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Environment
Shaking up the Structure
by Zofeen T Ebrahim
The October
2005 earthquake changed the lives of thousands of women in Pakistan.
According to the Pakistan government's Earthquake Reconstruction and
Rehabilitation Authority, the quake - measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale
- hit parts of Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) and
Pakistan-administered Kashmir, some 30,000 km across. It claimed about
73,338 lives, severely wounded another 69,412 people and left 3.5
million homeless.
Now, a year after the disaster and with another harsh winter looming, a
quick stocktaking seems in order. The International Federation of the
Red Cross has warned of some 400,000 survivors spending another winter
without a permanent shelter. For many women, the earthquake has not only
radically changed their lives but also age-old social equations.
 The
2005 quake is a stark reminder of how calamities - whether natural or
human-made - disproportionately affect the lives of women. "The shock
and scale of devastation compounded pre-existing gender-specific
vulnerabilities emanating from the norms of purdah: gender
segregation and female seclusion," Shirkat Gah, a women's NGO observed
in its July 2006 bulletin, 'Rising from the Rubble'. This bulletin
speaks of women who lost their husbands and children, or were abandoned
by their husbands because they were seriously injured. Women in camps
complained about being harassed by male camp dwellers. There were cases
of trafficking and abduction of women and children that were impossible
to follow up amid the chaos that prevailed.
In the aftermath of the earthquake, many women have suddenly been forced
to take on the roles of breadwinner or caregiver. Some women are earning
for the first time. In a remote village in Mansehra, NWFP, 45-year-old
Rukhsana Bibi gathers wood for some families. The sole earning member,
she earns Rs 50 a day to feed her five daughters and a husband who lost
his sight during the quake. Then there is Sabar Jan, 70, in Meira
village, Mansehra. She lost two of her sons and their wives, and is now
looking after five orphaned grandchildren in addition to her already
ailing husband. "I don't know how long I will survive and what will
happen to these poor orphans," she says helplessly, eyes welling up.
The quake has also altered the natural geography of the land. Many
streams, for instance, have dried up or changed course. "We now have to
walk a good half hour to fetch water and we need to do that three to
four times a day," says Shumaila, 21, in a village outside Muzaffarabad.
Earlier, she had piped water just outside her home.
Ironically, the quake that so disrupted the lives of thousands of women,
has also empowered women. "Women have always been the backbone of the
family, even in the highly traditional communities of Kashmir and NWFP.
In a crisis, social differences and power structures change, at least
for a while. This trigger can be linked to the empowerment of women.
There were many women, for instance, who actually buried the dead
because there were no men around. Traditionally, women rarely accompany
the dead body to the burial grounds, let alone perform the rites," says
Kilian Kleinschmidt, Senior Emergency Coordinator, United Nations High
Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), Pakistan. He believes that without
women's hard work, many families would not have survived the winter.
"Women were a crucial part of the relief effort, both as part of their
community and as part of the countless organizations helping them. Women
had to come forward themselves and request support; they had to speak to
ensure access to their rights. There are many women-headed households
today," says Kleinschmidt. The government's post-quake slogan, 'Build
Back Better', ought to refer not only to infrastructure, but also to
society. "The challenge now is to ensure that the achievements made
during this period of crisis are sustained. Pakistani society needs to
provide equal opportunities to women," he stresses.
One way of empowering those who are now heading households or are the
sole breadwinners is to equip them with marketable skills. Many women in
various camps are being trained in trades such as sewing, kitchen
gardening and making fuel-efficient stoves. The 47 camps in the quake
zone together house around 29,722 people - an enormous opportunity for
change.
For instance, the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC),
funded by UNHCR, works in a camp in Meira in the Kashmir valley. ICMC
found that besides helping women gain self-confidence, these training
sessions also keep them busy. And interacting with so many others as
vulnerable as they are has been a healing process in itself. So far,
ICMC has trained 3,966 women. Further sessions are on right now. "They
are not only self-sufficient but are also supporting their families. On
an average, they earn between Rs 6,000 to 7,000 per month," says a
satisfied Vivian Tan of the UNHCR.
Yet, as a second winter looms ahead, survivors are far from settled.
Rashida Dohad, Programme Advisor, Omar Asghar Khan Development
Foundation, an NGO that works with rural communities in the NWFP's
Mansehra division, "I see very little reconstruction going on in the
NWFP. The people feel their life is in a state of limbo." And this
uncertainty is gnawing at women. While she believes that there will be a
greater role for women in post-quake social structures, she says, the
impact is not visible now. "It's too early. Anger and resentment usually
galvanize people. The quake has caused old power relations to break."
Kleinschmidt believes this visibility is more pronounced within civil
and community-based organizations, where "many women have been trained
as trainers. This has caused some nervousness amongst the religious
community, who claim that this was putting traditional values into
question."
There is change, though. A year ago, Dorothy Blane, Country Director of
Concern, an Irish NGO, was skeptical about seeing the quake as a means
of changing this traditionally conservative society. "It was a challenge
for women to feel free to raise their voices, and a bigger one for them
to be heard."
Recently, Blane met with a women's group that was formed with support
from one of Concern's local NGO partners. "The women told me how, before
the quake, they did not even have the freedom to organize group meetings
like the one we were participating in. But after the quake, these women
had been major decision-makers in repair, reconstruction and water
schemes. I think the door has opened a little for the women here. They
are asking for skills training, and they seem to believe this will
receive male support too...I hope this is the case. In any case, I left
the meeting feeling optimistic that there is movement in what had been a
fairly entrenched area."
(* Some names have been changed to
protect identities.)
November 12,
2006
By arrangement with
Women's Feature Service
Image: A quake survivor learns to use the
sewing machine during vocational training in a Balakot camp.
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Environment
The Week of November 12, 2006
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by Rajinder Puri
Chinese President's Visit to India: Much Ado
about Nothing by Dr. Subhash Kapila
History grants Nitish Kumar an opportunity in
Bihar by Ramesh Menon
Pakistan's Military Dictator Besieged by Dr.
Subhash Kapila
Status: Nemesis of Fools, Smarts and Nations by
Gaurang Bhatt, MD
Reaping the Peace Dividend in India's North East
by Col. Rahul K. Bhonsle
A Panoply of Orchestrated Fraud by V.
Sundaram
Buddhism and Quantum Physics by Christian
Thomas Kohl
Are We Really Civilized? by TA Ramesh
Anger of Varunavrat by VK Joshi
Shaking up the Structure by Zofeen T Ebrahim
Wanderlust by Attreyee Roy Chowdhury
Khat e Kabuliwala: Inside an ancient temple near
Mazar-e-Sharif by Rajesh Talwar
Following the Coast by Naiya Sivaraj
Pachmarhi, Nature's Gift to Madhya Pradesh by
Anil Gulati
If You Can't Slap 'Em, Snap 'Em by Elayne Clift
Women Presidents Pack a Punch by Ambujam
Anantharaman
The Politics of Hair by Nilanjana Biswas
Murky Meat Factories by Alka Arya
Sex Workers' Bank - Healthy Returns by
Nilanjana Bhowmick
A Louder Voice by Rodrick Mukumbira
Reneging the Blue Billion by Priyadarsi Dutta
Strange are the Ways of God by Arya Bhushan
The Witty Side by Melvin Durai
How to Deal With - Analytical Physiologist Disorder
by Michael Levy
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