| OCTOBER 2004 |
By Saifuddin Ahmed and Subvina Chithi - both on staff of The Hunger
Project-Bangladesh
Women Animators of Gokorno:
The Key to Mobilizing Self-Reliant
Development
The Hunger Project believes that women are the key for creating a self-reliant future. Bangladesh suffers the highest rate of malnutrition in the world because of the low social status of women in Bangladeshi society. The Hunger Project in Bangladesh has made the empowerment of grass-root women leaders its highest priority.
Training of women animators is a strategic investment of The Hunger Project-Bangladesh. It is one of the most effective tools for catalyzing action in a village community. Women leaders in particular take action in the key areas of health, education, sanitation, income generation and awareness raising which are essential for eliminating hunger and poverty from Bangladesh.
Women animators in action: The Gokorno Union
Gokorno, a union of Nasirnagar Upazila under Brahmanbaria District of Bangladesh, is inhabited by 19,316 people, about 48 percent of whom are women. Only two years ago, filthy environment, open latrines, malnourished children were common sights in the village. Women were not organized, they had no independent income and most importantly, they were unaware of their rights. Women’s educational level was low and opportunities for development were few and far between. Dropout rate among schoolchildren was on the rise as they were forced to help their families in the fields or with their businesses. The children’s families were unconcerned, the school managing committee was irresponsible and the teachers were apathetic. This is no longer the case today. The situation has changed dramatically and it all started with one woman animator, Hasna Hena.
Hasna Hena, a woman animator
Hasna Hena was a struggling woman of Gokorno Union. She studied up to just Class-VIII. She dreamed of giving her children a good education, a dream that was threatened when her husband became unemployed in 1995. Life became tough for them. But Hasna was determined not to lose hope. She started a tree nursery in a 15-decimal land close to her house with a loan for one year. At first she produced 8,000 saplings of eight different species. The following year she produced 10,000 saplings. Soon there were so many orders that she could not keep up with the demand. Her dream is now a reality. Her children are in school and her elder daughter has appeared in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination this year.
But Hasna wanted to do more. Friendly and sympathetic in nature she always helped the women in her village during hard times. After the bill allocating seats for women in the Union Parishad was passed in the Parliament, the villagers, especially the women, requested Hasna to compete for membership in the union parishad. She won and became a Woman Member of the UP from 1997-2002.
It was around that time that Hasna attended the 34th animator training at the Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD) organized by The Hunger Project. This training gave her a lot of new ideas, new dreams, and a new spirit. As an animator and a UP member, she felt she could do a lot more. Armed with an action plan, she set out to bring changes in her village. Hasna held meetings in her house where she tried to make people understand that a person of self-power cannot be poor. She shared her own struggles and the lessons she learned from the animator training. In July of 2002, Hasna organized an animator training session at the Gokorno High School. The UP chairman was a participant and after four days he also declared himself as an animator. The new animators, many of them women, eagerly led initiatives for improving the dismal situation of their villages. They organized regular meetings where they rigorously discussed their problems, visions and expectations for their communities.
The Gokorno Animators Organization
On August 23, 2002, the animators of Gokorno formed the Gokorno Ujjibak Sangathan (Gokorno Animators Organization) with a total of 50 members. This organization served as the umbrella organization for the Gokorno Union. Currently it has about 135 members, of which over half (81) are women. The members are playing a key role in the union, forming women’s cooperatives that allow them to access the existing GO/NGO facilities, helping to reduce the dropout rate in the primary level of education, creating an enabling environment for ensuring the rights of girl children, taking initiatives for better health and sanitation and making the UP body more active as it would be the ultimate institution for development, democracy and good governance.
Accomplishments and impact
Local planning and local initiatives: Partnerships in health and education
Animators are thorough in planning and implementation of programs. They help voluntarily in the initiatives undertaken by the UP and ensure that they are implemented with transparency and accountability. This way they act both as partners of government as well as its watchdogs so that the programs really benefit the people.
Health initiatives
· The Gokorno Ujjibak Sangathan members discussed ways to prevent communicable diseases in the village through sanitary living and child and maternal care. Seeing the need for sanitary latrines in each house, they formed the ‘Sanitation Samity’ (The Sanitation Association) and agreed that each person would save Tk.50 (equivalent to USD 1) per month until there was enough to put up a sanitary latrine in each house. Another group, the Purbapara ‘Susthya Thakun Samity’ (Stay Healthy Association), was also formed to work for sanitation.
Impact: About 70 percent of the 3,865 families in Gokorno are currently under safe sanitation. The rest of the families cannot afford the cost. The union parishad and the animators are trying to help those families through partnerships.
· Animators are raising health awareness and health education. They encourage parents to bring their children to the health centers where the animators immunize the children on National Immunization Day.
Impact: 90 percent of the children of Gokorno are immunized. About 60 percent of the families are now taking family planning measures. Seventy percent of all the families take iodized salt.
Education initiatives
· In order to reduce school dropout rate and bring awareness among the parents, animators, with the help of the teachers, village elders, managing committees and students organized education meetings and education fairs. At those meetings, the guardians committed to ensuring their children’s attendance in school and study time at night. Teachers committed to stay in regular communication with the guardians. The UP chairman and members regularly meet with the teachers and the schools’ managing committee to discuss progress and any issues and problems related to education.
Impact: There was a sharp increase in school attendance from 10 percent to 75 percent (among both boys and girls).
Income-generating initiatives: A handful of rice every day
· The women animators, wanting to do something to help the women without any capital earn more income organized 30 poor women and formed the Jagoroni Mahila Samity (Jagoroni women’s cooperative). Another group of women formed the Atmanirvarshil Mushtichal Samity (Self-reliant Handful-Grain Cooperative). Members of these two cooperatives saved one handful of rice every day. When they get a good price in the market they sell their saved grain. This way, they were able to make the minimum capital to start a sewing and handicraft store. Animator Halima, an experienced tailor, trained the members in exchange for a minimum honorarium.
Impact: Members of cooperatives have now become self-reliant through income generating projects they started on their own.
· A group of 19 adolescent girls organized the Gokorno United Adolescent Handful Grain Cooperative. Saving a handful of rice every day each of the members saved ½ kilo of rice a week. The girls sold their saved grain collectively and earned money for their school expenses.
Impact: The girls were able to save for their own educational expenses and accumulate capital for the future. They plan to put up a vegetable garden and start a sewing project in the near future.
Growing social consciousness
· With the support of the union parishad, the Gokorno Animators Organization has been conducting campaigns to improve the quality of education, bring health awareness, protect the environment and promote income-generating activities in the community. These have inspired and mobilized the people from the nearby communities to take on various development initiatives as well.
· On environment: initiatives for starting a plantation have been taken by the villagers and the students. The UP is providing support through coordinating with the concerned GO/NGO facilities.
· On women issues: animators, women UP members and adolescent girls are holding “uthan boithok” (yard meetings) to address women’s issues, cases regarding girl-child’s rights, women’s education, women’s self-reliance, women’s consciousness about their own rights and building grassroots women leadership. They organize events to celebrate International Women’s Day and National Girl-Child Day.
Impact: Social consciousness in the community has increased remarkably. The animators have become an inspiring role model for social action, and individual action and initiative.
Strengthening local government
As UP is the government institution closest to the people, animators are very conscious about its transparency and autonomy. To promote openness and increase people’s participation in governance issues animators are initiating the following activities:
· ‘Face to face’ programs during the UP election - In this program all of the candidates answer questions from the people in an open stage and present their plans and commitment for the union. Through this open dialogue, people get the opportunity to make their judgments about government leaders.
· Open budget meetings - This is another effective program to ensure clarity of the UP and to get people involved with the development planning of their own area. The UP chairman presents the coming year’s budget before the people and explains the allocations. This gives people a chance to raise public demands, concerns and suggestions before the UP body.
Impact: There is better communication and clearer understanding between people and the government. A culture of transparent and democratic practice is established.
| Impact on the Animators “Five years ago I was a simple housewife and an ordinary woman. I cooked every day, took care of my children and my husband. After I attended the animator training, I realized my worth as a human being, more than just a housewife. I discovered that I could contribute a lot to the improvement of the lives of the people in my union, not only as a woman member of the union parishad, but as a human being. This is my dream and I love doing this. I don’t think I can live a day in my life without working with others as a volunteer.” - Hasna Hena, Woman animator of Gokorno “Since the beginning of my life, I have always wanted to do something for the people of Gokorno. But I did not know how to do that. I did not have enough money, which I thought was the only resource. Then came the animator training. The AT taught me that although money is important, social capital is as important in making Gokorno hunger-free and self-reliant. And I realized that the people, especially the women, are the key to freeing the people of Gokorno from hunger and suffering.” - Moslema Akther, Woman animator of Gokorno |
Conclusion
It may seem that all of these are happening magically and with absolute smoothness. The fact is that there are a lot of obstacles in the social structure and in the mindset of people that make transformation a slow and tedious process. The low status accorded to women, the traditional gender roles that hinder their participation in public affairs and prevent their access to resources and opportunities are barriers that cannot be eliminated overnight. But the important thing is that women are gradually becoming aware of their worth and their rights and people are increasingly taking the responsibility for positive change. All of these things are happening on the basis of public ownership and volunteerism. Again, it is not the time to say ‘Yes, it’s done’ but the groundswell of action seems to suggest, “Yes, it has started in the right way.”
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