The Ganassi Project

EMPOWERED WOMEN WORKING THROUGH TRADITION:

THE GANASSI PROJECT

[By Farida D. Pasiwen]

Situated in North Upi, Maguindanao, Barangay Ganassi is one of the farthest communities of the municipality. It’s long and winding up-bound road is accessible by four-wheeled vehicles and motorcycles. But during rainy seasons, even four wheelers cannot enter the community limiting transportation to motorcycles. Most of the residents though walk to town and to school down the very muddy road. All the residents are Muslim.

Ormina Acob, the president of the Bayanan Women’s Organization lived in this community for almost 20 years now. Born and raised as an Ilongga, she was used to the Christian way of life but when she married a Muslim in 1983, she converted to Islam. Later widowed with two children, she re-married a Ganassi native in 1992 and moved to this community. Like most of their community mates, they planted corn as their main livelihood.

Since marrying a traditional Muslim, she had embraced but had to adjust to their many traditions and practices. One of these is that community decisions are made by men and so all the leaders were men. Women were not allowed to participate in community decision-making and so they were mostly confined to their farm works and tending home.

Ormina recalls coming to this community with no social services at all. Years later, a primary school was established. When parents were asked to participate in some school activities, this was the first time mothers of schoolchildren did some social activities outside of their homes. The school was followed by visitations from government health workers. As there is no health center in the community, mothers, Ormina among them, were trained as barangay health workers to help in preventive health care and doing basic health chores. Again, involvement of women in community affairs was further strengthened.

But it was in 2006-2007 that the women collectively made some strong assertions when they organized themselves into the Bayanan Women’s Organization as part of their empowerment and livelihood activities under the Community-Based Development Program of the Diocese of Southern Philippines. Through this organization, 50 women pursued a livestock and poultry dispersal project under a scheme that obligated the recipients to pay back, in cash or in kind, part of what they received. Initially, the project created tension in the community as men realized that their spouses were spending more time outside of their usual routines. But the men eventually accepted the women’s involvement as the latter brought home livestock and poultry to take care of. Secretly, as Ormina fondly says, the husbands were in awe of their spouses as the latter were able to access economic opportunities that meant a lot to their marginalized families. Unfortunately, disease attacked the dispersed animals, leaving only very few survivors. Yet, the organization made a pledge to comply with its obligation of paying back a part of what its members received. This women’s group grew stronger with membership extending to other sitios, including three Teduray and thus non-Muslim women.

Having learned a lot of lessons from their experiences and having grown much stronger, the organization negotiated with the diocese for a bigger project that would involve and benefit the entire community members. The proposed project involves the establishment of a drying pavement and warehouse and acquisition of a corn sheller. When the project was approved and the community broke ground for the construction of these facilities in 2008, the men of Ganassi finally raised their hands in full salute to their women who have sparked the flames of community action and made this project possible. To a community, however, that was so entrenched in tradition, the men’s changing view about the role of women in the community did not mean that women could already sit with them in the decision-making processes. These continued to be exclusively men’s clubs. But men no longer barred their spouses from doing parallel activities on their own.

To manage and implement the project, the Ganassi Famers Organization was established. While this was supposed to be embracing both men and women in its membership, decision-making group formations still followed the traditional way, where by men met exclusively by themselves. And so the women responded in similar vein by further strengthening the Banayan Women’s Organization which functions independently and which, in fact, cornered the livelihood component of the project. The men could not question why this is so because the women have already demonstrated their capacity to engage in livelihood on their own. The latter want to continue with the livestock and poultary dispersal as they firmly believe this is one way whereby they could share the blessings with others. And they haven’t forgotten their previous obligation – they have pledged to pay for these when their present initiative bears fruit.

Both the drying pavement and the warehouse have been completed and are now being used for the benefit of the community – BONG, CAN YOU GIVE US A COMPUTATION OF THE ACTUAL BENEFITS GAINED BY THE COMMUNITY FROM THE USE OF THESE FACILITIES.

For the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Philippines, the Ganassi project proved to be a valuable opportunity for engaging in positive inter-faith action. Believing firmly that community development is a right of all God’s people, regardless of religious belief, the diocese entered this community of Muslims and was embraced as a full partner. High mutual respect for each others’ beliefs, which saw the ground-breaking and turn-over ceremonies done through the Muslim rites while prayers and bible reflections regularly attended community meetings, characterized the relationship and enabled the partnership to take root and grow.