Many times I caught myself wishing I was home. There I said it, how un-researcher like of me. Nevertheless, I am really quite alone at RDISK today. Most staff members who reside here have gone home for the weekend. I moved in today to an empty house but there is a caretaker nearby, named Nining. She is awfully kind, having to put up with my every plea for assistance. "Where's the switch to this and that?" etc...
I cooked my first meal today at RDISK. Not before, I went on a spree buying and stocking up for a cauldron of delicious sambar tomorrow. I got all the regular comfort food that I need.I believe fervently that a taste of home will officiate my actual first meal in the Philippines. On that note, the spaghetti I made today does not count, of course.
I am blessed with a stable WIFI connection and able to do some quality work. I was able to access a useful report published by ILO and ADB on women's work in South East Asia. I became acquainted with 'vulnerable employment', a term which has been around since 2009. I also came across a wonderful diagramme which could provide me a wonderful framework. But it is still in its infancy and needs lots of nurture and care.
Locating the problem
There is a deeply entrenched belief in what constitutes women's work among the people of Tacurong . In fact, when I started my discussions with RDISK, I was told that very few women work on the plantation I wish to study because they have been relegated to work which requires less physical exertion like picking up loose fruits from oil palm bunches which have been harvested. So, work on oil palm plantations is gender segregated and women are perceived to be doing 'lighter' work because they have limited strength.
This being a workers' cooperative owned plantation, workers are also the main decision makers of the way it is run. The general assembly, made up of members of the cooperative, selects a management team which administers the plantation.
However, if the majority of the members are men, do women have a voice in determining the important decisions which also affect their wages, benefits and profits? It is necessary to examine the decision making processes of the general assembly and membership of the cooperative and link it to the situation of women workers in the plantation.
I cooked my first meal today at RDISK. Not before, I went on a spree buying and stocking up for a cauldron of delicious sambar tomorrow. I got all the regular comfort food that I need.I believe fervently that a taste of home will officiate my actual first meal in the Philippines. On that note, the spaghetti I made today does not count, of course.
I am blessed with a stable WIFI connection and able to do some quality work. I was able to access a useful report published by ILO and ADB on women's work in South East Asia. I became acquainted with 'vulnerable employment', a term which has been around since 2009. I also came across a wonderful diagramme which could provide me a wonderful framework. But it is still in its infancy and needs lots of nurture and care.
Locating the problem
There is a deeply entrenched belief in what constitutes women's work among the people of Tacurong . In fact, when I started my discussions with RDISK, I was told that very few women work on the plantation I wish to study because they have been relegated to work which requires less physical exertion like picking up loose fruits from oil palm bunches which have been harvested. So, work on oil palm plantations is gender segregated and women are perceived to be doing 'lighter' work because they have limited strength.
This being a workers' cooperative owned plantation, workers are also the main decision makers of the way it is run. The general assembly, made up of members of the cooperative, selects a management team which administers the plantation.
However, if the majority of the members are men, do women have a voice in determining the important decisions which also affect their wages, benefits and profits? It is necessary to examine the decision making processes of the general assembly and membership of the cooperative and link it to the situation of women workers in the plantation.
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