John Tahiru and Laribe Gbandi (pictured above) have been married for over thirty years and are living in the small, resource poor community of Kpandai with their six children, three boys and three girls. John is a small-scale yam and maize farmer, while Laribe is a petty trader, concentrating on the selling of seasonal foodstuffs.
Women in Northern Ghana often have fewer rights than men, lower educational and health status, and less access to resources and decision-making processes. Nevertheless, women play essential roles at the household and community level. The gender inequalities that exist in such communities often have deep in cultural and religious roots characterized by an overburden and workload of women. How did John and Laribe, therefore, take the step forward to embrace gender equality initiatives in their own household?
The Social Enterprise Development Foundation (SEND) of West Africa, a people-centered NGO who is committed to promoting livelihood security and equality of women and men through participatory development and public policy advocacy in West Africa, has been working in the resource poor and conflict ridden Eastern Corridor of Ghana for the past five years. At the core of SEND Foundation's projects, programmes, and policies, is a commitment to promote gender equality in the pursuit of sustainable development.
Laribe Gbandi benefits from SEND Foundations Rural Commercial Women (RCW) project, whose primary objective is to train and build the capacity of women to uproot all obstacles that hinder their economic and social empowerment and to provide them with the requisite skills and information to strengthen and improve their well-being and relationships in society. Laribe and John were selected amongst the RCW beneficiaries to attend a Gender Model Family Training workshop in October 2003. This training was meant to bring families together to discuss issues of sex and gender roles in their respective homes and to assist participants to discuss the causes of gender biases against women in the community. In addition, the training sought to assist model families to identify and discuss the socio-economic impact of the heavy workload on women and to come out with workable strategies to reduce this workload in their own households. In turn, these families would serve as "gender models" within their respective communities.
Through the training Laribe and John learned to share household responsibilities and made a commitment to employ the newfound gender equality strategies in their own home. After some time, Mr. Gbandi explained these tasks were challenging as the Muslim community he resides in frowned upon men even picking up a broom, let alone sweeping the house. At first it was difficult for John to cope with these negative comments from his neighbors, and as a result, he stopped helping his wife in their home. After sometime, however, John saw the benefit that working together had brought to his family; therefore, he began employing the techniques learned in the Gender Model Family Training once again.
Since Mr. Gbandi has solidified his commitment to promoting gender equality in the household, Laribe says their relationship has improved greatly and she also has more time to concentrate on her business. As one of SEND Foundation's Rural Commercial Women and a micro finance beneficiary, she was able to acquire three loan cycles of 600,000 cedis each (85CDN), which enabled her to expand her business to include the production and selling of homemade pastries. Soon afterwards, Laribe was able to graduate from the micro finance scheme to being a full-fledged member of the Kpandai Cooperative Credit Union. She has managed to save 1,307,000 cedis (187 CDN) in her own personal account and has received her second loan from the credit union of 3 million cedis (429 CDN) which she is currently repaying. Lariba explained, "I now make more money than before. I can finally pay my children's school fees and contribute to the upkeep of the family." When Laribe was asked about the most positive contribution SEND Foundation has made in her life, she responded by saying "My relationship with my husband has improved so much, we are happier, and now we work together to help our family become stronger."
One of the children living in the Gbandi house, Sarah, 17 explains how boys and girls in the family are equally expected to fetch water, clean the house, and do other household chores. "My parents have taught us to respect each other and our elders. Now my father will help to sweep the compound when my mother is grinding rice or maize. We all work together."
Husband and wife explain, they both contribute to the upkeep of the family and make decisions regarding its improvement together. "We no longer hear negative comments around our house." says John. "People are now used to the way we live." While there are still challenges in balancing entrenched inequalities within the structures of religious and traditional institutions, the Gbandi's have realized that working together has made a significant difference in their family. For the Gbandi's, embracing positive gender relations in their household not only proved to strengthen their family relationship but has enhanced the quality of their everyday lives.
by Renee Wassick, CCA Technical Co-operant (2005) Kpandai, Northern Ghana |
