Muslim women take leading role, defying stereotypes

Women's group chairwoman Nidoh I-taelae, who also heads several networks in Tambon Ba-ngoei in Yala's Yaha district, Tambon Sakam's Muslim kamnan Wasuemoh Ngoh in Pattani's Mayoh district, and Yunaida Maduereh, a Muslim occupational training centre chairwoman based in Narathiwat, are some of the women proving that they can work as leaders as good as men.

They were among outstanding women from various fields who deserved to be awarded for their role in empowering women and their work that benefited many people to mark International Women's Day yesterday.

Nidoh has been trying for almost 15 years to change Muslim women's role in her community. At first, she established a savings group together with 20 other women. After that, they extended their network and formed a vocational group before launching a small and micro-community enterprise.

From only a small group, now there are 2,250 people in 56 groups led by women.

"We also work with male leaders, and they accept us more that we can help develop locals' quality of life, compared to the past when they didn't want their wife to go out of the home and work," Nidoh told The Nation. "But, many women have turned themselves into family leaders at present."

Nidoh and other members have also set up a club to look after women and children affected by the insurgency in the region, a justice centre to mediate conflicts among locals and a family institute to strengthen family ties.    

Wasuemoh, who made history by becoming the first female village head and kamnan in her district, has devoted her abilities to leading her village and then the tambon.

She has encouraged women to gather to run a vocational group, provide youngsters occupational training, take care of senior citizens in their community and convince these citizens to help organise activities to preserve local traditional culture.

Anther prominent role for Wasuemoh is volunteering to work with men to guard the community from militants and using her gentleness to bring back harmony to the community.

"There are three women among the guards. Though it's very risky and dangerous, we'll keep doing it," she said.

Yunaida started by forming a small vocational group with 20 woman members making Muslim clothes in 1996. The group has become the Yada Vocational Centre, training over 1,000 members in every district of the seven southern provinces to make clothes.

"When we can help locals get a job and they lead a better quality of life as they can support their children's study, the number of juveniles at risk of turning into drug addicts and being convinced to join the insurgency will go down," Yunaida said.   

All the three woman leaders do not only focus on empowering women and improving the quality of life, but also share a goal of restoring peace in their communities.

They are trying to protect youngsters from being swayed by the separatists. They collaborate with locals and government organisations to provide creative activities and welfare for them.

Awardee Bongkot Na Songkhla, a lecturer at Prince Songkhla University's Pattani campus, is another woman who has been trying for years to create a better understanding between locals and government agencies, particularly soldiers, in a bid to frustrate the insurgency.

As an academic, she has tried to visit agencies in five southern provinces to lecture to their officials. She arouses them into feeling that they and the local people can unite as one group and learn to accept the flaws of each side.

She also works as a social activist, assisting the underprivileged by taking them to meet government officials.

"I'm very proud that I can let many government officials and locals get more familiar with each other and the locals trust the officials more," she said.