I wrote this account of my first trip into the field… you notice there are no grass-roots quotes’ in this case study, because the majority of my understanding solidified in the bus ride home when I could ask what was going on…. being in a country where you don’t speak the language is like swimming in the dark.
Taking the trip down to the Sheik Husain Community Development Center in Irbid was a long, winding road through rolling hills of green agriculture, olive trees and small bushes that swathe the landscape. It is winter, and the temperature is balmy – one can only imagine the heat that summer brings with it, and the harshness of the land that would be revealed when the wave of green subsides to reveal the rocky unforgiving ground that forms the foundation of this governorate.
We come up to the gates of a glistening white washed building with the JOHUD logo cresting it, and enter the driveway lined with carefully kept flower beds and smiling women that are waiting patiently for the arrival of the Makana II project management team. Their many hands descend on the supplies in the van, eager to start the workshop that will catalyze the many issues they feel are paramount in the advancement of their township.
The decision to focus on the issues that will be discussed in this workshop was a democratic one – a survey of the area was done to decide which issues were of premier importance in the community, followed by a meeting to decide on which three would be the most important to bring to the attention of the service providers in this forum. The conscientious care that went into these preliminary plans, and the democratic participation in them, was evidenced by the efficiency within which the women assigned themselves to the issues and assembled at the designated tables with a qualified agenda to further this dialogue.
When the service providers arrived to the meeting hall full of women, their initial approach was to congregate at the head of the room on plush leather chairs. They did not rest there for long! They were warmly welcomed, then shown to their seats where their constructive input would be most appreciated – a representative from the ministry of education at the table that would be discussing the issue of youth participation and attendance in school; the civil defense and police assigned to the table that want a resolution to combat the death toll at the hands of a man-made channel where children swim daily in the hot summer months; and a religious leader at the table discussing the growing issues of youth abuse of alcohol and the illicit channels they are using to facilitate this consumption.
Once the issues are in the process of being introduced, the representative for the governorate, Mr. Mufeed Ananbeh, arrives with his fleet. He quickly addresses those assembled in a fashion that evokes the ‘civic interaction’ of old – he is well spoken and eloquent, assuredly, but ultimately his approach is one that is telling of the importance of issues as opposed to listening and interacting with his governorate. During his speech, many women in the room appear to be restless, and once he is finished the floor is finally theirs; for some, it is the first opportunity they have had to hear their own voice participate in a forum devoted to furthering their community in a meaningful way.
Mr. Ananbeh took this transition from lecture to discussion as his cue to leave, but Lama Zaidelkilani, the project manager, kindly requested that he wait in the courtyard to fulfill his purpose of attendance: to field the solutions to these problems, binding him to them in a recognition of shared accountability, rather than vocally acknowledging their existence in a passive manner.
These are not exclusively women’s issues; they are issues that affect the whole community negatively – particularly the future of many of these women’s children. These women are the backbone of the district, and they are affected most distinctly by the degeneration of cross-cutting problems as they have been continually overlooked by the institutions whose representatives are present in this round-table as simply ‘women’. Now, they are defining another reputation for themselves beyond the traditional roles assigned to them by the past. They are creating their collective future. They are all too aware that this is an important opportunity they have been given, and the strength of their message will be in the way they communicate their goals and aspirations.
For that reason, the passion that emanates from many women as they assert their opinions in a workshop forum, expressing their concerns to the representative service providers, is unmistakable. It is not about the issues they have brought to the table, but the way the issues have been materialized in this tangible setting, that is remarkable and speaks to the very heart of Makana II.
The workshop is very successful, and the governor waited patiently while the discussions of the mutually agreed upon solutions are verbalized from where they have been posted and displayed on the wall. “It is about action for the future, not what has happened before this time – we need to put blame aside to mutually decide on a way to solve these issues,” explained the project manager and facilitator for this forum, Ms. Lama Zaidelkilani, to a woman who was expressing her dissatisfaction about how these issues have perpetually been ignored by some of the service providers present, and ultimately the governor himself.
On the whole, though, the women seemed to be satisfied with the outcome, and understanding of the realistic nature of change in institutions. Their resolve to be active participants, watchdogs and facilitators in furthering these solutions is strong – they are in it for the long haul. They recognize their expertise and their unique perspective and contribution to the dialog on issues such as these, and their silence is a thing of the past.
The conclusion to all issues was a variation of awareness raising campaigns that would be tailored to the context, and those representatives of services that were present at each table were expected to take the initiative in championing the Makana women’s perspective to their institutions. Now these concerns were not only the responsibility for women to bare them, but the accountability is shifted to all parties present. This is a recognizable effort to minimize the negative repercussions that have traditionally accompanied women speaking out on matters that extend beyond the walls of their home, and to legitimize their actions by substantiating them with the supportive sustainable dialogue with the very institutions they have previously perceived as barriers. By encouraging the channel of communication on all three issues in the same forum, they also showed their multi-faceted concerns in linking all of the service providers together in their mutual interest for the community.
A fourth issue that had come up was not discussed in the forum was indicative of the true nature of Makana II… that women are not able to help others in a true position of strength until they meet their own needs and strengthen themselves. They want to build a second story on the CDC t house a meeting room and fitness center they can all enjoy and promote as an income-generating business. They had a representative in to begin the process of doing a feasibility study and lay the foundation of the income-generating project for the women to begin their small business – the training on book-keeping and management all offered as part of the program, and a micro-loan that they will use to cover start-up costs.
Mrs. Faida Awamreh, the director of the Sheik Husain CDC, is clearly one of the pillars of vigor in all these initiatives. Her smiling face and humor are the pretense to her inclusive professional approach, and embodiment of the common interests she prioritizes and mobilizes on a daily basis. When she points to the potential location of the fitness center as a crown on her CDC with her descriptive hands, she paints a picture of a necessary and welcome addition that will form the future as part of the fabric of community spirit.
Her ability to make a difference is given to her by Makana II and other projects such as these that are focused on amplifying the internal drive of so many of these women. They may be born with the will to make a difference, but unless they are given the tools and the forum so many are never heard from, and the community suffers as a result. During the process of training and facilitation that has been supplied to them through the Makana II project, they have been given their productive voice, but they are the ones who are now using them for the positive impact they wish to have. Makana II has supplied the foundation and the tools for these women to shape their communities, and to fill the gaps between grass-roots initiatives and top-down governance.
The Makana women in the Sheik Husain CDC are the seeds of change being cultivated in their rocky, unforgiving governorates soil. Their purposeful and practical approach despite the challenges in promoting change bespeaks the ongoing grass-roots possibilities Makana II enables to come to fruition.
