This tuber I carry, I feel it heavy weight of the work achieved by these
courageous women
Of Course, all those who like myself, are struggling to help women,
are welcome with their advice, hints, to my pleasure.
Laurence Koo
Balate:a Village and a People
Visit the pages of this amerindian village on this Web site with
/arawak.htm
allo-rencontre.com
The meeting, friendship, love
-Laurence Koo . My concern about those women is to be close so as to help them improve their everyday fight by information and action and wake up their awareness as to their dignity as women and human beings. The urban woman has already taken this path. The countrywoman has already taken this path. The countrywoman should no longer keep away from citizenship at the threshold of the new millennium.
There is the outline of my program with KEL-FRATERNITE, relating to rural women from my region.
I- the Community Education: Information and advice.
II- building of health cabin and drinking water spots: several partnership applications in process.
III- the woman autonomy and income induced activities.
-Community fields are in process of creation with the participation of several rural women groups (for exempla cassava fields).
-Creation of co-operatives as soon as possible, where all these sale-bound farm products will be stored.
On the community field topic: here is an instance of meeting made in the village to check women organisational methods in their type of job, as well as the type of help they need. Clementine Mékongo as the said, grows groundnuts, corn and cassava. She gave me an account of her daily activities: waking up early in the morning and going to the field at 3km distance; working in the field is collective until the evening, with a break to eat. Clémentine would like that a collective organisation type, be quickly devised so she can take advantage of shared time in order to do other jobs. Mrs Mgbwat and her daughter who are working for the same cultures (corn, ground nuts, cassava) are waiting, as a result of the work organisation, an important reduction in the specially hard tasks. This have given me, together with my colleague Jeanine Avong, the opportunity to propose to those women the system of a specializing in the type of culture that is required.
Find an organisation mode to a more efficient work ?
For exemple:
-20 women to deal with a cornfield, another 20 to deal with a cassava field, and so on for every type of cultures. This idea is also that of other women we met in the fields ad this division of work is worth while for the cup too. This kind of working in "specialised groups" spare so effort that having to plough the land by you. We also thought of working out a "job planning" so they can have a rest from time to time and take care of their families.
3- another goal is increasing production.
According to a survey made on duties carried out in-groups, it appears that there are several advantages, namely:
-A greater space of land to be tilled.
- Carrying out such a task is much faster.
Consequently, we are witnessing, though such exchanges, an awakening of a community reflex. Woman should be increasingly accustomed to the sentiment of being part of a community, thus contributing to the blossoming of the later by a shared well being and a shared greater welfare as well.