Clarisse Tingchuy

AB-Political Science

CASE NUMBER 4: FHAIDA

1. Why did Fhaida feel that her marriage would interfere with her ability to pursue her
ambitions? In your experience, have you observed ways that gender roles/social
expectations inhibit or support women’s sense of empowerment?

- I think she’s afraid that she couldn’t help the community once she gets
married. She could not decide on her own because her family would get
a say for what she needs to do. As a woman, she felt that she is
obligated to have kids once she gets married and she’s afraid that if she
is to born a child yet, she could not help the people within her community.
From my own observation, there is this mindset that once a woman is
married, she is to stay at home and just take care of their own kids.

2. If you were in Fhaida’s position, what kind of strategies would you employ to begin
to reach out to this community with population, health, and environment messages,
given the constraints posed by religious, cultural, and traditional beliefs?

- For me, I’ll start with my family and brief them regarding my advocacy. I
would clear their doubts and show to them that I am resolute to do this
advocacy. Once I’m able to convinced them, I’ll ask for their support and
help in encouraging everyone in the community to realize our goals and
adopt a good and healthy living not just for our families but also for our
environment.

3. How realistic do you find Fhaida’s efforts? Which elements do you think could be
replicated in other contexts where religious, cultural, and traditional beliefs are
important? Give specific examples of such settings and strategies that could be
used to advance reproductive health advocacy in those settings.

- I find them realistic enough. Her efforts started from a single dream to a
full realization of it. For me, one thing that could be replicated is through
getting on the male perspective. It is very common that women speak
for women’s needs but I think it has a more impact if these advocacies
come up from men. One example is the way Nashier convinced and
explained to other family members the importance of family planning.
4. Who were Fhaida’s target audiences? What kind of messages did she develop for
each audience? Who helped her convey these messages?

- Her target audiences are the resident within the community particularly
women in her neighbors. She expanded her audience to religious
leaders to gain support and upon noticing the impact of attention given
from a male perpective, he also targeted husbands and other male
members of the family as her audience. She advocated birth spacing
and family planning and how population affects our environment. Her
aunt Zenaida, Tahira, and his husband helped in conveying these
messages.

5. How did Fhaida begin to reach out to men in her community?

- Through the help of Nashier, her husband. Her husband was the one
who explained first to the other members of her family about her
advocacy. Noticing how it is easier to gain attention from a male
perspective, with the help of her husband, Nashier invited a biologist to
a community meeting about the importance of reproductive cycle of
marine organisms and the protection of their habitats. Fhaida was also
able to gain support from a male Muslim religious leader, Pah Hadji
Faizal. Her father’s support also helped with her advocacy.

6. At the end of the story, Fhaida expresses gratitude for her arranged marriage,
which she strongly resisted at the beginning. Why did her views change? What are
your views on arranged marriage or their traditional practices that affect women’s
lives?

- For me, her views changed because she now finds comfort with her
husband. When she confided to him her worries, she felt relieved by the
fact that her husband supported her and her advocacies. I think, she
started to build more trust on him, the same that his husband trust on
her too. With regards to arrange marriage, I am not into that idea
because it does not give women the freedom to choose whoever they
want to marry. Besides, marriage needs consent of both individuals not
consent from their families.

7. What kinds of challenges and opportunities are presented by approaching

community development through an approach that integrates population, health,
and environmental concerns in a community that has strong religious and
traditional beliefs?
- Birth spacing was thought to be unIslamic. There are many traditional
beliefs that hinder people’s acceptance of any development work. One
of the challenges met is changing the people’s mindset and gathering
support from a local leader to whom would be an effective influencer in
the community. Many in the community were still resistant to the idea of
family planning – especially modern methods of family planning – due
to longstanding cultural traditions.