This is shown by two thesis's done at the master degree program Gender and Development at the University of Bergen. This course was started by the Centre for Women and Gender Research the fall of 2000.
Six African and five Norwegian students are now into the last semester of this interdisciplinary program. The 11 students have backgrounds from studies such as philosophy, psychology, religion and sociology and have advisers readily available, with teachers from both Christian Michelsen Institute (CMI) and from the various institutes at the University of Bergen. The international aspect of the program is also clearly apparent. The African students are from Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Kenya, Uganda and Sudan, and last semester they did field work in their home countries. At the same time the Norwegian students were in Madagascar and in Bangladesh.
- With both students and employees from different countries this has been a very interesting meeting, says master student Halima Shamte from Zanzibar. She is on leave of absence from her job with the Department of Children and Families in Zanzibar, and this program has inspired her to learn more about gender and development in an international perspective. At home her husband and 5-year old daughter are waiting for Shamte to submit her master thesis on family planning in Zanzibar, 1994-2000.
Fewer women use contraceptives
- It is important to regard women's development process in relationship to men and the rest of society, Shamte points out. She adds that it is important to listen more to women's experiences because they can have a great impact on society.
In Zanzibar women have little influence, also where family planning is concerned. They are under constant pressure from several directions. Shamte has studied the public program for the distribution of contraceptives. Through a number of interviews with women employed by health clinics, volunteer contraceptive distributors, and women who use and do not use contraceptives, she has discovered that fewer women in Zanzibar used contraceptives in the period 1994-2000 than in the 1980's.
- The reason for the reduced contraceptive use turned out to be the reduced availability of the medicament Depoprovera which women get injected. One injection lasts three months, and most of the women prefer this contraceptive since their husbands then do not see that they are using it, Shamte says.
Pressured from several directions
It is a problem in Zanzibar that a great many men do not accept that their women use contraceptives. They know family planning methods and know about the campaigns being run continuously, but a number of factors still play a part in their attitude. Religion plays a part, as does the tradition of having many children to secure the parent's retirement and old age. It is not easy to change these ideas, and in the meantime the women are pressured to avoid contraception. But it is not only the men who push the women.
- Women also feel pressure from the health services, Shamte points out. Many women say that they are being blamed for not using contraception, and that the health clinics are pushing them to use it in secret.
Women's matters are a more open political matter in Uganda compared to Zanzibar. This is said by Hellen Apila who is also almost finished with her master thesis. In her native country there are strong women's organisations, and Uganda was also host for the international Women`s World Conference in July this year.
HIV/AIDS children with mental health problems
Before she came to Bergen, Apila worked with HIV-infected women at a hospital in Uganda. Her master thesis is about the mental health problems of children whose parents are sick or have died of HIV/AIDS. She has interviewed children, parents, widowers and widows who are attached to The AIDS Widows Orphans Family Support Organisation.
- I found that children suffered from serious emotional problems while their parents were sick, and that these problems continued after their mother or father had died, says Apila. The children are nervous constantly and worry about what is happening, what they will do when their parents die, and where they will be able to find housing and food. They are marked by a strong fear of the future which is amplified by the fact that HIV-infected parents rarely speak to their children about their illness and its consequences. This only adds to their burden.
- This is a cultural aspect. It is considered indecent to speak to children, or anyone at all, about sexually related matters, which HIV/AIDS absolutely is, explains the master student from Uganda.
Different for boys and girls
Apila thinks that boys and girls meet different fates after their parents' death. The girls are adopted by other families more quickly than the boys. Traditionally girls work at home, and according to Apila's findings, the new families consider the girls to be free helpers in the house. The girls wash, fetch water, make food and serve the men. There are more expenses connected to boys. It is a general attitude that boys need schooling. These expenses are not very attractive for the new family and the boys are therefore not offered a place in a home as quickly.
-Maybe this is the reason why there are mostly boys on the streets in Uganda, Apila asks. The authorities are continuously putting in efforts to help the children whose parents have died of AIDS, and the differences between the boys and girls are then made obvious. The boys on the streets are often discovered by the public, while the girls' fate as maids in families is a hidden problem for the authorities.
Home in July
Hellen Apila and Hamila Shamte are going back to their native countries with new knowledge and new experiences in their baggage. Their hope is to be able to use their knowledge about gender and development at home and be able to spread their visions, even though they have a different approach than what is tradition at their home places.
- It has been fantastic to have had the chance to see other countries' women's and gender perspective, especially through the exciting and attractive program at the Centre for Women and Gender Research, praises Hellen Apila.