In the words of Penina Sabuna: “We are not just waiting for help anymore, we are learning to help ourselves”
Date:
Interviewers: Mutia Salma and Vania Ramadhanty
Penina Sabuna (Nina), 26, of Spaha Village, Timor Tengah Selatan Regency, East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia, heads of Karang Taruna, a youth welfare organization, and is a co-researcher for Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR), conducted by the Institute of International Studies at Universitas Gadjah Mada (IIS-UGM) as part of the WE NEXUS project aimed at identifying the root causes of gender inequality and its intersection with disasters, social conflict and violent extremism. WE NEXUS is implemented by UN Women with CIS Timor and Save the Children in East Nusa Tenggara and is funded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).
“Mama-mama (mothers) in my village face the brunt of the climate crisis. They are anxious about their household economy especially since the prolonged drought in 2019 which caused their crops to fail. Even after the rain returned to normal, the harvests were not the same as before. Although the husbands were out working to provide for their families, it was mostly the mothers who carried the burden of putting food on the table while also worrying about debts and daily expenses.
So, during my discussions with the mama-mama, I encouraged them to join the Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA), a microfinance group that enables a community to save their money and access finance without relying on banks, so they could gain access to resources and learn budgeting skills in the hope of them becoming more resilient the next time a crisis comes.
I am grateful for the WE NEXUS project. I have learned to help advocate for vulnerable groups, especially mothers and children in Spaha, so I can support them in raising their voices with the village government and authorities.
When WE NEXUS project came in, things began to improve for women, especially through the VSLA, where women were encouraged to speak up about their concerns and ideas. Many mothers believed that women were meant to stay in the kitchen, and that their role in the village was simply to serve food, nothing more. But the project made the mothers more confident in joining in public discussions and more involved in village decision-making. This shows that we are not just waiting for help anymore, we are learning to help ourselves.”