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8/11/2019 Obstacles Effective Participation Women in Education
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TABLE O F CONTENT
TABLE OF CONTENT
..........................................................................................................
3
ACRONYMS
...........................................................................................................................
4
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
.....................................................................................................
5
OBSTACLES TO THE EFFECTIVE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN ADULT
EDUCATION PROGRAMS
OCUS ONSOCIO-CULTURAL ACTORS
...................... 7
RESEARCH BACKGROUND AND FRAMEWORK
........................................................
7
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
...........................................................................................
9
Information sources .................................................................................................................. 9
Dynamics andLimits
............................................................................................................... 10
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
..............................................................................................
11
The Case or Culture. Women and Education ........................................................................ Il
Constructionof Gender Relations.,
.........................................................................................
13
RESEARCH FINDINGS ...................................................................................................... 16
Traditions.
Myths.
Metaphors: Women sSense
of Duty
........................................................ 16
CONTROL.OLES. ELATIONS:OMAN SORMATION..................................................... 19
Knowledge and Power in the Community and Government ................................................... 22
Reproduction of Gender Perceptions in Girlsand Boys ......................................................... 23
TRACING WOMEN S ACCESS TO FORMAL EDUCATION
......................................
26
w h y
most
women
today did not go to school
.......................................................................... 26
Current Perceptions on Education for Girls
...........................................................................
27
Meaning-Making
n
Gender
................................................................................................... 30
INTERVENTIONS
AND
PERCEPTIONS
........................................................................
32
Mapping ofliteracy Programs
............................................................................................... 32
Approaches
..............................................................................................................................
33
.
Who is Working
Where
.......................................................................................................... 32
MOTIVATIONS FOR LEARNING
....................................................................................
36
STRATEGIES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
..................................................................
39
Frameworkon Literacy and Women ....................................................................................... 39
Pedagogy ................................................................................................................................. 41
Tools
and Techniques .............................................................................................................. 43
Approachesfor Organizing ..................................................................................................... 45
Policy advocacy ...................................................................................................................... 46
Networks and Structures .........................................................................................................
47
Synthesis of
Strategies
............................................................................................................. 48
3
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ANNEX 1: LIST OF RESPONDENTS ................................................................................
51
ANNEX 2: LIST OF REFERENCES .................................................................................. 57
ACRONYMS i
GFFTL:
Gr upo Feto Foi n Sa e Ti mor Lorosa r (East Ti mor Yout h Women
Organi zati on)
Loke Dal an (l ocal NGO Liqui sa)ODA:
ND : Nati onal Democr acy Insti tuti on
NGO:
Non Gover nment Organi zati on
OGB: Oxf amGreat Bri tai n
OMT: Organi zaco Mul her Ti mor (Organi zati on of Ti morese Women)
OPE:
Gabi nete Da Pr omosaun Da I gual i dada (Ofi ce for the Promoti on O
Equal i ty
OPMT
Organi zaco Popul ar Mul her Ti mor (Popul ar Organi zat i on
of
Ti morese
Women)
Sekol ah Menengah
Atas
(Secondary School )
MA:
SD: Sekol ah Dasar (Pri mary School )
UNDP: Uni ted Nat i on Devel opment Program
UNESCO:
UNI CEF: Uni ted Nat i ons Chi l dren sFund
UNTL : Uni versi dade Naci onal Ti mor Lorosa e (East Ti mor Nati onal
Uni versi ty)
Uni ted Nati on for Educat i on, Scienti fi c and Cul ture Organi zati on
L
4
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Si nce gai ni ng
its
i ndependence
in 1999, the
government of
East
Ti mor has began worki ng
towards
its
vi si on of providi ng educati on to al and eradi cati ng i l l i teracy among the esti mated
3
50,000
l l i terate Ti morese. Compr i si ng two- thi rds of these are adul t women. Start i ng
2002,
the
government , together
wth
agenci es and non- government organi zati ons, i mpl emented
l i teracy programs for the peopl e, and further i ntroduced aff i rmati ve acti ons to broaden the
women s rol e f r omthe pri vate towards the publ i c spheres through adul t educati on. However ,
the gl ari ng non-parti ci pati on and non- i nvol vement of women conti nues to be a maj or gap and
chal l enge
in
these i nterventi ons.
Thi s
research thus expl ores the two- pronged questi on of why are Ti morese women not
parti cipati ng? and why l i teracy programs for women, and how are these i mpl emented?
Wth
these
questi ons, the research al so ai ms to encourage an assessment of the
i mpl ementati on of l i teracy programs in rel ati on to women s needs and si tuati ons.
Usi ng the cul tural approach, the study il lustrates that a woman s deci si on to parti cipate or not
parti cipate
is
not sol el y based on i ndi vi dual want s or di sinterest, but a deci si on strongl y
i nformed by the norms, rol es, val ues and percepti ons embedded
in
the
home and communi t y.
These i nf l uences on the everyday life of a Ti morese have hi ndered women s parti ci pati on.
Targeti ng women for l i teracy has created questi ons that are both cul tural and pol i ti cal . The
gender equal i ty f r amework
in
l i teracy and other i nterventi ons
i s
vi ewed by others as
an
i mposi ti on f r om internati onal agenci es and not respecti ng the cul ture of Ti mor and
its
tradi ti ons on women and faml y. The research engages th s argument by aski ng the peopl e
their vi ews on the equal i ty of ri ghts between women and men.
In
the process,
i t
i denti fi es the
rea iti es and contenti ous i ssues that may have i mpact on l i teracy and women s empower ment .
Bui l di ng upon the previous assessments of l i teracy programs in Ti mor
wth
parti cul ar
attenti on to l ocal perspecti ves, f r ameworks and approaches to encourage women s
part i ci pati on,
the
researchers
di scussed
wth
part i ci pants of l i teracy classes, faci l i tators, as
wel l as communi t y member s and tradi ti onal l eaders, to l ook into ho w l i teracy for women
i s
appreciated at
the
communi t y l evel . It studi ed the possibi l i ti es for the strong r ecommendat i on
of many NGOs and devel opment pl ayers for l i teracy programs to respect and adapt to the
l ocal contexts of Ti mor. However , gi ven a cul ture that posi ti ons the women as subordi nate to
men, cauti on
must
be taken in such an adaptati on
si nce
th s may l ead to a perpetuati on of the
exi sti ng gender i nequal i ti es. Theref ore, whi l e th s research factors in the suggesti ons for
l i teracy by women,
t
anal yzes these suggesti ons vi s--vi s he transformati ve f r amework of
NGOs. ransf ormati on,
nths
case, means engagi ng both thepubl i c spheres of power- state
and communi t y structures, and the pri vate spheres and
the
everyday l i fe-famly, norms,
habi ts and i nteracti ons where gender i nequal i ti es are mor e easi l y reproduced. Usi ng Paul o
Frei res model
reading the word and the world,
the
research study del ved i nto
the
questi on of Literacy in the Peoples ifeworld or everyday experi ences.
The research fi ndi ngs uncover the
traditions, myths, and symbolisms
that are pervasi ve and
occumng in the everyday life of the faml y and communi t y. Thei r power l ies
in
the seemng
natural ness of theval ues and rol es ascri bed to women. The
i ntervi ews
w th tradi ti onal l eaders
and women provi ded a gl i mpse of how the sel f -worth and l ocati on of women have been
histori cal l y constructed as sel f-sacri f i ci ng,submssi ve, and i nferi or to the husband s posi ti on
in
the faml y and the communi t y.
5
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The tradi ti onal roles and relations of the women that have gi ven tota control to the men
have al so i mpacted on the womans formation. The woman s domai n i s the home, and
consequent l y, she has very l i mted mobi l i ty and
access
to i nformati on as wel
as
l i mted
capaci ty for anal ysi s and deci si on- maki ng.Whi l e women are influenti al in nutri ti on, reari ng
of chi l dren and agri cul ture, there are mni mal spaces for women s voi ces at the communi t y
and government . The margi nal i zati on
of
women f romkey posi ti ons often
t i mes
was traced to
the women s l ack of capabi l i ty or educati on. Whi l e ths may be true, ths
is
not the onl y
reason. The tradi ti onal noti on that women are l ess capabl e than men al so hi nders the
appreciati on of women s efforts precisel y because of her tradi tional rol es in the faml y and
communi t y.
The study provides di scussi on and several i nsights on how East Ti morese perspecti ve, val ues
and bel i efs rel ati ng to gender i nequal i ty and processes reproducegender inequalities among
its
young. Current perceptions and attitudes on education for girls are l i nked to poverty
and the tradi ti on of betrothi ng women and girls for marri age. The g rls wer e second pri ori ty
for getti ng educati on si nce they
wer e
to l eave the faml y to stay wth the husband. The parents
vi ewed that there was no use spendi ng on the
girls
educati on si nce th s
was
ust to benefi t the
faml y of her husband.
The experi ences and vi ews about literacy and womens empowerment ranged f rom
resistance to negoti ati ng wthi n accepted spheres to radi cal changes. Li teracy was l i nked to
the pol i ti cal act of getti ng out of the dark where the Portuguese
was
sai d to have kept the
Ti morese
for hundreds of years.
The research identi fies the i nterventi ons and percepti ons on the vari ous l i teracy approaches
and their i nf l uences. In its attempt to map out who i s worki ng where, the research strongl y
r ecommends that establ i shi ng the reach of the l i teracy programs i s i mportant in determni ng
how far the government andNGOs are f romachi evi ng the target of eradi cati ng i l l i teracy of
the esti mated
350,000
l l i terate Ti morese
wthin
ten years.
Deri vi ng f romthe insights of women on
ther
moti vati ons for l earni ng,
as
wel as the r
d ffi cu ties in conti nui ng the l earni ng, the research concl udes
wth
an enumerati on of
strategies and recommendati ons to respond to the f i ndi ngs, and pri ncipal l y in addressi ng the
chal l enge of socio-cul tural obstacl es to Ti morese women sparti cipati on in l i teracy.
Some of the strategi es and r ecommendat i ons di scussedare:
The need to devel op rel evant and responsi ve pedagogy;
The i mportance to di scuss cul ture and its i mpact on women;
The i mportance to devel op awareness of women sempower ment among the
men;
The i mportance to target women and to create al women scl asses in order to hel p
women to devel op
thei r
critica and anal yti cal
skills;
The i mportance of usi ng Mother Tongue;
The need to set up Communi t y Resource Centers in order to create a permanent
l earni ng envi ronment;
The i mportance of devel opi ng an equi val ency syst emwth the formal system
The need to set up a worki ng group composed of l i teracy provi ders f romcivi l society
and government to coordi nate the wor k and di scuss pol i cies and strategi es for the Non
Formal sector of Educat i on.
6
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OBSTACLES TO THE EFFECTIVE PARTICIPATION
Focus
on Socio-Cultural
actors
OF WOMEN INADULT EDUCATIONPROGRAMS~
RESEARCH BACKGROUND AND FRAMEWORK
Each and every Ti morese wll be provi ded educati on upon attai ni ng i ndependence. Thi s was
one resoundi ng promse to
the
peopl e of East Ti mor duri ng its peri od
of
resi stance f rom
I ndonesi an occupati on. After the restorati on of i ndependence in2002, he government started
maki ng good
its
promse to provide educati on, and together wth agenci es and non-
government organi zati ons NGOs)mpl emented l i teracy programs starting
in
the year
2002.
The target was to eradi cate i l l i teracy of an esti mated 50% of the Ti morese popul ati on, or cl ose
to 350, 000 peopl e wth little or no school i ng at a l2. Adul t women compri se two-thi rds of th s
popul ati on. Unfortunatel y, maj ori ty of these women were absent in the l i teracy classes
conducted
in
East Ti mor.
Of the 5, 31O l earners in cl asses conducted by the D vi si on of Non- f ormal Educati on all over
Ti mor ,
70
of the parti cipants are
men3.
There was no targeti ng of women
in
the l i teracy
programpol i cy and i mpl ementati on,and thus, classes were opened to al adul ts regardl ess of
sex and age, w th
the
hope that women woul d take
the
in tiative to learn and attend the cl asses
on readi ng, wi ti ng and numeracy. Maj ori ty of the l earners in al dstricts wer e men, wth the
excepti on of
Dli
where there was an equal rati o of l earners f romboth sexes. In
Dli,
most of
the men parti cipants wer e young, whi l e women wer e between 35 to
40
years old who onl y
managed to attend the classes as rel ati ves f romthe dstricts took charge of the househol d
whi l e they were in class4.
In rebui l di ng East Ti mor , there wer e aff i rmati ve acti ons to broaden women' s rol e f romthe
pri vate towards the publ i c spheres. Asi de f r oml i teracy programs, another key i nterventi on for
maki ng women parti cipate
i s
through adul t educati on programs, set up by di fferent agenci es.
However , the s ame situati on of havi ng l ow attendance of women had been observed. The
UNDP C vi c Educati on conducted bri efi ngs on the Consti tuti on and L aw and on the Rol e of
the Pol i ce in Baucau f romMay to August 2003, and out of the 5,813 adul ts who attended
ths
bri efi ng, 62%were men
whi l e
onl y 38% wer e women despi te the proacti ve efforts to invi te
women' . I n the trai ni ngs on Permacul ture (Trai ni ng on Sustai nabl e and I ntegrated
Agri cul ture)6, faci l i tators reported that onl y 25% of the parti cipants wer e women.
NGO
educators also observed that when women di d manage to attend, they di d not parti cipate
acti vel y and that men domnated the di scussi ons.
The termnol ogy 'adul t educati on' is used in ths research as th s is a broader concept that i ncl udes the
anal yti cal and thi nki ng ski l ls of l earners, whi l e l i teracy tends to f ocus on basi c readi ng, w i ti ng, and numeracy
skills.
The Wa y Forward, Worl d Bank Dec
2003.
Draf t Fr amewor k Paper for Non- f ormal Educat i on,
2003
Based on an i ntervi ewwth D rector General Mahaf ut Bazj her, 3 Mar ch 2003
RRC
UNDP
Ci vi c Educati on Baucau, 2003
A Gender Anal ysi s for Permacul ture in Ti mor- Leste,OGB, 003
2
4
6
Obsi acl cs
to l he
I ttCcti vePaiticipaii~.m
'
Woiricii
in A d u i ~tiucuiioii I~rogi.ariis
1:i~:iis
11
~ i ~ ~ : i ~ ~ - ~ ' L [ t i i L ~ luc,toi.,v
Aiipii~i2004
7
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of the Ti morese. Targeti ng women for l i teracy
has
created questi ons and commentar i es that
are
both cul tural and pol i ti cal .
The gender equal i ty f r amework
in
l i teracy and other i nterventi ons is vi ewed by others as
an
i mposi t i on f r omthe Wor l d Bank and i nternati onal
NGOs
and not respecti ng the cul ture of
Ti mor and
its
tradi ti ons on women and faml y. The research engages
ths
argument by aski ng
the peopl e their vi ews on the equal i ty of ri ghts between women and
men.
In the process, t
i denti fi es the rea iti es and contenti ous i ssues that may have i mpact on l i teracy and women s
empower ment
RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
To unravel that cul ture where l i teracy for women is l ocated, the research questi ons covered
the everyday life of faml i es and how expectati ons on the woman are consti tuted, the
communi t y bel i efs and the tradi ti ons that ei ther promote or retard women s i nvol vement and
lastl y, cul tural percepti ons and practi ces that affect women s access to and w l l i ngness for
educati on. I n these questi ons,
there
was an attempt to
see
how these percepti ons and nor ms
were constructed hi stori cal l y. The di l emma wth cul tural anal ysi s i s
the
broadness of
concerns that a research may cover and the rather ci rcui tous approach to understandi ng.
Gi ven the col orful accounts gi ven by tradi ti onal l eaders and vari ed stori es and requests
expressed by the women, the research had to limt the i nsights that are deemed to have a
strong beari ng on l i teracy work.
In ormation
sources
A tota of 642 respondents parti cipated in the research done through
i ntervi ews
and
workshops in the di sti cts of Dli,Li qui ca, Mal i ana, Suai , Same, Vi queque and Baucau. The
respondents age range
is
between
1
lto
80
years ol d, and
64
of
t hem
compri se women and
grls.
The i dea was to get stori es and i nformati on f romdi fferent perspecti ves and
in
both di rect and
indi rect manner . Fr omeach of the fi ve cl usters of respondents enumerated here, the research
t eami denti fi ed the body of i nsights that
i t
wanted to so ici t:
1.
Women- part i ci pants of l i teracy, w dows, women s groups, women l eaders, uni versi ty
students, pri mary and seni or secondary school students and communi t y women.
Through educati on hi story workshops, i ntervi ews and key questi on workshops, the
women wer e abl e to share their everyday l i fe, relati ons
in
the home and communi t y and
their experi ences in educati on and attendi ng l i teracy and other communi t y proj ects. They
al so tal ked about the rel evance of l i teracy
in
thei r l ife and f aml y and r ecommended ways
of desi gni ng l i teracy programs.
2.
Tradi ti onal l eaders and communi t i es
East Ti morese
are
bound together by ki nshi p and tradi ti ons.
The
tradi ti onal l eaders pl ay a
maj or rol e in the everyday li fe as sources of wi sdomand l aws of respect and di sci pl i ne.
9
81
uc cs 1
o
h c k c ivc I ai.ti
c
11
alio I ol\CI IT]
ii i n
i ilu L Ed
II
ali 1
i
13ii.o
i i s
Focits (.ur
Suci/~-~iilti,i.crluctotiv
A L1~17.1L;l7004
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Through communi t y meet i ngs and i nterviews, the research documented when possi bl e,
the stori es, l aws, myt hs and tradi tional percepti ons that have hi stori cal l y and currentl y
i nformed the women s and gi rl s f ormati on, how the men s and the women s rol es have
been constructed through tradi ti ons and how these affect women saccess to educati on.
A
Ti morese sense of i denti ty and bel ongi ngness
i s
def i ned by l anguage and
the
f aml y s
sacred house, among others.
The
research teamtal ked wth a f ew tradi ti onal l eaders
f romdi fferent sacred houses and ethno-l i ngui sti c groups. Despi te the respondents intia
apprehensi on in tal ki ng
wth the
research t eam
t
was abl e to have communi t y meet i ngs
and
i ntervi ews
w th the tradi ti onal l eaders f rom
the
fol l owng d stricts:
Li qui ca Tokodede
Suai - Kamnasan and Bunak
Mal i ana - Kemak and Bunak
Same - Mambai
Vi queque
-
Makasae, Naut i and TetunTeri k
Baucau
-
Wai mua and Makasae
3. Men, seni or secondary and pri mary school students, and teachers
Acr oss di fferent gender and age groups, the research l ooked at the percepti ons regardi ng
gender and educati on. Thr ough thei r parti cipati on in
the
f ocus- group di scussions,
workshops, games and i ntervi ews, the groups gave i nsights on the social i zati on of gender
among pri mary students 1
1
13 years od), seni or secondary students
1
6-20years od),
teachers (30-
40
years old) and singl e and marri ed men (20-60).
4.
Dstri ct admni strators, chef de suco,and educati on officials
The
research l ooked i nto
the
pol i cies and interventi ons of government for devel opi ng the
capaciti es of women, thei r percepti ons about the non-parti ci pati on of women and
the
chal l enges for advocacy for women s empower ment .
5.
Communi t y faci l i tators,NGOs, nd agenci es doi ng l i teracy wor k
Li teracy provi ders f rom
NGOs,
UNICEF and the government al ong wth the communi t y
faci l i tators tal ked about ther l i teracy f rameworks, pol i cies, approaches and pedagogy.
They gave thei r observati ons on women s parti cipati on, commentari es about gender and
l i teracy and recommendat i ons for enri chi ng
the
l i teracy wor k targeti ng women.
Dynamics and Limits
The research rel i ed mai nl y on researches done in Ti mor si nce 1999, such as the strategy
papers produced by the fundi ng partners and b lateral agenci es. The bui l di ng bl ocks to th s
research are the qual i tati ve researches by i nternati onal NGOs about women on di fferent
themes such as governance, usti ce, permacul ture, eadershi p,and deci si on- maki ng.
Most of the encounters wth women, tradi ti onal l eaders and other key i nf ormants wer e done
for the
first
tim, and mai nl y through storytel l i ng, workshops and i ntervi ews.
Thi s
i s a
l i mtati on of
the
research, as understandi ng cul ture takes a much l onger
tim
and coul d have
10
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i nvol ved other f orms of i nteracti on
wth
communi t i es. Thi s research, therefore, is an intia
attempt at a cul tural understandi ng of the contexts for women s i teracy.
In the workshops, some women or men had parti cipated mor e acti vel y than the others
in
thei r
group. Thi s dynamcs was i nf ormed by the parti ci pants age, status
in
l i fe or exposure to
communi t y acti vi ti es. To remedy th s si tuati on, the workshops wer e desi gned to al l ow
parti cipants to i ndi vi dual l y gi ve thei r stori es and vi ews. Thi s proved useful in many cases but
al so d fficu t at t i mes si nce a f ew women wer e embarrassed to gi ve thei r opi ni ons.
Most i ntervi ews/ workshops were done
in
Engl i sh and translated to Tet umand vi ce-versa.
Makasae, on the other hand, was used
in
Vi queque and Baucau. The t eamrevi ewed the
questi ons and thei r translati ons f r omti me to t i me, especial l y duri ng the earl y weeks
of
the
f i el dwork to enabl e cl earer and mor e cul ture-sensi ti ve questi ons for data gatheri ng. Al most
al i nterviews, di scussions and workshops were audi o taped and wer e transcri bed f i -om
Tet udMakasae to Engl i sh.
T wo i nterpretati ons faci l i tated the data gatheri ng of th s research. One was f r oma woman
consul tant who rel i ed on her experi ences on popul ar educati on
in
the Phi l i ppi nes and
appreciati on of di scourses on gender and cul tural anal ysi s. The other was medi ated through a
Ti morese man s translati on. Hi s translati on and faci l i tati on in Tet umhave medi ated the
questi ons and responsesto questi ons, and therefore the meani ngs and stori es entrusted by the
respondents. As most i nterviews and workshops were open- ended and deepeni ng rel i ed on
the f l owof conversati on, ol l ow- up questi ons t ook thei r cue f r omth s translati on.
The Oxf am- GB Educati on Pr ogr amme Coordi nator provi ded much hel p and inputs in the
research desi gn and anal ysi s whi l e member s of the educati on t eamassisted in organi zi ng and
faci l i tati ng workshops.
REVIEW
OF
LITERATURE
The Case or Culture,Women and Education
D fferent researches done
in2003
emphasi zed the case for l ooki ng at women s parti cipati on
f romthe perspecti ve of Ti mor s soci al and cul tural real i ti es. These hi ghl i ghted constrai nts
and opportuni ti es for women s parti cipati on, for exampl e, in agri cul ture, communi t y
l eadershi p or j usti ce systemas embedded
in
the strong communi t y and f aml y tradi ti ons
in
East Ti mor. Many of the studi es cal l ed for the cri ti ca rol e of educati on to enabl e the women
to partake of devel opment and democrati zati on. However , there has yet to be a research on
the real i ti es of women s f ormati on and possi bi l i ti es for l earni ng gi ven the patri archy
in
the
country.
In September
2003,A
Review
of UNICEF
upported W om e n sLiteracy Project
in
East Timor
was done by Dr. Roshan Chi trakar. The UNI CEF s Women s Li teracy Proj ect i s a oi nt effort
wth
the D vi si on
of
Non- f ormal Educat i on l aunched
in
August 2002
wth
an intia
158
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groups in ei ght d stricts7. Dr.Chi trakar revi ewed the i mpact of these intia l i teracy cl asses on
women w th f ocus on the concept , strategy, methods and i mpl ementati on of the proj ect. H e
observed that the parti cipati on in and compl et i on of l i teracy programhas not changed
peopl e s practi ces of l i teracy let al one a change in thei r l i vel i hoods. The graduates have not
f oundthe l i teracy sklls l earnt useful for their practi cal day- to-daywork.
Chi trakar posed the need to have a mor e cul ture-sensi ti ve i teracy programon several counts.
Three
poi nts are of parti cular interest-l i teracy in the soci o-economc contexts of
the
peopl e,
the
l anguage i ssue, and l i teracy across t hemes.
On the l anguage,Chi trakar rei terated the proven effecti veness of l earni ng in tia ly through the
first
l anguage.He supported the advocacy for
the
use of the mother tongue in l i teracy cl asses
and therefore the need to produce manual s and readi ng materi al s usi ng the vari ed local
l anguages in Ti mor . Hs argument was that
the
promoti on of l i teracy in a country depends to
a l arge extent upon how peopl e exerci se their l anguage ri ghts. Chi trakar ended his revi ewby
r ecommendi ng that l i teracy programs shoul d cut across t hemes. Hs chal l enge was rather
than i mpl ement i ng an excl usi ve l i teracy proj ect, bui l di ng on exi sti ng or on- goi ng
devel opment efforts in areas such as heal th, governance, natural resource management ,
mothers cl ub or women smcro credi t contri butes to yi el di ng mor e signi fi cant i mpacts.
Chi trakar s cri ti que and recommendat i ons tackl ed the l ow parti ci pati on of women f romthe
poi nt of vi ew of l i teracy programi mpl ementat i on.
The
chal l enge is to further pursue
hs
questi ons in
the
speci fi c contexts of women. Ho w mperati ve
is
the use of themother tongue
to women compared to men? Ho w do women l earn the ablities of readi ng, wi ti ng, and
numer acy
in
l i teracy across t hemes? What are the soci o-economc si tuati ons of women
compar ed to
men
that make the contextual i zati on of l i teracy or any adul t educati on urgent for
women? Frei re, in h s book The Politics o Education emphasi zed, Readi ng al ways
i nvol ves cri ti ca percepti on, i nterpretati on and
rewriting
of what
i s
read. Fol l ow ng
ths
f ramewor k, he questi ons on women and l i teracy become imperati ve.
Researches that engaged the socio-cul tural and pol i ti cal contexts of Ti morese women proved
useful for a broader understandi ng of women s parti cipati on.
The
I nternati onal Rescue
Commt tee s Traditional Justice and Gender Based Violence gave vi vi d accounts on how
and why a woman fi nds i t dfficu t to confront domest i c vi ol ence. Inits f i ndi ngs, the research
sai d that
A
woman who presents a compl ai nt of vi ol ence to a l ocal j usti ce heari ng cannot be
guaranteed that j usti ce n the true sense of the wor d wll be del i vered. Women havemnimal
and often superfi cial parti cipati on in j usti ce heari ngs and fi nd that the rul i ngs that are passed
are often based on admni strators justi ces o wn bi ases and cul tural bel iefs regardi ng women s
status
in
society. Thi s real i ty
in
the tradi ti onal syst emtherefore,mor e often than not dri ves
a woman to conf ormto the w shes of her husband and h s faml y and to limt
her
rol e wthi n
the househol d. Ho w the threat of domesti c vi ol ence and bi ases agai nst women of the
tradi tional j usti ce system affect the women s parti ci pati on in l i teracy
i s
al so worth
i nvesti gati ng.
Review of
UNICEF
Supported Womens Literacy Project in East Timor,Dr oshan Chitrakar, September
2003
Paulo Freire was a radical educator who worked with many post-independence countries and theorized on
popular education and culture. His framework on reading the word and the world was
his
very important
contribution.
This
was the framework that inspired the literacy work
of
the resistance in East Timor in
1975.
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Oxf am CAA2003research on
Underlying Cuuses o
Gender
Inequaliq in Cova Lima,
Timor
Leste
gathered insights f r oma si x- week parti cipatory research in al seven sub-di stri cts of
Cova Li ma. The research i denti fi ed the constrai nts to women s access to economc
opportuni ti es.
It
pl aces much pr em umon
the
Ti morese women s own percepti ons
on
i ssues
conf ronti ng t hemsuch as domesti c vi ol ence, reproducti ve heal th,
risk
probl ems and deci si on-
maki ng, and l eadershi p in the communi t y. I nteresti ngl y,
t
posed that women do not vi ew
reproducti on and
barlake
or bri de pri ce as risk situati ons for t hem t al so sai d the percepti on
of poverty is not di rectl y rel ated wth the amount of assets one has, but w th the characteri sti cs
of the hamet in t er ms of ki nshi p rel ati ons. The concl usi ons that poverty reducti on shoul d
f ocus not onl y on
poor individuals
but on
supportgroups
and economc opportuni ti es for
women shoul d begi n w th acti vi ti es women are al ready al l owed to do were i nsights that
i nf ormed
ths
research.
The Oxf am- CAA esearch rei teratedthe ca l for a cul tural approach to women s parti cipati on.
It comment ed that di scussi ons wth women s groups, other communi t y servi ce organi zati ons
(CSOs)
nd government conti nual l y identi fy that a number of i nequal i ti es
exist
for women,
yet
there has been l ittle debate of anal ysi s i nto the underl yi ng causes of gender i nequal i ty and
thus possi bl e strategi es to promot e equi ty f r omthe grassroots to the nati onal l evel .
In
addi ti on, there has been l ittle di scussi on on the East Ti morese perspecti ve, val ues and bel i efs
rel ati ng to gender i nequal i ty and processes that reproduce gender i nequal i ti es.
Thi s
research
on Women and Educat i on takes
its
cue f romths i nsi ght.
Constructionof Gender Relations
Anal ysi s f rameworks for engagi ng gender i ssues abound. The f rameworks parti cul arl y useful
for educati on
wer e
captured by Fi ona Leach
in
her book
Practising Gender Analysis in
Education.
Accordi ng to Leach gender rel ati ons refers to interacti on and social rel ati onshi ps between
women and men, both
in
the pri vate and publ i c arena. Gender rel ati ons can i nvol ve
cooperati on or confl i ct, trust or suspi ci on, partnershi ps and compet i t i on, l ove or hate,
tenderness or viol ence, and compl ex combi nat i ons among
them
Gender rel ati ons
are
i nf l uenced by other markers of soci al i denti ty such
as
cl ass, race, ethni ci ty, rel i gi on and age.
Further, gender anal ysis i nvol ves examni ng rel ati onshi ps between women and men, and the
i nequal i ti es and power di f ferences between t hem in a systemati c way.
The
ai mof gender
anal ysi s
i s to
unpack the hi erarchi cal nature of gender rel ati ons as part of a broader social
anal ysi s, to determne what changes are requi red if mor e equi tabl e rel ati onshi ps are to resul t
and ul ti matel y to promote a mor e equal soci ety.
Of the many f rameworks
in
Leach s book, the Social Rel ati ons Approach devel oped by
Nai l a Kabeer proved most useful for th s research. Kabeer anal yzed gender i nequal i ti es by
i nvesti gati ng
the
i nsti tuti onal rel ati ons bet ween State, market , communi t y and f aml y or
ki nshi p. I n descri bi ng Kabeer s f r amework, Leach sai d that Nai l a Kabeer uses the
term
Published by Oxfam-GB n
2003,
he book was described by the author as a taster of analytical tools that can
Ibid. . 33. Kabeer developed the approach
in
the early
1990s
at the Institute of Development Studies
(IDS),
be used
for
gender audit
of
education institutions.
University
of
Sussex.
10
Obsiac1c.s io
Lhc
Effiictic Piliticipaiioii of Woineii in AiluIl P
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social rel ati ons to descri be the structural rel ati onshi ps that create and reproduce systemati c
di fferences in the posi ti oni ng of groups of peopl e. Such rel ati onshi ps largel y determne our
identi ty, what rol es and responsibi l i ti es are, and what cl ai m
we
can
make. They determne
our ri ghts and the control that we have over our own l i ves and those of others. Soci al
rel ati ons produce i nequal i ti es,whi ch ascri be to each i ndi vi dual a posi ti on
in
the structure and
hi erarchy of thei r society.
I n Ti mor ,
the
f aml y and cl ans and the communi t y power structures def i ne the social fabri c
whereby women and men def i ne and negoti ate meani ngs and rel ati onshi ps in the r l i ves. Fr om
these insti tuti ons emanate the tradi ti ons that have kept Ti morese together throughout the
col oni al peri od, resi stance, f amne and other hardshi ps. Ospi na and Hohe s study on the
Tradi ti onal Power Structures and the Communi t y Empower ment and Local Governance
Proj ect provi des an i n- depth ook into the l ocal power structures. Acore usual l y i nhabi ts
a
singl e house. It consists of a marr i ed coupl e and the r unmarri ed chi l dren. The core faml y
never exi sts by itself; i t
i s
usual l y bound
in
a whol e uni verse of social rel ati onshi ps. Thei r
closest relati ves are member s
of
their l i neage.
A
l i neage consi sts of peopl e that are rel ated
to each other
in
a uni l ateral way. Thi s means either through the father s
(patri l i neal )
or
through the mother s (matri l i neal ) side.
In
a patri l ineal syst em al rel ati ves fi -omhis f athers
side (e.g. hs father s brothers, fathers father or h s own brother) are h s close rel ati ves and
they are al percei ved as bei ng connected through thesame bl ood. The same structure is
appl i ed
in
a
matri l i neal
system w th the di f ference bei ng that the rel ati ves here are reckoned
onl y through the mother s side. East Ti morese societi es
are
mai nl y patri l i neal w th some
excepti ons.
In such
syst ems,
al member s of the l i neage refer to a common ancestor. Thi s group of
peopl e f orms the descentgroup
(uma ain/ahimatan).
Oneor mor e descent groups can refer
to a sacred house. One s sacred house i s one s denti ty. Aperson who does not know the
name of hi sher sacred house
is
not Ti m~r ese ~. hi s
is
a vi ew
still
hel d dearl y by the
chi l dren and both ol d and young men and women. The sacred house is one s beari ng, one s
ancestral l i neage, and therefore, one s denti ty.
14
C L
J ose Gonzaga, in his unpubl i shed thesis16 establ i shed the central i ty of the sacred house and
the ancestors for the Ti morese by l ooki ng at
barara,
a sacred prayer expressed
in
tradi tional
cer emony for bui l di ng the sacred house. Every
barara
has tradi tional
el ements
whi ch are
rel ated to the ancestor of
clan
in the anci ent t i me. There is a category of l i nes on hi stori es and
geneal ogi es that recount ori gi ns. There are l i nes that recount hi stori es and myt hs of ori gi n.
They are like the ori gi n of the Kabi tareno, the styl e accounts of the wander i ng of the clan of
Lari bere - samasul a. H stori cal l y every clan
in
the Al awa vi l l age f romkabi tareo cl an, then
they
are
such as Duani ko, A afatari a, Kabi tana, and Kabureno Kabu
oso.
The most substanti al
in the ri tua l anguageis the cl an hi story. (Gonzaga)
r.
Thi s bel i ef in the ancestors
i s
not onl y ceremoni al but exi sts in the everyday life of the
Ti morese. Gonzaga hi ghl i ghted the signi f i cance and functi on of the barara for the Makasae
Leach, age
87
l2
Ospina and Hohe, September 2001, . 16.
l 3
Ospina and Hohe gave the Bunaq
in
Bobonaro Distrrict as an example. In the course of
his
Oxfam-GB
research, the team talkedwith the matrilineal clans
of
Kamnasan in Suai and Bunak in Maliana.
l4 Ibid.
l6
Written in
2002
and presented in
2003
for a diploma in
AB
English, Gonzagas thesis got a high mark.
14
conversations with a woman and man working in the
NGO
and with many traditional leaders, M a y
2004
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communi t y of the Kabi tareno cl an. Through the prayer,
t
i s sai d that rel ati onshi ps and peace
are mai ntai ned through the intercession of the ancestors who protect the cl an f romdanger.
The clan bel i eves in the worl d after death and that the ancestors al ways see what thei r
atti tudes are.
Further, Gonzaga observed that al though the communi t y has Cathol i c bel i efs, the peopl e still
bel i eve in thei r ancestors. For i nstance, i f they have a sick rel ati ve
or
someone died
mysteri ousl y, hey
wll
conduct a ritua or cer emony such as tu baru
-
asa
iti.
The ai mof ths
ceremony i s to know the cause of the si ckness or death.
The sacred house al so symbol i zes strong tradi ti ons that unti l now keep faml i es
in
a cl an
together. These tradi ti ons i ncl ude sitting together to di scuss marri ages between faml i es,
medi ati on of probl ems by the katuas adat, storytel l i ng about the l aws of respect in the cl an,
harvest cel ebrati ons, etc. In al these tradi ti ons, men pl ay the key rol es and are the deci si on-
maker s
and hol ders of the l aw It is therefore i mportant to see how these communi t y
tradi ti ons i nf ormwomen s rol es, demeanor and acti on.
In both patri l i neal and matri l i neal faml i es, the rel ati onshi ps are patri archal in nature. The
formati on of sons and daughters and rel ati onshi ps between husband and w f e and deci si on-
maki ng in the communi t y between men and women are l i nked to M chel Foucaul t s
contenti on on patri archy wher e the dialecti c of the faml y assumes that the man natural l y
hol ds power.
It
was al so useful to use as one f r amewor k Foucaul t s noti on on the power
of
di sci pl i nary practi ces that tend to control the body and ho w th s is perpetuated by an
i ndi vi dual s internal i zed oppressi on. Control l i ng the grls and al so the need for a marri ed
woman to control hersel f cropped up in many i nstances duri ng the research. What these
control s are and how grls and women negoti ate and al so gi ve consent to t hemis an area
studi ed inthe research.
Lastl y,
barlake
negoti ated duri ng marri age arrangements has been a bone of contenti on when
di scussing the pl i ght of Ti morese women. The barlake and how
i t
i mpi nges on a woman s
sel f -wort h, ol e and subordi nat i on has been contested in di fferent ways by both men and
women of Ti mor.
It
was useful to relate barlake to Fri edri ch Ni et ~sche s ~nsights on how
rel ati onshi ps, whi ch are cul tural in nature, are f ormed between parti es.
In
hi s Genealogy of
Mords,he wrote that the feel i ng of gu l t, of personal obl i gati on, had its ori gi n, as we saw, n
the ol dest and most pri mti ve personal rel ati onshi p, that bet ween buyer and sel ler, credi tor and
debtor: i t was here that one person fi rst encountered another person, that one person f irst
measured himself
agai nst another. No grade of ci vi l i zati on.. has yet been di scovered in
whi ch somethi ng of th s rel ati onshi p has not been noti ceabl e. Setti ng the pri ces, determni ng
val ues, contri vi ng equi val ences, exchangi ng- - - these preoccupi ed the earl iest thi nking of man
to
so
great an extent that
in
a certain sense they consti tute thi nking
as
such:
here
i t
was that
the ol dest ki nd of astuteness devel oped; here l i kewse, we may suppose, di d human pri de, the
feel i ng of superi ori ty in rel ati on to other ani mal s have its fi rst begi nni ngs.
Throughout the resi stance, Ti morese women acti vi sts protested vehement l y agai nst the human
rights vi ol ati ons done to women duri ng the war .
In
the process, they produced numer ous
speeches, statements, appeal s and other papers that wer e presented in sol i dari ty conferences,
Geneal ogy
of
Moral s, N etzsche,
1877.
Basi c Wi t i ngs
of
N etzsche, transl ated
by
Wal ter Kauf mann, p.506
7
Obsiuclcs 0 Lhc CHccliue 13ai.ticipai.ion
f
Wciinciiin A d u l t Iducuiiciii Pi.ogimis
A
i.iy.ic1
7001-
15
/JCllS O11
~ ~ ( ~ [ : ; l ~ - ~ l ( I z / ~ ~ ~ ~
CI~~
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demonst rati ons or in the negoti ati ons before the Uni ted Nati ons. After i ndependence,
agenci es and
NGOs,
n aid of thei r i nterventi ons, conducted researches about women on
di fferent themes, i .e., permacul ture, communi t y parti cipati on, heal th, domesti c vi ol ence,
tradi ti onal j usti ce, etc.
Thi s
study on the Obstacles
in the
Participation
of
Women in Adult
Education Programs: Socio-Cultural actors s yet another of those themati c researches.
RESEARCH
FINDINGS
Traditions, Myths, Metaphors: Womens Sense of Duty
One s not born, but rather
becomes,
a woman.
I
imone de Beauvoir
The stories that are bequeathed f romgenerati on to generati on,
the
practi ces that are observed
by women and men, the spoken l anguage and even the accepted ways of dressi ng are
everyday mani festati ons of how a woman shoul d be in Ti morese society. Occurri ng in the
everyday life of the f aml y and communi t y, hei r power lies
in
the seemng natural ness of the
val ues and rol es ascri bed to women. The i ntervi ews wth tradi ti onal l eaders and women
provi ded a gl i mpse of how the sel f -worth and l ocati on of women have been histori cal ly
constructed.
She was
the
sacrijice that
we
ave theocean.
Tradi ti onal l eaders refused to share wth us the stories and myt hs about the ancestors. They
sai d that these are sacred and onl y a chosen man f romthe cl an knows the hi story. Ti o
August o Pi nto gave a previ ewof a myt h in Li qui ca amd his cauti on that one cannot tel the
whol e story or el se he wll di e.
We are Asmanu peopl e and the forest bi rds (manufui k) brought us f r omAl or to put in
Asmanu. They created the sea
in
Asmanu, the hol e i s still there. Our ancestors prepared the r
sister Barkasa de Roma, gave her a dress, gave two bags, and put a morten18 around her neck.
She was the sacri fi ce for the sea, to dri ve i t away. When she col l ected the sea, she was
marri edwth the sea and di sappeared.
The myt h hi ghl i ghted a woman s sense of duty to save her cl an f romdi saster and ensure the
conti nuati on of ts l i neage.Thi s sense of duty repeats i tse f in another
myt h
in Baucau.
You
are my shovel and
my
bag.
You
come to plant my land and you are my wealth,my
property.
- -
Ti o August o, Tokodede,Li qui ca
A
baby grl
i s
al ways wel comed wth j oy in the Ti morese househol d; a f aml y that has mor e
grls than boys meant a bounti ful future. Fr om the t i me of the ancestors unti l the
70s,
marri ages wer e al ready arranged between cousi ns, as earl y as when a woman is pregnant or
when a baby was born. Ti o August o conti nued In our t i me, when a baby was born and her
aunt vi si ted, she d ask whether i t was a grl or a boy.
I f
i t were a grl , t hen she d say you are
my shovel and mybag, n the future, you come to pl ant my and and bri ng me weal th.
l
Timorese necklace made
out of
stone,
usually orange in color.
16
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The meani ng of
the
baby grl as weal th is often associated w th the val ue of ferti l i ty.
It
i s
not percei ved that thewoman,
as
an i ndi vi dual person, s passed on to another f aml y, but that
the value of fertility
i s
suppl i ed to one s Wfe Taker. I n
the
Wfe Taker f aml y, the new
woman produces new life agai n in her chi l dren and
ths
new life
is
then passed on to ones
own
Wfe Taker.
The bundl e of oy, the baby grl,
was
therefore bound to a duty. Ti o August o further narrated:
Ater
her marri age had been arranged to a cousi n, the aunt
was
to gi ve
a
buffal o or t wo as
intia barlake to the babys faml y. The f aml y then had to care for her unti l she s old enough
to marry.
She had to stay
at
home and l earn the househol d duti es. She cannot go to school
nor pl ay outsi de and the parents had to control her. She had been betrothed for marri age.
The daughter coul d not possi bl y renege on ths arranged marri age. I f she wer e not to marry
her cousi n,
her
faml y had to pay back
the
barlake and worse, she had brought shame to her
f aml y.To Augusto puts ths vi vi dl y: Duri ng
the
Portuguese t i me, even if shedoes not want
to get marri ed to the man, I a mthe father,
I
have to beat her so for i nstance,
l ike
when the
uncl e and aunt are by the door, even if
she
doesn t want to get marr i ed w th the man, and she
can run away to the Jakarta, but her mother and father cannot
let
her l eavebecause her parents
have the obl i gati on to her uncl e and aunt. So when her aunt and uncl e come, as parents we
have an obl i gati on to gi veour daughter.
What i s signi fi cant about
th s
arranged marri age in the past and the story about barkasa
i s
how sel f-sacri f i ceand sense of duty have repeatedl y been expected f romthe Ti morese woman
since b rth. Obedi ence to the f aml y, the gu lt of bri ngi ng
shame
to the f aml y and doi ng
househol d chores
are
l earned early
in
l ife. These val ues and nor ms are further rei nforced in
marri ed
l ife.
Once marri ed, i t i s a woman s duty to conti nue the f l owof l i fe between f aml i es. Thi s
is
captured in a myt h f rom
Vemasse2
that
emphasi zed the central i ty of
a
woman s fertil ity in
establ i shi ng and maintaini ng
the
l i neage
My ancestors stem from Larantuka and I am not Lord of the Land here;
I
became liurai
through an oath.My ancestors came to Timor. There were three people; one went to
Vemasse, ne to Los Palos, ne to Lifao. They came or trading and then took the water rom
the well in Vemasse. After they met
with
the
liurai
there, the people from Larantuka were
invited to his house because theliurai saw thatthese people were literate. H e roke the boat
thatwassent from the liuraiof Larantuka. Then he
saw
that these people were not married
yet,
so
the ancestor brought one woman or marriage. That woman stemmed rom the Lor
family. They had no descendants and the woman died.
They brought another woman rom
Lor
and she also died. Then they brought the child
of
the
liurai Luka
Viqueque. Afer
marrying
with
the child
of liurai Luka
they had descendants. Because of that,the lord
of
the
land started approaching the liurai from Larantuka, ifyou already have taken women rom
l9 Ospina and H ohe are here refemng to the Wife Giver being associated
with
the value of fertility. The Wife
Giver refers to the family of the bride and the Wife Taker to the family of the groom. For the vivid and detailed
account on
this
Wife Giver and Wife Taker relationship, lease refer to the study.
2o
This myth was documented by Ospina and Hohe to illustrate the division of political and ritual authority. W e
now use this myth to illustrate the centrality of a womans eproduction to the families.
17
bsi acl ts
io
the
LilFctivc
Paiticip ion of \Voi~icii ii
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ducaiioii
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8/11/2019 Obstacles Effective Participation Women in Education
17/54
here and I a m the liurai here, but I do not know how to
write
and to read,I hand over to
you.
After
he hadpassed his power to him, hey conducted an oathfor the Lord of the Land.
Thi s myt h shows why i t i s i mportant for women
to
have many chi l dren and why a woman
who cannot gi ve brth
is
l ooked down upon in Ti mor . Thi s duty of the woman to conti nue the
f l ow of l i fe may expl ai n why most women, as stated
in
the Oxf am OCAA21 esearch did
not vi ew reproducti on as a risk and on the contrary, not havi ng an offspri ng poses a bi g
probl em
Barlake: Ties that Bind Women
Blood oaths and marriage are the most crucial oints in uniting people.
Tradi ti onal l eaders say that nowadays, mor e than 50 of coupl es
marry
for l ovez3.Despi te
th s change f romarranged marri ages between cousi ns, the barlake i s still observed in many
dstricts. In Baucau, Vi queque and Same, he tradi ti onal l eaders said
barlake s
not the pri ce
of the woman for marri age but is actual l y gi ving val ue to
the
woman. The hi gher the
barlake,
herefore, the hi gher i s her val ue in rel ati on to the man.
Conversel y, s ome say the
barlake is the payment for the faml y, for havi ng rai sed the daughter to become a proper and
duti ful woman for the husband- to-be.
Barlake s not onl y between the woman and the man to be marri ed. Katuas Ci pri ano Neto of
Makasae, Baucau sai d that
the
barlake came f romour ancestors and we conti nue it .
If you
gi ve barlake,we cal i t t omata- omaraha, omata refers to therelatives of theman s aml y and
omar aha refers to the woman s rel ati ves. I f you don t bri ng the barlake, hen we cannot say
t omata- omaraha. f you likemy daughter, you have to gi veme barlake and then you can take
my daughter andthenwe are t omata-omaraha.
Thi s exchange of goods between the Wf e G ver and the Wf e Taker24s sai d to be the most
i mportant act in a marri age. The el ders of the Wf e Taker and Wf e G ver
sit
together to
di scuss what amounts of goods have to be exchanged for the marri age. Thi s
i s
a very
i mportant task of the el ders. They are the onl y ones to knowa l the kinship rel ati ons and the
hi erarchy of the Houses and therefore know
the
appropri ate amount of goods to be exchanged.
The marri age partners are not of bi g i mportance here.
It
i s of mor e i mportance what the Wfe
Taker and the Wf e G ver groups have to bri ng.
Women acti vists consi der
barlake as
the root of domesti c vi ol ence. Many respondents said
that i t was usual to hear a
man
say that when
he
beats up hs w fe, he
is
j ust beati ng up hs
barlake.
But
many, however , countered that th s vi ol ence happens
in
the home not because of
barlake
but because of the man s i ndi vi dual characteri sti cs. I n the first pl ace, they sai d, the
barlake
gi ven to hi s wfe s f aml y
was not
f romhi mbut f romh s parents rel ati ves. A the
same t i me, even in cl ans wher e barlake
i s
not observed, the men still
ht
the women.
The
Kamnasan (Sua), Bunak(Suai and Mal i ana) and Tetun Teri k (V queque), the faml i es do not
21 Underlying Causes of Gender Inequity
in
Covalima, Timor Leste,
2003
22
Ospina and Hohe,
p.19.
23
This estimate was consistent with all the traditional leaders that the research team talked with. They said that
mostly families
in
the villages still arrange marriages. But nowadays, families allow women and m en (or girls
and boys) to choose w h o m they want to marry, otherwise therewill be a problem in the family or someone will
get sick.
24
Ospina and Hohe,p.
22
18
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observe
barlake
but has ' boa ho mal us' (betel nut) to establ i sh faml i es
ti esz5. Barlake,
even
the menti on of the termduri ng marri age di scussi ons, is consi dered an insul t to the f aml i es
and the ancestors of these clans.
Faml i es
of
the
bri de and gr oom
sit
together and share ' boa
ho mal us' to di scuss the marri age and rel ati onshi p between faml i es. In
these
matri l i neal
faml i es, the women stay wth the faml y and the communi t y after marri age. The men of
Kamnasan and Bunak, on the other hand, once marri ed, have to l eave their faml i es.
Thi s
arrangement
i s rel ated
to l and ownershi p by the women, for in these cl ans, the l and has been
owned by women f romgenerati on
to
generati on.
Through
barlake
or
boa ho malus, a
marri age becomes mor e than
a
uni on bet ween man and
wfe
but mor e i mport antl y
a
uni on between faml i es.
The marri ed
coupl es are expected to
hel p
each
other's
f aml i es
in
t i mes
of probl ems. Such an arrangement puts ever mor e pressure
for the woman who
i s
expected to obey and fol l ow
her
husband at al t i mes.
What was clear in
the
workshops was that both men and women vi ew
barlake
as a symbol of
subordi nati on of
a
woman to her husband and to her husband' s faml y. The
barlake
does not
onl y prej udi ce the woman social l y, accordi ng to
the
women studyi ng in the uni versi tyz6,
t
also
limts
the chi l dren' s
access
to
f ormal educati on. The respondents sai d
that
thei r parents
compl ai ned that they had no money to send both boys and g rls to hi gher educati on.
However , they observed that they have money to gi ve to
barlake
or contri bute buf fal oes or
tradi ti onal offeri ngs to a faml y of a relati ve who di ed.27 Contri buti ng to the exchange of
goods between
faml i es
also l eaves the women wth l i mted budget for f ood and heal th care,
to the detri ment of the nutri ti on and
heal th
of the chi l dren.
Control, Roles, Relations: Woman's Formation
It
was
the hospitality of
the
girls and women that greeted us in many of the houses that we
visited during the interviews. Almost automatically, irl
or
a woman
will
set
the
small
table
with
a knitted tablecloth. Later,
she
enters witha tray
of
hot tea
or allof us
to drink.
Feto uma aran deit
(Women
should only be inside thehouse) - Mobility and Access
to information
The house is the domai ns of the woman- t o cook, cl ean, wash the clothes,
take
care of the
chi l dren,
etc.
The man goes out of the house to earn
a
l i vi ng and provi de for
the
needs of the
faml y. Thi s di vi sion of l abor i n the house has ramfi cati ons for the woman' s mobi l i ty, as
women are expected to stay
at
home most of the
tim.
Normal l y, she onl y goes out
at
l unch
to bri ng f ood to her husband in the fi eld, then goes back home to feed the ani mal s and cook
di nner.
She
may
go out to buy thi ngs
in
the market or to attend mass in the church, but
she
has
to
return
to the house i mmedi atel y because
she
has to take
care
of the chi l dren.
Earl y on, the grls
are
brought up in the samemol d. The rul es restri cti ng mobi l i ty wer e argued
out
as
necessary to ensure the grls' safety. After school , grls are expected to go home
25
There are many nuances in the tradi ti ons, cust oms and l and ownershi p in these matri l i neal faml i es.
Based on the l i fe stones and group di scussi ons
in
the uni versi ti es
in Dli
and Baucau, Apri l - May2004
Read Zul mra' s account in page24.
Obsaclcs i.hc f'f'ccti.i.c i~i.iicipiiiori r Uolieii in
A d i i 1 1
I3lucuiioil Piugi,rinici
I,Ci/.S on
~ ~ J ~ : i / ~ ~ . ~ 2 ~ l l l ~ ~ l l
:oclot:Y
A
i.igllsi
2004
26
27
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i mmedi atel y and hel p in the househol d chores, to study and l earn how to sew. They are not
al l owed to walk alone at ni ght. Those who stay outsi de the home beyond 7:OO n the eveni ng
are consi dered bad grls or women. To renounce ths norm of control may compromse a grl
or woman s mage in the communi t y, and her faml y s i mage as wel. Whi l e boys and men
spend mor e of thei r l ei sure
t i me
outsi de of the house, the women and g rls spend l ess tim
outsi de
the
home.
There
are also
limts
to the ki nd of l eisure
that
a
woman can do.
Gossi pi ng, and pl ayi ng cards (especial l y w th men) are consi dered bad.
Li mted mobi l i ty of the women outsi de the home means f ewer i nteracti ons wth other peopl e,
and
therefore
l ess acqui si ti on of i nterpersonal sklls and other
life
skills. One i mpact of thi s
l i mted mobi l i ty
is the
i nabi l i ty
of
women to l earn
a
second l anguage. t was observed that in
areas
wher e Tet umis not the mother tongue, men wer e abl e to speak Tet ummor e than the
women because of thei r transacti ons i n Dli and in other centers. Meanwhi l e,
the
woman s
access to i nformati on comes mai nl y f rom her husband and fri ends in the i mmedi ate
communi t y.
Democr acy has i nsti tuted many opportuni ti es for
the
woman to devel op hersel f and
parti ci pate outsi de the home. However , there
are
vi ews that
the
tradi tional arrangements
between husband and wfe, when di sturbed may threaten the stab l i ty of the home. I n some
i nstances, when
the
woman goes out of the house the husband
starts
questi oni ng the
wfe
about her whereabouts and acti vi ties.
Some women said that thei r husbands wer ej eal ous when they go out and worri ed about them
havi ng an affai r. But the men di sagreed
wth
ths percepti on, saying that that men coul d not
be j eal ous si nce in a communi t y, everybody knows who
i s marri ed
to whom and everybody
respects
that.
What i s cl ear, though,
is that
in each faml y, dependi ng on the rel ati onshi p
between husband and wfe, there
is
a negoti ati on goi ng on the amount of space and tim for
the
women to go out of the house. In the process, a contestati on of
the
noti on feto uma
l aran
dei t.
4
Feto rona deit, mane poder barak liu ( W o m an should only listen, m a n has more
power)
- - -
Analysis and Decision-Making
The i nterdependence between husband and wfe
was
overwhel mngl y accepted
in
al the
i ntervi ewsand workshops that wehad conducted in al six dstricts. The stab li ty of the faml y
is
of utmost concern. Such stab l i ty
i s
mai ntai ned where
the
wfe i s subordi nate to the
husband who
is the
chi ef of
the
house. Women can deci de i n the house when i t comes to
f ood, buyi ng clothes for the chi l dren or sel l ing chi cken.
As for
the educati on of the chi l dren,
both husband and
wfe
deci de on ths
in
consi derati on of
the
avai lab l i ty
of
money.
The
woman also deci des on how many tais (trad ti onal fabri c) the faml y
wll
bri ng when hel pi ng
a
relati ve.
When aparent
di es,
most
of
the
tim,
he daughters
are
the ones who
take
care of the funeral
expenses in the f ormof money, buf fal oes or pi gs. Whi l e there i s recogni ti on of
the
ab l i ty of
the women to provi de, the men, usual l y
the
el der one i s to deci de how muc h each woman
has
to gi ve, whi l e
the
men are not obl i gated to gi ve as much.
As
chi ef of the faml y, the man
is
the key deci si on- maker. In three i ntervi ews, t was said that
Even if he
is
deaf and mute, he i s still the chi ef of the house. Men are the ones who resol ve
the
bi gger probl ems or deci si on- maki ng in the faml y and most
of
the
tim,
women
are
20
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expected to l i sten to the man and fol l owh s deci si ons. A woman becomes the mai n deci si on-
maker onl y when her husband di es.
Women are supposed to l i sten to the r husbands. When there is a probl em the man has to
thi nk of ways to resol ve
the
probl emand the woman has to fol l ow t was usual to hear that
when
the
woman
taks
too much, she gets
the
i re
of the husband and at t i mes gets
the
beati ng
that she deserves. Whi l e the
man
still speaks, the woman comes to cut h s speech, so he
gets angry. We are not angry, but we say that
we
are still di scussi ng and you are cutti ng our
di scussi on. W h o s goi ng to l i sten? So whenwe are f i ni shed, you can talk and we can listen
to each other. 28
The l i mted space provi ded for women to speak out thei r i deas in the home and the threat of
puni shment f r omthe husband because she tal ks too muc h did not encourage the women s
capaci ty to thi nk and anal yze probl ems for hersel f and the f aml y and therefore, affected al so
her conf i dence to speak out on matters beyond that al l owed for her.
The woman s demeanor of l earni ng to control her tendency to talk a lot
is
al so l earned earl y
on in li feby the g rls. Thi s is one of the trats that
the
man s f aml y l ooks for in a future wfe.
The questi on does shetak too muc h or not
is
consi dered al ong w th does she come f roma
good cl an or not? The hi erarchy between husband and wf e
is
al so mani f ested earl y on
duri ng courtshi p or engagement peri od.
In
everyday Tet um the gi r l / womanis cal l ed by her
boyf ri end as hau n a l abari k, translated l itera ly as my chi l d. She on the other hand, refers
to her boyf ri end
as
maun or el der brother.
Popul ar sayi ngs in Ti mor portray the unequal rel ati onshi ps that di scri mnate a woman. When
the husband beats up h s wfe, peopl e say bi kan ho kanuru mak bako mal o, meani ng that
such is normal l ike plate and fork htting each other. There
i s
al so the sayi ng feto hanesan
nain, mane hanesan asu that compares a woman as meat and men as dog.
In
a tradi ti onal
medi at i on of a probl embetween husband and w f e
in
Mal i ana29, he men who
wer e
around
were quoti ng th s and said thew f e and
her
f aml y had
l ess
chances of w nni ng the case.
Cul tural di ctates that men have mor e power and that
i t i s
better for women to remai nsi lent l ed
women to endure vi ol ence
in
the home. The IRC esearch observed that women do not l ook
for j usti ce. They may r emai n si l ent, and try to cope
wth
the probl emthemsel ves. Many put
up
wth
domesti c vi ol ence for a l ong peri od unti l they reach a poi nt where they j ust cannot
take anymore.
Under i ndependent Ti mor , there was a cl amor for women s voi ce and part i cipati on.
However , there
i s
a seemng i mpati ence when women are not abl e to speak out. In one
workshop,
a
man comment ed to the women You shoul d gi ve your vi ews
so
you won t say
that
i t i s
al ways the man who speaks. Yet another remark was
we
gi ve the women the
opportuni ty to get i nvol ved but they do not want to. There
seems
to be an expectati on for the
Based on discussions
with
men in Viqueque.
The research team observed a traditional mediation where the traditional leaders sat on the chairsto mediate
the problem while the families of both the husband and wife were sitting on the mats to give their side. The
mediation lasted only for half a day. The families were not able to reach an agreement and the case was turned
over to the police and tribunal.
28
29
Obsta
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woman to be automati cal l y conf i dent
in
hersel f si nce Ti mor s now under democracy. For the
educated woman who has been exposed to several i nteracti ons in l i fe, ths may not be
a
probl em But for the woman who had
l ess
mobi l i ty and depended on her husband to do the
deci si on- maki ngbased on the cul ture and where she has to l i sten, ths may take sometim.
I n most workshops done duri ng the research, even wher e the respondents were
al
women, the
parti cipants needed proddi ng f r omthe research
t eam
and the
l i teracy
faci l i tator.
In
Baucau, a
woman sai d I onl y talk once.
In
Same, three women managed to speak out am d thei r
trembl i ng voi ces.
Certai nl y, i t is not enough to get women to attend li teracy and other
acti vi ti es outsi de the home. They shoul d al so be pati entl y encouraged to art i cul ate their
vi ews, an act that
i s
a cul tural break f r omthe noti on that a woman who talks too much is no
good.
Knowledge
and
Power
in
theCommunity
and Government
During a community meeting
with
traditional leaders, women sat at the side or behind the
men.
In
one instance, a young woman who wanted to share her opinion about the traditions
of
their clan had to ask the tacit approval rom
a
traditional leader.
%is is
to show respect to
the wisdom
of
the traditional leader.
Whi l e women wer e i nfl uenti al
in
nutri ti on, reari ng of chi l dren and agri cul ture in the home,
there are mni mal spaces for women s voi ces at the communi t y and government. The
tradi ti onal usti ce systemthat is
still
very much al i ve
in
Ti mor
i s
domnat ed by men and offers
l ittle
consol ati on to women.
In the i nterviews wth tradi ti onal l eaders, they sai d that onl y men can be tradi ti onal l eaders
and th s is
true
in al of Ti mor . Even in the matri l i neal faml i es of Bunak and Kamnasan,
women, even when they o wn and deci de on the use and ownershi p of the l and, were never
appoi nted tradi ti onal l eaders. Tradi ti onal l eaders are deci si on- makers
n
the communi t y; they
make
and keep the l aws and medi ate when there are probl ems. The reconci l i ati on ensures
that the ancestors are appeased and that by cl osi ng the shame on a faml ys name there
is
no
risk
of f uture retri buti on or sancti ons f r om
the
ancestors. These processes
are
overseen by
vari ous authori ti es that act as a representati ve of the ancestors and due to their l i neage have
the
power to execute these ~er emoni es. ~ mong these, dependi ng on
the
l ocati on
is
the
Li an
Nai n who is the keeper of the word/ the owner of the words, the macai r f ukun who i s the
hol der of the l aw and the Dat o Uai n who exerci se power to
make
deci si ons in l ocal
rul i ngs.
On
the
other hand,
in
tradi ti onal ceremoni es or
in
the communi t y, he women
are
expected to
prepare food, per f ormin the dances and songs, at ti mes, hel p resol ve probl ems of women and
attend to other tasks. However , th s l i mted role took a turn duri ng the resi stance.
Tradi ti onal l y margi nal i zed, East Ti morese women f ound thei r rol es t ransf ormed by war. A
smal l mnori ty j oi ned the gueri l l as. Many mor e f ound themel ves headi ng the househol ds
duri ng day and spyi ng and carryi ng messages
at
dusk. Some women
wer e
traumati zed by the
war but to others the changes boosted their sel f -conf i dence. 32The deci si on- maki ngpowers,
however , still rested on the men. Al though
as
many women
as
men parti cipated in pro-
b
30 Nixon
and Hohe,2003,
.17.
31
Babo Soares,
2001, .3.
Both quotes were lifted
from
Swaines research on traditional justice.
32
East Timor Transition to Statehood, Catherine Scott,
CIIR
p.10
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Freti l i n ral l i es throughout 1975, apart f rom Muki Bonaparte (the onl y woman sitting on
Freti l i ns Central Commt tee), and some school
teachers
on the Comm t t ee for Educat i on and
Cul ture,women wer e absent f romFreti l i ns l eader ~hi p. ~~
Ater i ndependence, here were a lot of efforts to i ntroduce changes in the tradi ti onal deci si on-
maki ng in the communi t y, part i cul arl y, to gi ve women the opportuni ti es to parti ci pate and
arti cu ate their concerns. n the assessment of the Wor l d Bank Communi t y Empower ment and
Local Governance Proj ect
(CEP), i t
was observed that women s parti cipati on vari ed
accordi ng to i nternal gender dynamcs, soci o-economc and educati onal background
as wel l
as age di fferences and geographi c l oc a t i on . ^^
Whi l e
women and men wer e equal l y
represented in most vi l l age counci l s,
a
requi rement
set
out by
CEP,
no woman
was
f ound
at
seni or l evel s of
the
vi l lage or sub-di stri ct counci l s.
In
vi l l age meet i ngs, the f emal e member s
tim i s
often taken up serving f ood and dri nks to i mportant parti cipants such as
the
tradi ti onal
and vi l l age member s. 35
Thi s margi nal i zati on of women f romkey posi ti ons often
t i mes was
traced to the women s
l ack of capabi l i ty or educati on.
Whi l e
ths may
be
true, ths is not the onl y reason. The
tradi ti onal noti on that women are
l ess
capabl e than men also hi nders
the
appreci ati on of
women s efforts preci sel y because of her tradi ti onal rol es in the faml y and communi t y.
In
the workshops and i nterviews, ths vi ew was very muc h preval ent. Whi l e there was an
overwhel mng acceptance that under i ndependent East Ti mor , the women can parti ci pate in
government , NGOs and in the communi t y through the Popul ar Organi zati on of Ti morese
Women
(OPMT)
or the Organi zati on of Ti morese Women
(OMT),
there
is
al ways that
qual i fi er
if
she i s capabl e.
Questi ons abound
as
to the w l l i ngness and capabi l i ty of women to parti ci pate. Most l y i t
was
the men who remarked that We gi ve t hemthe proj ects but they do not want to be i nvol ved.
We gi ve t hemthe chance to speak but they don t speak36. hi s att i tude i nti mdates rather
than encourages women. I n an i ntervieww th
a
Dstrict
Admni strator, she said that i n some
vi l l ages, the women wer e even prevented f romtaki ng up posi ti ons in the counci l s. She al so
narrated how
her
men col l eagues tested her tol erance, strength and capabi l i ti es to hol d on to
her posi ti on. Once in
a
meet i ng she was told to thi nk
as a
d stri ct admni strator and not
as a
woman acti vi st.
To ths,
she
retorted that bei ng
a
woman
hersel f, she
coul d not deny the
perspecti ves and the interests of the women. Si nce men have tradi ti onal l y domnated
the
l eadershi p at the communi ty- l evel , apparentl y,
a
Ti morese woman
has
to prove hersel f
capabl e of holdi ng on to
a
posi ti on mor e than the man has to.
On
the other hand, some women
who
are
also not used to
ths
arrangement of tenti mes gi ve way to the men s deci si ons as a
way of respect.
Reproduction
of
Gender Perceptions in
Girls
and
Boys
Aditjonndro
2001.
uoted from W o m e n
in
East Timor:
A
Report
on
Womens Health, Education, Economic
W o m e n in East Timor:A Report on Womens Health, Education, Economic Empowerment and Decision-
33
Empowerment and Decision-Making
making, p.75
35 Ibid.
34
From an interview with a district administrator and a meeting in Maliana.
6
23
bsiacles to thc Ii:,ifcctivc.ai.ticipaiioiiof
W(il.ricii
n i\tlult klucuiioii Pi .og .an s
Foc1 S o l socro
~ M l r doclci
s
A i l p s i 7001
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In
a heated discussion with secondary school students, e sked: Can men hit their wives?
In
a chorus, they answered
BELE
ney can ) A boy offered an explanation, The man
teaches his wife and gives her advice but she never listens,so he hits her because of love. So
this
is
not domestic violence, this is not a crime. To this the girls agreed. But w hen asked
whether the girls want their future husbands to beat them
up,
they said, again in a chorus
TA
ELE (%ey cannot ).
To
this, the boys answered we
will
teach you a lesson.
The workshops wth grls and boys in the pri mary school , grades 5-6,and seni or secondary
hi gh school ,
class
3 provi ded i nsights on the reproducti on of gender rel ati ons i n the young
generati ons. In the workshops in Seni or Secondary School
(SMA),
students wer e asked to
gi ve the r opi ni ons to
a set
of si tuati ons regardi ng women and men. I n al SMA, he i ntense
debates/di scussi ons wer e around the issue of equal power between husband and wfe in the
home and on the real i ty of pregnant or mamed students going back to SMA. It was
i nteresti ng to note that the students also
agreewth
the val ues hel d dearl y by adul ts such as
that on the stab l i ty
of
thehome and
that
mor e chi l dren means weal th. There wer e nuances
in thei r responses, though.
Rol es and Mobi l i ty
Both boys and grls have responsibi l i ti es at home. However , boys seem to have mor e
mobi l i ty than g rl s. In the workshops done wth pri mary school students, when asked what
they do duri ng l ei sure tim,maj ori ty of the grl s answered that they
wash
di shes, study or
l earn how to sew On the other hand, most boys stayed outsi de to pl ay bal l whi l e a f ew said
that they study. When asked what thei r elder
si ster
or aunt does, boys and
girls
said that they
wor k at home to cook and
wash
clothes. Meanwhi l e maj ori ty sai d that el der brother or uncl e
or badi u stays outsi de
the
house wth fri ends and a fewdri nks
tua
(pal mwne), whi l e others
work.
I n
SMA,
he grls compl ai ned that they have l ess tim to study at home because of the many
househol d chores they have to do. They are al so not al l owed to go out and meet wth fri ends
except when there are school acti vi ti es to wor k on wth thei r fri ends. Meanwhi l e, boys,
al though they do chores l ike col l ecti ng wood or fetchi ng water, have mor e tim to study and
rel ax.
Percepti ons on theFaml y
On Power between men
and
womenn
the
home, n
al
workshops
wth
seni or secondary
students, both grls and boys bel i eve that under i ndependent East Ti mor , men and women
have
the
same
ri ghts. However , hey al so said
that
men have
mor e
power than women.
The
man i s the
chi ef
of
the
house and the woman shoul d al ways support hi m Even an educated
woman, some sai d, must return to the ki tchen to cook. Equal ri ghts
wer e
most of the
tim
referred to as the ri ght to do certai nrol es. For exampl e, now women can also go to
the
fie d
or
be
represented in the communi t y through
OPMT/ OMT.
heman can al so cook when the
woman
is sick
and can take
care of the
chi l dren.
In
al
SMA, he vi ewthat awoman can have the samerights
AND
power as the man i s f ought
outby mnori ty, most l y by gi rl s groups and
a
fewboys. I nteresti ngl y,they rei terated that in
the moder n democr acy, women,
f
they are capabl e (agai n the qua ifier), can go to wor k and
get
a
househol d hel per to do
the
chores.
24
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O n
the m a n hitting his wife, in al workshops w th secondary students, there was an
acknow edgment that i t i s accepted that a man hts
hs
wfe to teach her a l esson especial l y
when
she
was not abl e to prepare the f ood. However , he maj ori ty of the grls admtted that
they do not want th s to happen to t hemwhen
they
get marri ed, but woul d prefer to get advi ce
f romtheir husband.
Thi s
i s
still
refl ecti ve, however, of
the
usual rol e of the men to teach
hs
wfe.
O n hether ma ny children are wealth to the family,maj ori ty of the SMA students thi nk
that
i t
is good for Ti mor to have a lot
of
chi l dren because they are the f uture of Ti mor .
Accordi ng to t hem whether East Ti mor wll devel op or not depends on them Therefore,
they have to study hard and wor k hard to devel op Ti mor .
Inevery school , a mnori ty group of grls and boys argued otherwse.
They
thi nk that chi l dren
are weal th but now they asked how are we goi ng to use themas weal th? For i nstance, ina
poor faml y, there are many chi l dren and they cannot sendt hemto school . Then, we use the
wr ong way the chi l dren who are supposed to be our weal th. When we consi der chi l dren as
weal th,
we
shoul d create good thi ngs for t hem We have to have chi l dren based on our
economc power. When we consi der