Women giving their all for others<\/p>\n
By Barbara Anello<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The talk was animated over dinner at a chic
\nrestaurant in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
It ranged from topics as disparate as Fifth Avenue fashion, to
\nthe depletion of species and forests throughout the archipelago,
\nto the skills of Indonesian women, the quality of their health
\nand living conditions today in Balinese mountain villages,
\nrefugee camps in Timor and in Java's largest cities.<\/p>\n
The intense exchange of ideas and expertise continued
\nthroughout the four-day Femina & Sari Ayu Awards: Women of the
\n21st Century, in meetings with Indonesian cosmetics executive
\nMartha Tilaar and with First Lady Shinta Nuriyah Abdurrahman
\nWahid at the palace.<\/p>\n
The first awards, presented at a seminar on Kartini Day last
\nmonth at Jakarta's Shangri-La hotel ballroom, went to three
\nunique women, distinguished in their fields of education, health
\nand business.<\/p>\n
They are very different women, with one thing in common: the
\nempowerment of women. In the field of education, the award went
\nto Susy Maria Dauselt Katipana; in health, Dr. Inne Susanti, a
\npathologist; in business, Della Murwi Hartini.<\/p>\n
Femina's panel of judges noted some shared characteristics in
\nthat the three women are dedicated and consistent even in the
\nface of obstacles. They set goals and meet them and, in the
\nprocess, raise standards for other women. Each has a vision that
\nserves as an inspiration for us all. Ideas, strength, creativity
\n-- these are the ingredients to shape a future.<\/p>\n
Susy Katipana, a vivacious Timorese-born Ambonese, lives in
\nKupang with her husband and son. She has a degree in education,
\nfocusing on maternal\/child health care.<\/p>\n
Susy became active in women's issues in 1981 when Mt.
\nGalunggung erupted in West Java. With CARE International
\nIndonesia, Susy worked on projects to deliver clean water and
\nupgrade sanitation in Java, Sulawesi and Nusa Tenggara.<\/p>\n
She worked on projects designed to train health-care workers
\nand community development fieldworkers in eastern Indonesia.
\nThrough her strong bond with the women of East Nusa Tenggara, the
\npoorest of Indonesia's provinces, Susy was inspired to organize
\nexisting NGOs into a consortium . She founded Womintra\/Women in
\nTransition (womintra@kupang.wasantara.net.id), a consultant
\nservice, and the associated foundation Yaswit. Her objective is
\nto empower and educate women.<\/p>\n
\"We fund the foundation through our consultant's fees, and in
\nthis way, we can implement a whole range of projects in Flores,
\nSumba, Timor, Alor, Sulawesi and, soon, Wetar and Irian Jaya,\"
\nSusy explained.<\/p>\n
\"Our consortium, Women & Democracy, bringing together 49
\nwomen's organizations and NGOs from all over East Nusa Tenggara,
\nmeets in Kupang to develop strategies to voice women's rights and
\naddress their needs. Our mission is to strengthen women so that
\nthey participate in all levels of government, politics and law.<\/p>\n
She also fights gender bias.<\/p>\n
\"We are a voice against gender discrimination. We've just
\nlaunched a bimonthly magazine, Lentera Perempuan (Women's Light)
\nto raise issues related to children's rights, women's rights,
\ndemocracy and gender.<\/p>\n
\"Basically what women need are skills and the means to earn a
\nliving and feed their families.\"<\/p>\n
She said they faced a perennial obstacle.<\/p>\n
\"The problem is they have no money. I help them evaluate their
\nexisting skills and use their resources to start small businesses
\nand build wider networks. A field officer living in each village
\nwhere we have a project teaches management skills, simple
\naccounting, how to organize a business, how to market the
\nproduct. Our projects involve all sorts of crafts, farming and
\nsmall industries, including potters, sugar makers, weavers. We've
\nalso introduced electricity into many villages, and worked out
\nfunding systems through cooperatives.\"<\/p>\n
She told of a project in Nusa village, South Central Timor,
\nwhere she organized 11 groups of women farmers to grow
\nvegetables. In six months they saved Rp 40 million and organized
\na savings and loan cooperative.<\/p>\n
She said they helped with 40 families of lepers and after six
\nyears found a sponsor for the water supply for the village.<\/p>\n
\"When we brought the first harvest to market, no one would
\ntouch it because it was grown by lepers. We were in tears. OK, I
\nsaid, I have to find a new strategy. None of you go to the market
\n-- we'll find some neighbors to sell the vegetables. That's what
\nwe did, and now twice a year the harvests sell out and no one
\nknows who grows the vegetables!\"<\/p>\n
Mobile health<\/p>\n
Inne Susanti's Women's Health Mobile Clinic bus has become a
\nfamiliar sight to Balinese women in rural villages all over the
\nisland.<\/p>\n
It delivers free health care, examinations, PAP smears,
\ncondoms, information and education services. WHMC has been on the
\nroad since August 1997, and has served to date over 2,000 women
\nwith health care and over 4,000 with information\/education
\nservices.<\/p>\n
\"If we want to improve women's health we have to improve their
\nreproductive health,\" Inne explained. \"In almost all rural areas,
\nRTI (reproductive tract infections) diagnostic and treatment
\nservices are not available. With a mobile clinic, we can share
\nour knowledge, experiences and abilities to improve women's
\nhealth.\"<\/p>\n
Inne's work since the late 1960s, both in family planning and
\nas a pathologist, has put her at the forefront of women's health
\ncare. Her report, Maternal Mortality in Bali, 1980-1982 provided
\nthe first, and still the only, statistics on numbers and causes
\nof death among women of child-bearing age.<\/p>\n
\"Women need more information so that they can express their
\nneeds and problems, protect themselves and get the care they
\nneed,\" Inne said. \"And health-care workers must be attentive and
\nthorough so that they diagnose the problem accurately in the
\nfirst place. Establishing and maintaining high standards of
\npractice and hygiene is essential.\"<\/p>\n
Inne's commitment, dedication and ability to see both the big
\npicture and the tiniest, microscopic details make her so
\neffective. She is precise and painstakingly accurate with regard
\nto facts and numbers, but she also has a graceful ease and
\nability to convey to the layman what those facts add up to, what
\nthe numbers actually mean in terms of the consequences of one
\nperson's health or a nation's long-term development.<\/p>\n
She can hobnob with the women in a mountain village, pull out
\na wooden penis and slip on a condom to show them how it should be
\ndone. Not the least bit condescending, she creates an atmosphere
\nof trust and mutual respect, enabling people to discuss their
\nmost intimate or troubling issues.<\/p>\n
Funded thus far with donations from the Rotary Club Bali
\nTaman, the Rotary Foundation, Illinois, the U.S., Rotary
\nYamaguchi\/Hiroshima, Japan and other donors, the WHMC is
\nanswering a critical need in Bali. Data collected by the WHMC
\nindicates a high percentage of STDs among the low-risk population
\n(rural women and their families), sounding the alert for the
\npotential for increased incidence of disease, including the
\nspread of HIV\/AIDS among Bali's rural, low-income population.<\/p>\n
\"Most AIDS projects currently are directed at commercial sex
\nworkers -- it's time for the general public to start being
\naware,\" Inne commented in a 1995 interview. It's still true
\ntoday. In 2000\/2001, Inne hopes not only to continue, but to
\nexpand services.<\/p>\n
Bag business<\/p>\n
Delia Murwi Hartini is petite and elegant. Her youthful looks
\nbelie the fact that she is a wife, mother of two and the CEO of
\nPT Rumindo Pratama (rumindo@indosat.net.id), a hugely successful
\nwomen's bag manufacturer.<\/p>\n
On the road to Parangtritis, outside Yogyakarta, Dolly's
\nfactory produces The Sak, a line of bags for women, selling now
\non Fifth Avenue and featured in a recent spread in Vogue. Where
\ndoes Dolly's entrepreneurial success story bisect with the social
\ncommitment of Dr. Inne and Suzy? It is in the lives and
\nlivelihood of nearly 7,000 women who produce the bags that she
\nsells from Manhattan to Sydney.<\/p>\n
With a degree in communications from Gadjah Mada University in
\nYogyakarta, Dolly married and started a family. She decided to
\nopen a business designing leather and rattan goods for women.
\nWith smart design and hard work, her business took off quickly.<\/p>\n
By 1990, she was already exporting to Sweden. American buyers
\nMark Talucci and Todd Cliot joined with her on The Sak. Dolly
\nstarted with five employees; nine years later, she had 900.
\nBecause of the nature of her production, requiring weaving of
\nrattan, nylon and other fibers, crocheting and other fine work,
\nDolly found it more effective to employ women.<\/p>\n
Now, in addition to the 900 full-time employees, between 6,000
\nand 7,000 women around Yogyakarta produce bags for Dolly, working
\nfrom their homes and earning between Rp 8,000 and Rp 15,000 a
\nday.<\/p>\n
\"We've had a dramatic trickle-down effect on the villages
\nsurrounding Yogyakarta, especially in this monetary crisis,\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Many women are supporting families, paying children's school
\nfees or supplementing other family income through their work for
\nThe Sak.<\/p>\n
\"I have to observe strict labor rules because our clients are
\ninterested in where and under what conditions our bags are
\nproduced,\" Dolly said. \"In fact, some of our home-work girls are
\nstill in school. Because they can crochet for Le Sak at home, on
\ntheir own time, they can work an hour or two a day, and still
\nmake some money in after-school hours.<\/p>\n
\"This kind of work makes a critical difference to many
\nfamilies in Java, now, where unemployment and living expenses are
\nboth high, and the economic crisis is still very real.\"<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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