Name: NICDAO, Allana Joyce L.

/ BSA – 1A

Activity 10
STUDENT DIVERSITY
Read a research or study related to student diversity. Fill out the matrix below.

PROBLEM RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

1. What are the empowerment experiences of
women during the Learning and Livelihood
program?
2. Are prevailing cultural circumstances being
receptive to new strategies?
3. Do women have been empowered such that they
now have significant roles in household income
generation and decision making?
4. What avenues that have opened in the
furtherance of women’s newly acquired status, if
any?
Eighteen (18) Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and
seven (7) In-Dept Interviews (IDIs) with a purposive
sample of 231 participants/informants were conducted
in eleven (11) villages in 2009. FGD participation was
based on age, ethnicity and marital status. Key
informants in IDIs were selected on the basis of
additional insights they could offer because of their
position in government, POs and so on. The FGDs and
IDIs were conducted after free and informed consent
have been obtained. Guide questions were used to
generate information.

Women Empowerment Through

Learning and Livelihood Program
By Isaias S. Sealza
Xavier University – Ateneo De Cagayan

FINDINGS RECOMMENDATIONS

1. After the LLP, the women were able to vote by 1. It is recommended that area coverage of LLP be
themselves, work outside the home (e.g., engage
in buy-and-sell business, grow vegetables, raise
animals/poultry, or make bank deposits) and
communicate with spouses their reproductive and
child rearing choices. On top of these, they gained
self-confidence in associating with people.
2. The prevailing cultural circumstances of Muslim
women in Southern Philippines indicate
receptiveness to development innovations that
use Pos as major actor.
expanded (women empowerment on themselves, in
shared household responsibilities, in improved
husband-wife communication and the involvement of
some women in non-agricultural activities)
2. Certain patterns also tend to support the furtherance
of gains. Women now interact freely with outside
groups in social and economic contexts. It is also
recommended that this interaction be enhanced in
the spirit of incipient cooperativism. Cooperatives
hold promise to serve members’ needs for livelihood
transactions (“bridging” social capital) and for
fellowship (“bonding” social capital). Cooperatives
may eventually generate non-agricultural for women
in support of the UN MDGs.
3. With LLP, women’s skills were enhanced. Literacy
along with other trainings enabled them to
augment household income and food sources. The
co-provider role has given them as sense of self-
worth. With inputs on gender sensitivity, the
women realized their roles in reproductive tasks
and day-to-day management of the household.
This realization facilitated better communication
between spouses as responsibility sharing slowly
becomes the family norm.

On reproductive rights and family responsibilities,

a 38-year old woman said that, “Family Planning
was not allowed in the past. Gradually, it became
acceptable. And now there are women in the
community who use it.” It may be mentioned in
passing that in 2004, a Fatwah was issued by
Muslim religious leaders signifying the
acceptability of family planning.

Communication lines between husband and wife

became more open as women became aware of
roles that men and women play for stronger
family relationships and a better power balance
now obtains between husband and wife.

4. The major gains of women in LLP have been

manifested in functional literacy, livelihood
activities, and their sense of self-worth.
Opportunities offer continued use of these gains.
Furthermore, social capital build-up shows up.
Social Capital ensued from the activities where it
indicates liminal horizontal social capital which is
noteworthy in a society where a woman is by
tradition prohibited to talk with a man other than
her husband. Also, there was the making of
cooperative when women pooled money for
some undertaking.