stakeholders such as elders, youth and women groups.
Speaking at the event, the state’s assistant minister Ahmed Hassan Ali reminded the newly elected council members that they have an enormous task ahead in ensuring that the district gets access to services that it did not have before.
“The newly elected mayor and his deputy have to ensure the district is united under a noble cause by not forgetting that you will be held accountable after your four-year tenure comes to an end”, he said.
The Delegation of the European Union to Somalia congratulated the new local leaders and expressed its conviction that local reconciliation efforts are the basis for stability and prosperity in Somalia.
Women and youth active participants in the election
For the past five months, significant foundations were laid down in promoting a democratic and inclusive process. The process was highlighted by the increase in dialogues and interface mechanisms between state and non-state actors and among different community groups. Youth and women groups participated actively, and the top leadership of the state’s government showed strong commitment throughout the process.
Even though the elected council members fell short of the desired 30 per cent quorum for women representation, it is greater than before. Five of the 27 council members are women, which translates into a 19 per cent representation of women. Similarly, the process saw a significant increase in youth representation with 17 youth being elected, which translates to a 63 per cent representation. The inclusion of women and youth was essential in empowering the district council’s decision-making process.
The formation of the district council in Galkayo is taking place under the local governance law approved by the Galmudug authority in January 2018. The principle of the devolution of powers is enshrined in chapter five of Somalia’s provisional federal constitution of 2012.
The district formation process is funded by the European Union (EU) through a project that aims to strengthen local governance structures for more accountable and inclusive federal member states in support of the Wadajir National Framework. It is implemented by FCA and its two consortium members, CRD and EISA, in close partnership with the Ministries of Interior and Local Government of Galmudug and other federal member states across Somalia.
World Teachers’ Day on October 5 celebrates teachers in crises. The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly added to the challenges of teachers to protect people’s right to education but teachers like 27-year-old Obang Omot Oboya ensure no one is left behind during school closures.
Mr Oboya teaches mathematics and science in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. Below, he explains how teachers stepped up to the challenge.
“The year 2020 brought along with it perhaps one of the biggest challenges that the world’s teachers have faced. Kenya is not an exception. Even teachers with decades of experience have had to learn something new: how do we support learners when they cannot come to school?
Finn Church Aid distributing solar-powered radios in Kakuma refugee camp.
Following the school closures, teaching in Kenya moved to radio broadcasts and virtual platforms. The first step for us was ensuring that learners in Kakuma refugee camp had access to the national broadcasts. FCA distributed radios to the families, and we worked together with agencies in finding new solutions to complement the radio lessons with recaps and homework.
Schools have assigned each teacher in Kakuma a cluster of groups with six learners per group. Six learners share one radio. The arrangement adheres to the social distancing guidelines of Kenya’s Ministry of Health as the FCA supported teachers accompany each group separately.
At the end of every lesson, the radio teacher usually gives assignments. We mark their homework, and this makes radio lessons more authentic.
As long as learners cannot come to school, we have to go to them.
Mathematical formulas need to be visualised
Mr Oboya visualises radio lessons on a blackboard.
The first days were challenging for both teachers and learners. As teachers, we are in the habit of being personally in touch with learners in the classroom, be it just going around and seeing what they are doing. This is not possible for the radio teacher. And for my part, my current role does not include, for instance, planning lessons. We rely on what the radio teacher prepares.
In the beginning, it was difficult to catch the interest of learners through the radio and get them into a radio class routine. We also had to help learners with tuning in to the right frequency.
To enable learners to be attentive during the radio lesson, I usually come with a blackboard and chalk for the purpose of demonstration. The learners have to see the mathematical formulas while they follow the radio lessons on math. This helps learners to be attentive.
I also break down lessons into segments and achievable goals, and I attend to each student individually to ensure that they grasp the concepts. By now, everyone has got the hang of it.
A fruitful collaboration between teachers and parents
The new ways of learning have also provided relief to both teachers and learners, compared to our usual setting. I can now attend to each learner’s needs differently compared to a classroom. It is easier to listen to a group of six learners at the time than to the 80 learners I used to teach in a classroom. Teachers can quickly identify and support, for instance, slow learners.
I now teach 48 learners per day, divided into eight groups. There are eight radio lesson per day, 35 minutes each, which means I give one lecture per group. The remaining 32 learners from my class are taught by parents who volunteer as teachers after training with FCA.
What has been most important is that the parents are also involved in their children’s learning process. We collaborate more with parents since they join us in accompanying the pupils during the radio lessons and ensure that their children do their assignments. Parents and teachers collaborate in motivating the children and monitoring that they do their homework.
We also collaborate more with the parents on WhatsApp for the children’s learning, for instance, by recording learning materials on our phones and sharing them with parents in WhatsApp groups that we have established. The learners have to use their parents’ devices.
Girls at risk during distance learning
There is, unfortunately, one function that the distance learning arrangements cannot fully address: schools typically constitute a safe space for children and youth, particularly girls.
When girls are in school, they are less likely to become victims of sexual abuse or be forced into marriage. During this pandemic, the school buildings cannot protect the girls.
Some of the learners I used to teach have become pregnant during the time schools have been closed. We conclude that our homes and camps are not safe when the children are idle.
The affected girls need psychosocial support and assistance in continuing with their education.
Teaching is a call and a passion. The best World Teachers’ Day gift I can give my learners in this year of the pandemic is my time and spirit of adapting to the distance learning.
I hope that my pupils will not let this episode blindly, that they will be more resilient and take the new norms as a way of life and achieve their goals.”
Teacher Obang Omot Oboya was interviewed by FCA Kenya’s Communications Intern Elizabeth Oriedi. FCA works with education in Kakuma refugee camp together with Unicef and UNHCR.
Galmudug State of Somalia launched a new district council formation process that promotes inclusive participation of women, youth and other marginalised groups. The event took place in Galkayo last week.
The process targets the state’s districts of Adado and South Galkayo, homes to a population of hundreds of thousands. The initiative is part of the EU’s stabilisation effort in peacebuilding and state-building in Somalia, implemented by FCA and two other consortium members, CRD and EISA. The aim is to decentralise power and improve stability at a grassroots level.
“The power is on your shoulders now. We look forward to efficient, inclusive and competent councils to run district business,” said Ms Fadumo Abdi Ali, Galmudug Second Deputy Speaker at the launch. She also highlighted the need for supporting women’s meaningful participation and representation in decision-making process.
The EU reiterated its continuous support for state-building in Somalia, not only in the district council formation process but also through local peace dividend programs after the councils are formed.
Galmudug State Minister of Interior and local government H.E Abdi Mohamed Wayel speaking at the launch event.
Galmudug State President Ahmed Abdi Kaariye also urged everyone to ensure the genuine role of women and youth in the process.
“Galmudug women are the backbone of our development, stability and rebuilding the state. I would like to campaign for a woman to become Mayor in one of our cities,” he said.
Long-term support for reconciliation and women’s political participation
Since 2013, FCA has supported local community reconciliation, civic engagement, local council formation women and youth engagement, capacity building, strategic communication and peace dividends in South Central Somalia.
FCA and the EU delegation to Somalia has supported the formation of district councils and women’s political participation across four Federal Member States of Somalia, namely South West State, Hirshabelle, Jubbaland and Galmudug since 2016. As a result, two district councils of Berdale and Hudur in South West State were successfully formed in 2017 and 2018 respectively. With FCA’s active lobbying and advocacy, two women were elected amongst the 21 district councilors in Berdale.
Currently, the district formation process is undergoing in Jowhar and Buloberde of Hirshabelle, Adado and South Galkacyo of Galmudug.
Millions of girls and women living in refugee camps urgently need feminine hygiene products. They also desperately hope for access to clean water, soap and functioning door locks.
At present, roughly 30 million girls and women around the world are living as refugees, and many of them face the same question every month: how will I cope with my period this time?
Taking care of menstrual hygiene in a refugee camp setting is not easy. No proper sanitary pads are available. Or if there are, they are far too expensive to buy, at least in sufficient amounts.
The girls and women living in refugee camps in different parts of the world also have to fear for their safety. Privacy is another real problem in settings where women have to use communal toilets that are rarely even equipped with locks.
Feminine hygiene is difficult to maintain when there is no clean water for washing up. The cultural stigmatization of women as impure during menstruation also makes girls and women feel ashamed of their bodies. At worst, women and girls have to isolate themselves from their community or even their own family during their periods.
Girls attending Yoyo primary school going to classes at Bidibidi refugee settlement.
Youth learn about menstruation in school
”Not having sanitary pads, for example, has a direct impact on girls’ education,” says Project Manager Lilian Musoki from Uganda.
Musoki was involved in organising the distribution of hygiene kits in Bidibidi refugee settlement. Bidibidi has a population of 270,000 people and is one of the world’s largest refugee settlements. A city unto itself, its inhabitants have mainly fled the civil war in Uganda’s northern neighbour South Sudan.
Although menstruation and access to education may seem to have little connection, according to Musoki, they go hand in hand.
“Girls stay out of school every time they have their period. Without proper sanitary pads and school facilities for taking care of their menstrual hygiene in private, girls cannot make the most of their education.”
The problem is that their absence from school cause girls to fall behind in their studies, making it difficult for them to complete their education.
In Bidibidi refugee settlement, proper sanitary towels are hard to come by or they are too expensive for the women and girls living as refugees. That’s why women and girls often make do with whatever is on hand. In practice, it means that they resort to making pads themselves, for example, from pieces of fabric cut from old cloths.
These makeshift pads sometimes leak and lead to odours, causing embarrassment and shame for the girls. This is why the hygiene kits distributed by FCA also contain sanitary pads. A total of 19,850 girls in Bidibidi were able to obtain the FCA hygiene kit in 2019.
On Menstrual Hygiene Day last year, Finn Church Aid distributed 19 850 hygiene kits to girls in Bidibidi refugee settlement in Uganda.
According to Lilian Musoki, girls often lack menstrual knowledge.
“In our culture, talking openly about menstruation is off-limits, even between mothers and daughters. It is culturally unacceptable”, Musoki says.
Mothers also have their hands full with keeping up with housework and earning a livelihood. In FCA’s projects in refugee settlements, information has been shared, and schools also provide menstrual education.
In school, girls learn the facts about menstruation and how to maintain good hygiene. They can also turn to a designated female teacher if their period starts in the middle of the school day. Musoki says that they can ask the teacher for a sanitary pad so that they can continue with their school day.
Lilian Musoki.
“When the girls get accurate information, the shame associated with menstruation and the changes in their own bodies disappears,” Musoki insists.
For environmental reasons, some of the sanitary pads FCA provides can be washed and reused. Soap bars for washing them are included in the hygiene kits distributed in refugee settlements. Hygiene kits also include panties.
According to Musoki, FCA is providing pads because other products, such as tampons and menstrual cups, would prove too costly for local people. A tampon pack worth three US dollars is a luxury no one can afford.
Safety equals a door with a lock
For menstrual hygiene, girls need to have their own toilets where they can change their sanitary pads in private, without any fear of harassment.
The safe spaces for women and girls have also been vital to girls and women living on the other side of the world in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, in the world’s largest refugee camp. There, in partnership with DanChurchAid (DCA), FCA supports safe spaces for the Rohingya women and girls who have fled Myanmar to Bangladesh.
In the safe spaces, women and girls can use clean and safe toilets with hand-washing stations and soap. In addition, they get sanitary pads that enable them to participate in the literacy and numeracy lessons offered by FCA and DCA, also during their periods.
Why are the toilets in safe spaces so important? Kaji Shahin Akter who works as the Programme Manager for Gender-Based Violence in Cox’s Bazar, says that the taboos surrounding menstruation expose women to violence.
“Traditionally, Rohingya women have used rags cut from worn-out garments as their sanitary towels. Women need to wash these either early in the morning or late at night, been conditioned by the culture to regard menstruation and menstruating women as polluted,” she says.
Such notions compel women and girls to go to the camp’s water stations after dark, exposing them to sexual or other forms of violence. Even toilets designated for women can be dangerous when inadequately monitored.
In Cox’s Bazar Bangladesh, the world’s largest refugee settlement, Finn Church Aid and Dan Church Aid have built safe spaces for women and girls.
Cox’s Bazar Education Programme Manager Margaret Goll from DCA says that even the disposable sanitary pads are problematic. They add to the issue of waste in the massive refugee camp.
“There are many kinds of problems related to menstruation in Cox’s Bazar, actually every problem you can imagine,” Goll says.
Men also need menstrual information
Menstruation puts even further limits to girls’ lives, as many Rohingya girls stop attending school after they get their first period, on average at the age of 14.
“In Rohingya culture, when a girl starts menstruating, she can only spend time with the men and boys of her own family. Many girls are also married off when they start menstruating,” says Goll.
In Cox’s Bazar refugee camp, women and girls have their own safe spaces where they are able to study and get information on menstrual health and hygiene as well as other important issues in their own lives.
Rohingyas believe that a girl or a woman is impure during menstruation and can therefore not participate in normal life. According to Margaret Goll and Kaji Shahin Akter, these attitudes are also addressed. Getting the community’s men involved in the conversations is essential.
”We have provided boys and men not only with information on menstruation but also on positive body image and positive fatherhood. In the beginning, this was difficult, and the men and boys were reluctant to join in because all of us working for the project are women,” says Kaji Shahin Akter.
Eventually, progress was made when religious leaders, such as imams, started taking part in the project.
One way to make menstruation more visible has been the annual World Menstruation Hygiene Day on 28 May.
“It has been a big event in Cox’s Bazar in previous years. This year, however, we may have to limit public gatherings,” says Goll.
Text: Elisa Rimaila
Translation: Ulla Kärki
Every year on August 19th we celebrate World Humanitarian Day. The purpose of this day is to raise awareness of the efforts of professionals supporting people in crises around the world. This year’s theme is dedicated to Women Humanitarians.
By choosing this particular group we want to honour women’s tireless efforts to help people in need and shed light on additional challenges that women in particular face.
Being away from friends and loved ones are issues all humanitarians face, women however have to tackle additional challenges and risks. These range from not being taken seriously as a (young looking) woman in often highly patriarchal societies and work environments, conflicting social norms and additional security threats, including all forms of gender-based violence. National colleagues and refugee volunteers frequently find themselves in the toughest spots and at the same time remain often unseen and unheard. It is about time to share their stories. Because these women just rock!
I have the gratifying pleasure of currently working in a female only team of roughly 60 Bangladeshi and Rohingya women on a programme that provides educational opportunities to female Rohingya refugees over the age of 14. Interviewing some of these amazing women for this blog has once more revealed the daily battles many women professionals around the world have to fight besides ‘just’ performing in their jobs.
In both the Rohingya and Bangladeshi communities’ girls as a rule drop out of school when they get their period or get married. This interruption in their education automatically makes it harder for women to get a job, particularly in senior positions. If a girl drops out of school because of getting married, she subsequently often spends her days doing household chores and caring for her husband, children and in-laws, consequently family support is of uppermost importance and anything but to be taken for granted.
Tamara walking through camp on her way to a home-based learning session.
The aforementioned circumstances were also Tamara’s reality when she got married as a 17-year-old girl. Yet, her life has changed a lot since then. Now, aged 25 years, she says ‘I am an empowered woman now and people see that I bring home good money’. The journey to this point was hard, and she nearly gave up more than once. Some of her family did not approve the path to a career that she chose, and she is still struggling to meet expectations, both her familiy’s and her own. Tamara was fortunate to have a husband who supported her through those challenging times.
Dipa is another DCA staff member who has always been supported by her family, but still faces a hard time with not always being there for her family as this is what is expected from her as a daughter. Work life balance is even harder if these expectations are higher.
A supporting family is a luxury Rohingya DCA volunteer Fatima can only dream of. After getting married at the age of 15 out of love, she was abandoned by her family. Marriages are normally arranged by a girls’ parents in her community. Fatima now lives with her 3-year-old son in one of the refugee camps in Southern Bangladesh. Her husband left her for another women, staying in the same area as she does, thus bringing even more shame on her. Support from him or her family cannot be expected. Fatima, however, still feels guilty and obliged to support her family, as this is a daughter’s duty.
Besides social norms that make it harder for women to have a career of their own, security is often a major issue. Fear of sexual harassment is also often used as an argument to limit women’s movements in order to protect them and at the same time reinforces traditional social norms. My female colleagues are harassed for not fully covering themselves, being on the road on their own after dark, being unmarried, for working, etc. While I am lucky enough not to understand what is being said and ‘only’ have to deal with unpleasant glances, my native colleagues do understand all these undermining comments. This leads to a general feeling of insecurity.
So what drives them on to still keep going, to still keep on fighting?
“Over 50% of the population in the Rohingya community are female. We as women have to help them and ensure women have access to facilities and services”, shares Dipa her opinion when asked what motivates her as a woman to work in this field.
Fatima leaving the Women and Girls safe space to go home to her 3 year old son.
Others insist that it is their responsibility to support the most vulnerable and at the same time very rewarding when walking through the camp and feeling the support of the refugee community. Fatima and Sayema, who are volunteers from the Rohingya community and teach Burmese at DCA centres, tell us how much they enjoy coming to the Women and Girls Safe Space where they feel safe and protected. They are both teachers and participants at the same time, passing on their knowledge in Burmese, while improving their skills in other areas. Furthermore, they feel proud of getting educated. Sayema informs us that her family respects her as she can help them now with their documents.
‘Education can empower people and I feel a responsibility to help the Rohingya’ says 25-year-old Tamara working as a teacher in the refugee camps in Southern Bangladesh.
Involving women in each and every workplace, especially in the field of humanitarian work is essential as it eventually changes societies. In a community where women were not allowed to leave the house on their own, you can now see women in all kinds of different positions, from front line field staff up to managing positions. I am deeply convinced that despite the fact that we as a community still have a long way to go to not only ensure women have the same opportunities on paper but supporting them in tackling the additional challenges, it’s us who set the ball rolling. However, organisations have to undertake responsibility in acknowledging the existing inequality and better support women at all levels in pursuing their careers. It is time for a change!
Petra Weissengruber
The writer is an Education in Emergencies Professional, currently working as Education Programme Manager for FCA (seconded to DCA, FCA’s partner) in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.
Literacy training targeted for women has filled classrooms in the illiterate countryside of Central African Republic. Excitement spreads as rumor goes that the mother next door has learnt to read.
A woman dressed in an eye-catching blue kaftan is standing in front of the class. A group of women both approaching and past middle age repeats syllables after her in one voice. A wooden plank serving as a pointer taps a determined rhythm on the chalkboard.
The woman is Damaris Sarape, 35, instructor of a literacy group for adult women. On the surface, Damaris is no different from her students. Her everyday life is the same as that of her peers; she lives in one of the two-room clay houses built next to one another, and keeps her children fed by farming.
However, there is one thing that sets her apart, and makes the other women follow her with admiration as well as address her using the respectful Madame. She knows how to read.
Damaris teaches the women in her neighborhood with enthusiasm and determinism.
Being able to read boosts sense of self-worth
Two years ago, when Finn Church Aid asked women living in the remote northwestern parts of the Central African Republic what kind of support they needed in their day-to-day life, among the first things that the women mentioned was wanting to learn how to read.
Based on these wishes, a Women’s Bank project was born, founded on the idea of improving the quality of life of women in the Bozoum region by offering them education in literacy and numeracy, entrepreneurship, and peace work.
Before, I didn’t even know how to spell my own name, but now I do. It feels wonderful.
Factbox
- Central African Republic is one of the most fragile states in the world. Learn more here.
- Anna Koskivuo, volunteer with Teachers Without Borders, together with a representative of the Central African Republic Ministry of Education, trained 18 literacy educators, who teach groups of 15 to 25 women three times a week
- The Women’s Bank project runs from 2018 to 2020 and incorporates subsistence, education, and peace work
- All activities are held in the women’s native language, sango
- The project benefits a total of 450 women
”In our community, we have many mothers who don’t know how to read, count, or write. These women deserve better opportunities to be in charge of their own life,” says Damaris, literacy instructor in one of the women’s groups.
Last year, she saw the Women’s Bank’s advertisement for recruiting literacy instructors, applied, and was selected. Damaris is motivated by seeing women she knows gain self-confidence through learning to carry out simple calculations and write their own name.
”If we had been allowed to go to school earlier, we wouldn’t be illiterate now. Before, I didn’t even know how to spell my own name, but now I do. It feels wonderful,” says Nafissa Yaya, 45, mother of six.
The women come from modest circumstances. Many of them had parents who chose to keep their daughters home to do housework, and arranged for them to marry young instead of sending them to school.
However, literacy and numeracy skills are strongly connected to coping with day-to-day life.
”Sometimes I get conned at the market, because I don’t know how to count or how much the change should be. I want to learn how to count in order to better plan my family’s finances and to be able to set aside some savings,” Nafissa continues.
Women and girls are often left outside education. According to an estimate by UNESCO (2010), only 24 percent of women in the Central African Republic know how to read.
Less than half of the adult population in Central African Republic is literate. The number is even lower what comes to women; according to UNESCO (2010), only 24 percent of Central African women can read.
Prolonged conflict and unstable history have resulted in poor levels of education. The influence of the former French colonial administration is still visible today; for example, the official language of instruction in Central African Republic is still French, even though the majority of the population, especially in remote areas, does not master the language. Children do not learn at school if they do not understand what the teacher is talking about.
Women’s Bank’s literacy training is held in sango, which is the primary language spoken in Central African Republic. Studying in sango has sparked enthusiasm and hope among the women about learning still being possible.
Mother of six, Nafissa, hopes that the training will help her find a job.
Hands full with work
Bozoum is a sleepy rural town with about 20,000 inhabitants, where everyday life is simple but filled with work.
When the sun rises above the hills of the town early in the morning, Damaris is already up. She starts the day by sweeping the ground in front of her home, just like the other women in her neighbourhood. It is important to keep one’s own yard looking tidy.
In Central African Republic, women are in charge of taking care of home and children. In the morning, the women walk together to go and work in the fields, and during the day, they sell their crops by the side of the road in order to provide for their families. Many have husbands working in the gold and diamond mines far outside of town. The fathers come home once a month, sometimes once every two months.
Although rich in natural resources, Central African Republic has had a rocky road to travel. The civil war that broke out in 2013 affected Bozoum as well.
Even though the situation is stable at the moment, many are worried about the future.
”There is still unrest in the regions surrounding the town. Only one fifth of those who ran from the war have returned,” says Damaris.
In addition to having two jobs and her own children to look after, Damaris takes care of the children of her brother who works at the mines located far away.
Laole after a literacy class.
The decreased population has affected the market as well.
”Business is not what it used to be. My family’s subsistence is on the line. I wish I was able to sell more,” says Laole Léocadie, 40, who recently became a widow.
It is not easy to bring food on the table; Laole provides for her six children by working in the fields. The youngest of the children is only two years old.
After her husband was taken away by an illness, the women’s group has become even more important to Laole.
”With the father of my children no longer with us, the other women bring security. It’s easier to have a savings fund and to go and work in the fields together”.
Hope in the middle of adversity
Alice Issoia, 47, has a kind face and a slightly sad smile. When Damaris writes on the chalkboard in sango, she follows attentively. Even Alice recently became a widow.
”My life has been hard since my husband died. I have to take care of our children and finances alone. Sometimes, when my children are fighting and money is tight, I don’t know how I’m going to cope.”
When Alice heard that there was going to be literacy training in her town, she felt her opportunity had come. Unexpectedly, learning to read and write has brought newfound joy into her days.
”The literacy training has given me something else to think about and offered me a moment’s escape from everyday reality. Now I have something of my own to focus on every now and then.”
Like many of her peers, Alice is illiterate. Alice lost her mother when she was still a child, so there was no one to send her to school.
”I go to Bible group at the church, but I don’t know how to read the Bible. I’m especially glad that I finally get to read and write in my own language, sango”.
Alice has gotten newfound joy from learning to read.
Admirable perseverance
Despite the hardships, these women do not need pity. What they do need is tools to build a better life, piece by piece, using the same perseverance that has brought them this far.
”The women have showed their interest in the project, and they are committed to it. Now, whether we help them in the longer run is up to us,” says Timothee Yarawandi, coordinator for Women’s Bank.
The possibility of change even encourages the women to make plans for the future.
”I hope that this education can make up for never having been able to finish school. I can use the diploma I get from the training to prove that I can read and write. I hope it helps me find work. I would like to work as a waitress, for example,” Nafissa plans.
Women walking home after a literacy class has ended.
The evening sun paints the walls of the classroom golden. The two-hour literacy class is ending. Books are packed into bags, chairs are put back in their place. The women walking out the open door look more determined than the ones who walked in earlier.
Text: Elina Kostiainen
Translation: Leena Vuolteenaho
Photos: Fredrik Lerneryd
In Kenya’s poorest region, going to school requires great sacrifices, but David Edapal is convinced that education guarantees his daughter a good future.
There is a rustle of dry twigs as goats try to make their way out of their pen through narrow openings. 12-year-old Rebecca Atubo carefully guides baby goats into their own cage before letting the adult goats loose. Soon, the goats are ambling towards pastures in the gentle early-morning sun.
In a few hours, the temperature rises and turns to relentless heat, and it is hard to find shade in the desert-like environment.
”Herding is hard work when it’s so hot, and you’re thirsty all the time,” Rebecca describes.
Still, Rebecca is obedient and does what is asked of her.
For thousands of years, the nomadic people of Northwest Kenya have made their living raising cattle, and children have taken responsibility for the family’s goats and cows at a young age.
However, the distance to pastures has grown longer. There is no green in sight in the yellowish-gray landscape outside the family’s huts. Rebecca’s father David Edapal has been worried for a long time. He cannot say how old he is, but the lines on his face reveal he has seen several decades in Turkana, the poorest county in Kenya.
”The weather has grown warmer, and there are much fewer rains than before. In order to get water, we have to walk for two hours one way every day to get to the nearest river,” says Edapal.
Rebecca says she prefers school to herding. Because of the heat, herding is hard work for both children and adults, and according to Rebecca, the thirst is the worst part.
Tested by drought
Severe periods of drought are testing Turkana more and more frequently. The drought in 2017 was the worst in decades. Hundreds of thousands of animals died due to lack of water as well as diseases.
This was a hard blow for the pastoralists, who traditionally move to follow the rains. Livestock are like a bank account on legs – they are used to fulfil all needs. Livestock provide milk and meat for food. Selling livestock brings in money to pay for things such as healthcare.
In addition, men need livestock to pay dowry to the family of the bride when they get married. The death of livestock hit families like an economic recession.
”Animals ravaged by drought cannot be sold or eaten, and they provide much less milk,” Edapal explains.
The crisis also fuels tensions among pastoralist people. They compete for the shrinking pastures, and extreme poverty makes stealing cattle a tempting prospect. A camel shepherd passing by carries an assault rifle on his shoulder to keep thieves at bay. Adding to the insecurity is a stream of firearms coming to Turkana across the border from neighbouring war-torn South Sudan.
For a pastoralist, questions about property are about as personal as asking a Finn about their salary. Most keep the number of livestock to themselves. However, Edapal reveals that cattle thieves took about two hundred of the family’s animals.
The family fled the insecurity into their current place of residence in the village of Ageles near the town of Lokichar. Edapal’s wife Aseken Namasi says all their hardships hurt her heart.
”The worst moment was when thieves killed four of my friends in front of my eyes when I was retrieving water,” she says. ”You can always get more livestock, but you can never replace a human being.”
Rebecca Atubo, 12, (in front) walking to school with her friends. It is important to have the school close to home, as the journey to school is filled with danger in Turkana.
12-year-old Rebecca Atubo’s (middle) parents David Edapal (left) and Aseken Namasi sent their daughter to school. The shift from nomadic culture to a view of life that values education is seen strong in Turkana.
Almost all inhabitants of Turkana are pastoralists. Boys are brought up to raise cattle, and girls are expected to add to the family’s wealth by marrying. The dowry goes to the entire extended family.
Child marriage is still common. Because of the expectations of the traditional lifestyle, pastoralist people used to have little respect for education.
When Alice Loro Lele got to school age, her mother wanted her to go to school, but her father resisted. In anger, her father threw them both out, and with no livestock, they were destitute.
After comprehensive education, Alice could not afford to go to high school. Today, Alice is a 20-year-old mother of three, and lives in a hut in Lokichar with her mother.
”I married at 15, because I thought my husband would take care of us. I was foolish, and I didn’t know much about anything,” Alice says, clearly upset.
Her husband never paid dowry, which is another example of the plight of the nomadic people. As a gifted student, Alice got a job as a preschool teacher. She also started a general store. But her husband kept all the profits and started drinking. Alice gave birth to two children, but her husband did not care about them.
”When I was pregnant for the third time, my husband was going to get a second wife. I left him and moved back in with my mother,” Alice says.
Turkana lives under the poverty line
Places like Turkana are far from the reality of the capital Nairobi. Kenyan economy has grown at a rapid pace. Nairobi is teeming with skyscrapers, technology, and innovative mobile phone applications. In Turkana, most people live in villages with no electricity or running water.
In Nairobi, 22 percent of the people live under the poverty line, while in Turkana, the number is 88 percent. The disparity is largely due to education. In Nairobi, almost everyone has at least completed comprehensive school – in Turkana, 18 percent.
Pastoralists are moving into towns of Turkana with hope of work, but few of them even know how to read.
”We encourage families to send their children to school. More and more people see this as a solution in the long term,” says FCA education coordinator Miriam Atonia.
Hundreds of thousands of animals died during the drought of 2017. The drought had catastrophic repercussions for the nomadic people whose livelihood depends on raising cattle.
Things are moving in the right direction. Today, over half of the school-aged children and young people in Turkana go to school. Almost 27,000 started school in the poorest counties in Kenya in FCA projects during 2018.
Alice was offered a scholarship to study at a high school in Lokichar. She also thanks her mother for her support: mother looks after Alice’s children while she is at school.
”My heart breaks because I see my children so rarely. But we have to make some sacrifices; if we’re idle, we can’t improve our situation,” she says.
”I want to become a teacher because I want to encourage girls to go to school. I can give them the kind of advice I needed myself.”
It is hard to communicate the benefits of education to parents who have led a nomadic life. Edapal and Namasi did not go to school, but after a great deal of consideration, they decided to send their daughter Rebecca off to get an education.
”I have seen how the people of my generation, those who went to school, are succeeding. If we had received an education, we would be sleeping on mattresses, and our hut would have a tin roof instead of cloth,” he muses.
Alice Loro Lele (left) goes to school and takes care of her three children. She happy, that she decided to return to school.
A woman with an education is independent
After letting the goats out to pasture, it only takes Rebecca a few minutes of walking to get to the first lesson of the day. Edapal compares education to marriage – Rebecca is now married to school. An educated woman does not need to depend on others. She can make her own decisions regarding marriage once she is has finished her schooling.
Edapal feels proud when after her school day, Rebecca tells him about what she has learned.
”I hope Rebecca finds herself a job she likes, and God willing, can even help her parents in the future. Education provides lots of opportunities which I can’t even imagine.”
Text: Erik Nyström, Translation: Elina Vuolteenaho, Photos: Tatu Blomqvist / Ville Nykänen
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