Empowering Women in Rural Settings
In Yumbe there is a culture of marrying several women, you’ll find a man has up to four or five wives, and these wives all have children. And this man’s socio economic status is very poor, he cannot farm or work enough to support his whole family. So often you find that every woman in the household struggles for herself and her children, that they suffer and are unhappy within the family. So we try and team up with these women, we try and encourage them in meetings, suggest solutions to their problems, and after a while they come up with income-generating initiatives, and we support them in whichever little way we can. For example, some of them have formed agricultural groups where they farm together, and it has helped, you can see the woman’s status in the family has improved. Now, some of them are able to send their children to school and they buy household materials to improve their livelihoods.”
One such group to have benefited from TPO’s support is the Alipi Women’s Group. They formed in 1992 with just a few members, but over time the group has greatly expanded. TPO mostly works at grassroots level, empowering and building capacity with existing community groups and support structures, seeing this as the most sustainable approach.
TPO started community training sessions and workshops with the group, and offered more in-depth training to its chairperson, who is now equipped with peace building and conflict resolution skills. Ibrahim, the TPO social worker attached to the group, is proud of the progress he’s seen. “You know, in our region women aren’t normally regarded as people who should speak up in public, but these women now have a voice, and are able to solve problems within their communities.”
The chairperson agrees; “The men in our village have recognised us as a group. Now, when there is a conflict they always rush to us for help and intervention. We used to have so many conflicts in our community, over accusations of witchcraft, domestic violence and land disputes – now things have improved a lot. Some of the men, who before refused their women to join this group, now come to me and ask me to let them join, because they can see the positive change. We have really received a lot of education from TPO, and whenever we have new women joining the group we pass on the skills and training.”
Beyond psychosocial support, TPO has also made some modest material contributions to further the women’s independence and ability to contribute to their households: Beehives now produce honey to be sold at the local market, hoes and seeds to be harvested and ground in the new grinding machine. Modest contributions they may be, but the impact on the women’s daily lives is enormous.
“It’s almost as if we’ve set them free,” says Ibrahim. “They are so happy now. Before, they had to ask the men for everything, but now they’re contributing, the men are happier – everybody is happier. Today is a perfect example. We informed the chairperson we were coming, and she only banged the drum once, and all the women gathered. That would never have happened before; the men would have refused for them to go. That is the fruit of the support given by TPO.”
The progress is such that TPO is now withdrawing its hands-on support of the Alipi Women’s Group, in order to move on and focus on other groups and individuals in more immediate need. Such is the beauty of a sustainable development project.
In Ariwa village a couple of hours away, different women are experiencing similar issues. Joyce is 28 years old, co-wife, and mother of two. Shy, but smiley, this is a different Joyce than the one who first came to Faiza, the local TPO social worker, a while back.
“Before I met Faiza, I had a lot of problems in my home. I was quarrelling with my husband, with the second wife, I was so unhappy, feeling hopeless, always crying, just wanting to leave the house, wanting to kill myself. My family is in Arua, so I had no one here, I was always in my house and felt very isolated.”
Following an operation that left her unable to have more children, Joyce’s husband married a third wife, and Joyce lost even more standing in the household. Things simply became too much for her, she got a rope, and set off with the intent to commit suicide. Local villagers intervened and came to Faiza for help.
Faiza counselled the family at length – in group sessions and individually. Though the husband resisted at first, he eventually came round, and as a result, the household has been peaceful ever since. Faiza convinced Joyce to join a local women’s group, both for group support as well as for learning income-generating skills.
“TPO saved my life,” says Joyce. “They counselled me, they empowered me to face my problems, to live positively and helping the whole home to be peaceful. Now that I’ve joined the group, the group members are helping me; we share our problems and help each other. I have made friends. And I’m getting tailoring skills. Before, our household struggled, because my husband’s income is inadequate, and it’s very difficult here for women to earn money, so I was dependent on him, and he punished me for it. Now that he can see that I’m contributing and no longer relies on him, it has changed him, he sees me as a positive person. He has even promised me to buy me a sewing machine so that I can earn more money on my own. Everyone is happier.”
And ‘all’ it took was the time and skills of one social worker!
One such group to have benefited from TPO’s support is the Alipi Women’s Group. They formed in 1992 with just a few members, but over time the group has greatly expanded. TPO mostly works at grassroots level, empowering and building capacity with existing community groups and support structures, seeing this as the most sustainable approach.
TPO started community training sessions and workshops with the group, and offered more in-depth training to its chairperson, who is now equipped with peace building and conflict resolution skills. Ibrahim, the TPO social worker attached to the group, is proud of the progress he’s seen. “You know, in our region women aren’t normally regarded as people who should speak up in public, but these women now have a voice, and are able to solve problems within their communities.”
The chairperson agrees; “The men in our village have recognised us as a group. Now, when there is a conflict they always rush to us for help and intervention. We used to have so many conflicts in our community, over accusations of witchcraft, domestic violence and land disputes – now things have improved a lot. Some of the men, who before refused their women to join this group, now come to me and ask me to let them join, because they can see the positive change. We have really received a lot of education from TPO, and whenever we have new women joining the group we pass on the skills and training.”
Beyond psychosocial support, TPO has also made some modest material contributions to further the women’s independence and ability to contribute to their households: Beehives now produce honey to be sold at the local market, hoes and seeds to be harvested and ground in the new grinding machine. Modest contributions they may be, but the impact on the women’s daily lives is enormous.
“It’s almost as if we’ve set them free,” says Ibrahim. “They are so happy now. Before, they had to ask the men for everything, but now they’re contributing, the men are happier – everybody is happier. Today is a perfect example. We informed the chairperson we were coming, and she only banged the drum once, and all the women gathered. That would never have happened before; the men would have refused for them to go. That is the fruit of the support given by TPO.”
The progress is such that TPO is now withdrawing its hands-on support of the Alipi Women’s Group, in order to move on and focus on other groups and individuals in more immediate need. Such is the beauty of a sustainable development project.
In Ariwa village a couple of hours away, different women are experiencing similar issues. Joyce is 28 years old, co-wife, and mother of two. Shy, but smiley, this is a different Joyce than the one who first came to Faiza, the local TPO social worker, a while back.
“Before I met Faiza, I had a lot of problems in my home. I was quarrelling with my husband, with the second wife, I was so unhappy, feeling hopeless, always crying, just wanting to leave the house, wanting to kill myself. My family is in Arua, so I had no one here, I was always in my house and felt very isolated.”
Following an operation that left her unable to have more children, Joyce’s husband married a third wife, and Joyce lost even more standing in the household. Things simply became too much for her, she got a rope, and set off with the intent to commit suicide. Local villagers intervened and came to Faiza for help.
Faiza counselled the family at length – in group sessions and individually. Though the husband resisted at first, he eventually came round, and as a result, the household has been peaceful ever since. Faiza convinced Joyce to join a local women’s group, both for group support as well as for learning income-generating skills.
“TPO saved my life,” says Joyce. “They counselled me, they empowered me to face my problems, to live positively and helping the whole home to be peaceful. Now that I’ve joined the group, the group members are helping me; we share our problems and help each other. I have made friends. And I’m getting tailoring skills. Before, our household struggled, because my husband’s income is inadequate, and it’s very difficult here for women to earn money, so I was dependent on him, and he punished me for it. Now that he can see that I’m contributing and no longer relies on him, it has changed him, he sees me as a positive person. He has even promised me to buy me a sewing machine so that I can earn more money on my own. Everyone is happier.”
And ‘all’ it took was the time and skills of one social worker!
TPO Project Officer for Yumbe district, Grace Laki; "Women are really vulnerable here."
Alipi women's group, which has greatly benefited from support by TPO
Joyce, whose violent domestic situation brought her to the brink of suicide
TPO runs tailoring workshops for women to assist them in generating income
TPO Social Worker who works with local women in Yumbe district, West Nile
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