Eye on Corruption - Empowering Women to Change

Second Women's Assemblies held on 22nd November 2013

Held at HF Eco Village Moak Sharif and Madiba Village Khakoo Wasan, Tando Allahyar, Sindh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION

The second women’s assemblies were held in the target HF villages namely Eco-Village Moak Sharif and Madiba Village Khakoo Wasan. The purpose of this round of assemblies was to take the introductory meetings further and explain the objective of introducing technology to the women.

ASSEMBLIES

In both villages they were informed that in view of the presence of HF in the village, and TIP’s willingness to take up matters with relevant authorities, they should inform the two organizations if they required any help in taking the programs forward.

As compared to the first meeting, the second assembly was more focused on training the selected women for the Ma committee. However, there were other men, women and children gathered to participate in these assemblies too.

MOAK SHARIF ASSEMBLY

The assembly was attended by approximately 50 women and 30 children. The meeting was addressed by Hina Zaidi from Heritage Foundation and Maryam Mughal of Transparency International Pakistan. The translation from Urdu to Sindhi was carried out by HF’s Social Mobilizer Sumaira. The selected women of the Ma Committee were front and centre. They were given a brief summary of the first assembly where the reason for holding these workshops and the project was discussed. Most of the women agreed that education is very important. It was stressed by Hina that the women send their children to school. Those in the committee were told about their responsibilities. Each woman was responsible for around 30 families in the village and her foremost duty was to make sure that the children in these were going to school.

A small ceremony was held where the women were given the mobile phones. Then they were told why they were being given mobile phones and what to do with them. Their foremost duty, they were told, was to communicate with the government school teachers and report any irregularity to TI Pakistan. They were encouraged to meet and communicate with the school teachers to ensure punctuality and tardiness in their attendance. They were given important/emergency numbers to call including the ALAC’s hotline for reporting any corruption.

They were then taught how to use the phones. Two out of the five knew how to use them already and assisted those that were confused. Laminated copies of these numbers will also be put up in the school and village area. They were also told that they will be given a Skype tutorial through which they will be able to see and talk to anyone in the world. After the assembly concluded, the team shifted to oversee a painting session that was being simultaneously held in the village’s government school for the children. The school has been cleaned and is now up and running thanks to the ground staff and the women involved. They now have a functional school with a permanent teacher. After the painting session, a conversation was had with the teacher of the school. He was presented with a laptop and printer for use by anyone in the village especially the children and the women.

KHAKOO WASAN ASSEMBLY

The assembly was attended by 40 women, approximately 20 men, and 20 children. The meeting was addressed by HF and TI Pakistan, including translation in Sindhi.

The women were given the same brief as earlier. Photographs were taken while the women were presented with their mobile phones. A separate art activity was also carried out in the village’s government school for the children of the area.

Maa Committee Update

A meeting took place on 6th December with the members of the committees in both villages. The objective of this meeting was to get an update on the work that the women had been doing. In Moak Sharif, we gathered the following feedback from 3 of the 5 women members:

Sumaira – These mobile phones that have been given to us are advantageous not only to us but the village as well. The headmaster of our school now comes on time because of the fear of being reported. Before this, the school was in shambles and he used to visit occasionally and came and went as he pleased with a low attendance of students. The children are now coming to school and we urge the families to continue this practice.

Rozina – I’m very happy that we are able to use these phones to keep a check on the headmaster. As Sumaira said, we now have the power to report any irregularities, especially the headmaster, and this helps us and the children of the village tremendously.

Imamat – I completely agree with what Sumaira and Rozina have just said. In addition, I would like to thank the people that have helped us get to this position. The social mobilizers and the teams from TI Pakistan and Heritage Foundation has helped us better our village tremendously and this is self-evident.

Zainab – The teacher in our village was worse than Moak Sharif’s. He was uninterested in the school and the students. Now, however, he teaches the children properly and on time. He knows we have the phones and can report his wrongdoings.

In Khakoo Wassan, we gathered the following feedback:

Amina – Yes! The teacher is punctual and comes to the school every day to teach. Before he would saunter in at 11am but now he comes at 9am sharp. I have personally gone and spoken to him. I told him that we have been given the responsibility of keeping a check on him and that he should perform the best he can. He’s a government school teacher and gets paid by the government to teach our kids every day and so he should do his job. Suffice it to say, he is doing a good job for now.

Jannat – Just like my fellow members said, we have worked hard to make sure the teacher stays in check. But along with that, we are also persuading all families in the village to send their children to school regularly. As the children work in the fields later in the day, some families are reluctant to do this. However, we hold regular talks with the 30 families that we are each assigned to and do our best to persuade them.