The gender bendersand Kalahi-CIDSS empowers Tiboli women

KIAMBA, Saranggani -Nestled at the top of the array of picturesque
green mountains in the eastern part of Kiamba, some 25 kilometers away from
town in Sarangani Province, the village of Kapanal in Barangay Gasi, which
means equal in local dialect, is a home to 696 members of T’boli tribe of
Mindanao.

But underneath this idyllic place, the meaning of
its name for women villagers is just a mere illusion, for they have struggled
for the equality of rights and opportunities for decades.

Early marriage is considered by the tribe’s young
villagers as the reason for being trapped in the development. Education and
livelihood opportunities, that could bring bright prospects for better future,
have been sacrificed, marginalizing women in the process.

Shirly B. Cabot, 31, is one of the T’boliwomen who
was arranged and married at an early age of 16.

Growing up, she barely graduated elementary grade
at the age of 15 by juggling her time as a student and a house helper in town
proper. Her parents could hardly provide education support, having 9 other
siblings in the family.

sand//photos-5.dropbox.com/t/2/AACqtGC7IMEvbqdSXzV7wQpA2CdefgeqTiwL468hknKI1w/12/94288930/jpeg/32x32/3/1448384400/0/2/PICTURISQUE%20VIew%20Kapanal%20view%20from%20above%20the%20mountain.JPG/EKTqm0kYPSAHKAc/1YjiGeKti5eNSKFrP4QNSG6NTKAbAq7U7zW041k8hhE%2CiRHCMbotxn4KluzB1nm0PidfP9Xk0dU6KLnGbtbwHFw?size_mode=3andampsize=1024x768 In her first year in high school, she was arranged
to marry a T’boli neighbor by their parents, leaving her with no choice but to
drop from schooling. Six horses and a carabao as dowry has been agreed and
given to her family.

According to Shirly, of the 45 women of her age, 30
had early marriage and 15 were arranged marriage. Often, at 16, the youth marry and beget four or five children more than half a decade later.

This practice among T’boli has been reflected in
the national data, as one in ten young Filipino women age 15 to 19 is already
mother or pregnant with first child, according to 2013 demographic and health
survey.

Ready not yet

Many don’t have the full grasp of what really marriage is all about,” Shirly said.

Upon knowing that she was soon to marry, Shirly has
initially thought of leaving home. She said her body was too young to
carry a child and will look too old for her age as a mother.

Shirly’s hesitations have something to do with the
risks as teenage mother, dangers that are usually associated with the readiness
of reproductive organ, maternal death due to higher risk of eclampsia or a
serious complication of pregnancy condition leading to unexplained coma.

World Health Organization report says that there
are 13 Filipino women dying daily due to childbirth. This has been exacerbated
by the lack of access to health facilities and services, especially of young
women in the remote communities like Kapanal.

Minerva Suyan, 30, a T’boli woman who has been
arranged to marry at the age of eight, said that it is really difficult to
marry at the very early age. Because of the distance of health facility to the
community, her life was put at risk during giving birth to a child. The river
in the village overflowed and there was no other way but to wait until the
floods subsided to reach the nearest birth station.

Rights,
opportunities

Arranged and early marriage are
practices that we do in our tribe, these are passes from one generation to
next,” Shirly said, whose parents were also arranged and married at the young
age.

For Shirly, arranged marriage discriminates the
rights of women to choose whom they want to be with for the rest of their life.
This is a usual brand of feminism discrimination in the community.

Why we just allow that only men can choose whom
to marry, not for women, where is justice,” Shirly says with jest.

The role of women in T’boli tribe is based on the
long tradition with strong paternal system. This means that man is regarded as
decision-maker in the community.

Since during the marriage, women are usually very
young, men do the livelihood and earn income, while the former are confined at
home.

This has impliedly sending the message that whoever
has the control of resources has also the control over decision-making in the
households of T’bolis in Kapanal.

There is a need to educate women of their rights as members of the community,”
Shirly said.

Sense
of participation

Shirly has been working to influence the mind of
community and little by little, answering the needs of women.

At the stance of 4’10’’, she is now a mother of 4,
standing tall in the middle of all men and women, encouraging participation in
whatever community affairs of Kapanal.

image sand//api-content.dropbox.com/r11/t/AADU5UxAoBQ97IEkO-cf4pzV6wG0CG8Ep1-E7C__p_9P0A/12/94288930/jpeg/_/0/4/Shirly%20answer%20questions%20during%20World%20Bank%20mission%20in%20their%20village..JPG/CKL4-iwgASACIAQgBSAHKAIoBw/b7g79c8ohgomgf8/AAAfpNy8afegGzU10AIQKRHAa/Shirly%20answer%20questions%20during%20World%20Bank%20mission%20in%20their%20village..JPG?mode=cropandampbounding_box=800 (Shirly Cabot meets empowered women in her community in Kapanal, Kiamba, Saranggani province during World Bank Mission - Hilbert Estacion) In 2010, Shirly found an opportunity to encourage
women’s participation to volunteer, through the government’s Program
community-driven development (CDD), the Kalahi-CIDSS.

Shirly, despite her educational attainment, is
persistent in encouraging women folks to take active role in the identification
of problems, planning for various activities, taking responsibilities in
implementing and proposing of projects for the possible solutions to their
problems.

Shirly realized that one of they need to be
organized for their voices and concerns will be heard in unison.

There is a need to make women realized
that they have an important role in the community, she said.Nowadays, her daily routine includes as volunteer
facilitator of meeting, monitoring and addressing women’s concerns for nine
self-help group compose of some 15-20 T’boli women members.

The self-help group (Sheg) serves as an avenue and
home to discuss women concerns including early and arranged marriage, abused
and many others which usually not discussed in public openly.

In some instances, when Kalahi-CIDSS Program called
for assemblies, meetings and trainings, other programs were also conducting
activities especially for women of Kapanal.

Sense
of empowerment

Shirly and women members of Kapanal have attended
various training, seminars and activities, helping them to gain more
self-confidence and openly express their stakes in the community.

Ang daku namong natun-an sa Kalahi-CIDSS kay unsa man
kadaku o kagamay ang desisyon o plano, dapat tanan ginakonsulta, babae man o
lalaki, (The biggest learning we got is that, how small or big the decision and
plan, everybody should be consulted, either they are men or women), Shirly added.

This has been of great help, according to Shirly,
especially in the community where men usually dominated planning and
decision-making, in slowly changing the mindset in Kapanal’s households.

Shirly’s group has initiated cooperative in Kapanal
to encourage women to be a partner of men to earn income and save portion of
this for the future, which residents usually do not do. She encouraged to save
out of cash grant from the PantawidPamilyaprogram.

Our cooperative was able to access loan for women which we
utilize to for our livelihood activities to meet our needs) Shirly said.

But, with the provision of opportunities to women
to earn income, has changed the situation, making women feel financial freedom
and as partner of husbands in providing the needs of their broods.

/Furthermore, Shirly and other women, also take role
as volunteer barangay health worker for many years, taking care of their health
and guiding them to access health services and with, components of educating
them about family planning, child rearing, responsible parenthood and many others.

Bridge
for development

Along the various Kalahi-CIDSS community activities
and processes, women of Kapanal have been empowered as a community, including
their capacities to craft proposals for funding of projects by various agencies
to address their pressing needs.

There is a big difference with the situation of
women then and before,” Elena Wot, 19, mother of two, said.

The strong organized group of women in Kapanal, has
influenced on the development directions on what kind of projects it should be
put in the community.

As a result, the community has acquired and
constructed day care center, school, electrification, road concreting and many
others, resulting to rapid development of the area.

Also, women in the community were mobilized as
volunteer and paid labor for the construction of Php1.2 million school building
and now, Shirly volunteers as an audit and inventory head for their hanging
cable footbridge amounting to Php2.47 million, courtesy of Kalahi-CIDSS.

Kapanal women have broken the old mindset of the
roles of women among T’boli, like they are just homebody, but rather as potent
force of development.

According to Shirly, Kapanal now is slowly being true to its name,
where villagers recognize the equal rights and opportunities of men and women
and that, we can only talk about development unless we address the needs and
concerns of women in the community. image sand//api-content.dropbox.com/r11/t/AAAGtqfG-RkoMgVCEoXb3QYQtlRXrn4x7elBlLWQ20qFKA/12/94288930/jpeg/_/0/4/Kapanal%20women%20haul%20the%20construction%20materials%20for%20their%20hanging%20bridge%20project.JPG/CKL4-iwgASACIAQgBSAHKAIoBw/z2et2e283w2jt9e/AADA8QYqDYo6lx2znvqfzH5Fa/Kapanal%20women%20haul%20the%20construction%20materials%20for%20their%20hanging%20bridge%20project.JPG?mode=cropandampbounding_box=800 (T'boli women carry construction materials for the community hanging bridge project - Hilbert Estacion)