I attended a course on implementing Participatory Capability and Vulnerability Assessment (PCVA) for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climatic Change Adaptation (CCA) from 17 to 21 September 2012. It was organized by OXFAM Mindanao with a few other local NGOs. Despite, my busy schedule I accepted this opportunity to learn and fine tune my methods for the research that I am conducting. The framework of my research is based on participatory methods informed by feminist analysis. The methods which were introduced were not very different to the ideas which I already had, however the opportunity to incorporate feminist analysis in the process was really valuable.
Barangay Lasak, Columbio
This barangay (village) is one of the barangay's in Columbio district with a total land area of 2, 676 hectares of which 2, 080 (77.73%) is agricultural. The community is largely involved in farming with corn being its substantial produce. It was also the barangay selected for our practicum. The Rural Institute of Sultan Kudrat, Inc. (RDISK) works with this community on a range of economic empowerment projects.
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| Lasak Barangay Hall Signage |
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| 10 women from Barangay Lasak attended the Focus Group Discussions |
Barangay Lasak Female Population Data
Age Numbers
0 -5 111
6 - 16 172
17 - 24 129
25 - 64 229
65 and above 24
The literacy rate is 12.7 percent, mostly among 25 to 64 age range. These women are mostly homemakers, however a large portion of their time and effort go into assisting their husbands with agriculture work. 80 percent of household derive drinking water from flowing water sources, creeks and rivers. The work of gathering water for household needs is done primarily by women. It was not clear how far they have to walk to gather water. This also includes carrying large quantity of water which is heavy and laborious work.
Women's Leadership
The barangay leadership is also dominanted by men. Both Christians and Muslims live in the community, historically they have experienced clashes which they refer to as massacre, the most recent being 2011 due to the armed conflict in Mindanao. There is a permanent settlement of an army barrack in the vicinity. We were provided security by the Philippines Army personnel during our visit there as a courtesy measure by the local government administration there.
There are 2 women in the barangay administration out of ten council members, one is a council member and the other is the secretary. I noticed this the minute we arrived there because there was a lone woman in the welcoming party. She later gathered women for our activities which did not exceed 10. I also noticed women hardly spoke up during the sharing sessions with the community. Three women remained and they had to be solicited for their opinions.
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| The lone woman among the men |
Community Participatory Methods
We were responsible for the focus group discussions with women. We had to chose appropriate tools for the sessions. I personally was not involved in the selection as I was asked to be an observe to assess the suitability of the tools selected for the purpose.
The tools selected were as follows:-
(a) Daily Time Chart
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| Maricar Jaro (SIMCAR) and Anafel Granada (RDISK) getting feedback from participants |
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| Maricar Jaro and Anafel Granada filling out the Seasonality Calendar |
(c) Venn Diagramme
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| Women identifying key stakeholders in their community |
Identifying Appropriate Tools
My overall observation was that focus group discussions were about generating relevant data. There was really little thought put into the aspects of empowerment which could be incorporated in the process. I was especially concerned about how rushed the entire facilitation was, women were expected to provide instant feedback. It lacked awareness raising, women were asked questions and they answered. I firmly believe, interactivity is as important as as generating data. Women especially are rarely asked their opinions and it is important to make the experience meaningful for them.
Another very disturbing aspect of the facilitation was the involvement of a male facilitator who kept interrupting the sessions. He is the development worker who works with the community. There were instances in the session which he challenged the women. If women responded in the certain questions, he would challenge them. It was clear that women were not aware of many opportunities which have been made available to the community. Despite, being told that he was disturbing the session he continued interrupting the session for the next three hours.
Venn Diagramme
This is an interesting tool which is useful to understand the role of various stakeholders in the community. Women took some time to complete this activity because they were not aware of the various organizations involved in their community. Many of them complained that training and empowerment programmes were only made available to men.
Venn Diagramme
This is an interesting tool which is useful to understand the role of various stakeholders in the community. Women took some time to complete this activity because they were not aware of the various organizations involved in their community. Many of them complained that training and empowerment programmes were only made available to men.
Daily Time Chart
Women rose earlier by an hour every day and went to bed later. They had significantly less leisure time. Women's work consists household chores, child care and farm work. However, care work is an integral part of their daily life. Comparatively, men are physically out of the house when they work and return for rest and to spend time with their family. There is a clear demarcation of their leisure time and work. As observed by Naila Kabeer (2009) the result of gender rigidities in the intra-household substitutability of labour is that women all over the world, particularly those from poorer households, have to balance a multiplicity of demands on their time. For instances, there peak periods during harvest season where women have to assist their husbands. A video of the facilitation done by Anafel Granada and Maricar Jaro - Women's FDG in Barangay Lasak, Columbio
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| Filling up the Daily Time Chart Sample Produced by the Women
04.00 - 04.30 am Wake up
04.31 - 04.45 am Drink coffee
04.46 - 05.00 am Breakfast
05.00 - 05.30 am House cleaning
05.30 - 06.00 am Bathing children
06.00 - 06.30 am Breakfast and wash dishes
06.30 - 07.30 am Wash clothes and bathe
07.30 - 10.00 am Helping out husband in the farm
10.00 - 11.00 am Cooking for lunch
11.00 - 11.30 am Eat lunch and wash dishes
11.30 - 01.30 pm Relax
01.30 - 04.00 pm Assisting husband in the farm
04.00 - 06.00 pm Prepare dinner, attend to domestic animals
and attend to children
06.00 - 07.00 pm Dinner and wash dishes
07.00 - 09.30 pm Watch television and attend to child's
assignments
09.30 - 04.00 am Sleep
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