LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR AS YOURSELF ????

Annathaie Abayasekera

Mine is a story of a woman attempting to live theology, of what it means to answer Jesus’ call to “love your neighbour as yourself”.

We Asians are a deeply religious people. Asia has given birth to four of the living religions of the world – Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity – so we who grew up in these lands have found that we are influenced by one or more than one religion.  In Sri Lanka, where we live with people of other faiths, we have learned to respect other traditions, learn from each other, and accept each other, first as human beings and then as Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Christians. Our faith is the essence of our being. Even politicians have to show their acceptance of religion as a force stronger than politics.

My experience with the tea plantation workers, particularly with women and Penn Wimochana Gnanodayam dates back to 1976 when the Penn Wimochana Gnanodayam had it’s embroyonic beginnings. This was in response to a request made by workers on Labookelle Estate that I should come and work among women workers. As I look down memory lane I recall the opposition I faced. The foremost of which came from an action group that this work amongst women should be a part of its own work in the plantations. It was emphasised that I should not start a separate women’s programme as it would be divisive. I walked amongst and talked with tea plantation women from 1974 – 76. The attempts to control this plan to work with women in the plantations was very strong and intense. I found it hard to resist as I was nullified again and again as being divisive. I was accused of being a follower of women’s liberation of the bra burning type from the West!  I must state that I myself was not fully aware of what I was helping to birth as I did not have the understanding of feminism or of gender to the level I have today. But I knew that I had to resist any attempt to domesticate or control it. This knowledge came from my awareness of the vulnerability of the tea plantation women workers and from my very guts. I intuitively knew that we had to steer clear of this attempt to control and domesticate us. The main aim at the start was to raise the level of women in the plantations to that of the men. The training included a socio-economic and cultural understanding of our milieu. We attempted through this process to get the women to increase their self worth and build their self esteem. The women in the plantations were/are yet to a certain degree malnourished, working from 7.00 a.m. – 4.30 p.m. as pluckers (productive role), and from 4.30 – 5.00 a.m. to 7.00 a.m. and 4.30 p.m. to 10.00 p.m. as wives, mothers, sisters (reproductive role). They have no time for themselves – they function in a society where they are inconsequential.

Due to the prevailing traditions and belief patterns they live in the 21^st Century but with traditions brought from south India in the 19^th Century!!   This is because the plantations are enclaves with their own school, dispensary, store etc. They have very little interaction with the rest of society in Sri Lanka. Hence these traditional beliefs based on popular Hinduism and Christianity have kept the women suppressed and socialised into accepting their lot of servitude or semi-slavery as what is natural and ordered for them by the gods. This is seen markedly in the familial structure where a woman is kept under the authority of her father, brother, husband and son. The women workers are almost nonentities and are not given an opportunity to participate in the community. The Penn Wimochana Gnanodayam (PWG), being a programme for women, was able to discern and address this oppression immediately.

The Dravidian culture/tradition which came with the women tea workers from the villages of South India in the 1820s still seems to be intact today, some 180 years later! It is a society that is patriarchal, and the women are considered to be there as child bearers and rearers. Popular Hinduism reinforced this and calls on women to accept their husbands are gods – “Kannavane Kan Kande Deivam” i.e. “My husband is the god my eyes have seen”. Self worth is nil – many accept their role and situation as they have not seen or been offered an alternative.

PWG works for and with women. The goals are:

1.  To raise the level of awareness and provide a forum for women in the plantation.

2.  To motivate, educate and train plantation women with a view to emancipate them from their current subordinate status and empower them to play a positive and equitable role in society.

3.  To provide for the organisation of plantation women in order to enable and develop their confidence, self-esteem and participation in decision making.

These specifically revolve around the development of the women and their participation in decision-making.

In the course of our work we have found that our women respond better to mime, street drama, song, etc. than to the lecture method. This we have noted even with women in others sectors. One could deduce that these vivid presentations of an issue engage the feelings and emotions of the women while lectures and papers tend to be celebral.

Our attempts to create awareness on and to discuss issues such as wife beating/domestic violence, incest, rape, sexual harassment and alcoholism in the plantations brings us immediate co-operation from the women as they are the victims. They take over the discussion and own it and address the men who gather around them during our programmes regarding these issues. I recall a discussion on alcoholism and illicit brewing of same. The men who gathered around us tended to agree with us that this was one of the causes of the backwardness of the plantation community. At this stage one of the older women turned round and asked one man how he could be a leader of a Trade Union when he get drunk and beats up his wife everyday. This gave strength to the other women and men present to discuss with that particular man as to how he might address the issue. This kind of exchange can take place in my experience in a women’s gathering without any resort to violence or ill feelings.

Women tend to gain much knowledge from their experiences. They learn from the book of life. In my interaction with the pluckers and in the course of my work with PWG I have learnt through interaction much more than I learnt through my university education. These women have a minimal book learning but the depth of wisdom they offer is amazing and life sustaining. It comes from their experiences – the exploitation they suffer as workers, as women in a male dominant culture, their traumas, joys and resilience.

These women workers are 52% of the largest organised sector in Sri Lanka. Though they are organised and pay a monthly subscription the benefits that trickle down to them are minimal as the issues and needs are defined by male leaders at local, regional and national level. The eight hour day they work, which in reality is ten hours, as highlighted earlier, has not yet been recognized as oppressive by the community at large as it is specifically experienced by women – There is no recognition of the extra time given by the community. Hence no attempt has been made to ensure a strict eight hour day for the female labour. This is mainly due to the socialization that the community of men and women have had in traditional South Asian Societies. The men and sometimes women cannot begin to understand that the equal pay for equal work that they talk of is a mirage. Women work more than the stipulated 8 hours day and must bring in a defined number of kilos to get their wage – while the men work only till 1 p.m. i.e. – 5 hours.

Christians Aware makes regular visits to Sri Lanka and has many links of friendship.  The Sri Lanka Group meets regularly in London.  Details are available from the office.