SOUTH ASIA: 'We Can' create gender equity NORTH KOREA: A long winter after the floods CHINA: A teacher, women's rights activist, mother PHILIPPINES: From the army to the 'light of peace' CHINA: Snowstorm in the news HONG KONG: Poverty news poll and Poetry
ch ar M 08 20
Maybe every thing is about the weather.
weather, O.N.E follows the journey of
mark International
a Filipino who has struggled to commit
Women’s Day, which
Here in Hong Kong, most homes
himself to peace in Mindanao after
falls on the eighth of
and offices have no indoor heat, and
years of being an army commander
March, and Oxfam would
in February, people were struggling
there. His transition has taken time and
like to celebrate her life and
with temperatures at about 12 degrees
determination and mutual support.
dedicate this edition of O.N.E to her.
O.N.E celebrates
Today, over 150 years later, inequality
a woman in China
remains: women comprise about 70
named Huang Shuhua
per cent of impoverished people,
w h o s to o d u p to t h e
and domestic violence is the leading
police and courts. After Shuhua’s
cause of injury and death to women
daughter died, with bruises on the
worldwide.
Celsius for three straight weeks. Every
O.N.E also presents a new book by
This edition of O.N.E also celebrates
naked body, Shuhua persevered to bring
day a scarf, and sometimes wool hats
Wong Yuen-ling (1958-2008). Nature
a volunteer in Bangladesh named
the case to court. The trial became very
as we sit inside at the computer. Climate
features in her writing. “Hold me,” she
Beauty Ara who tries to make peace
influential, with huge media coverage,
change is being seen as an explanation
asks the wind in the title poem – Yuen-
and justice by visiting homes where
and significant public support for
for the cold streak, as well as for the
ling always connected self to universe.
domestic violence has occurred. She
women’s rights.
huge snowstorm still affecting millions
She had a strong and beautiful voice in
returns again and again “like a cat” that
The roots of International Women’s
of people in mainland China. The winter
various circles in Hong Kong and Beijing,
may or may not be wanted, she says.
Day date back to the 1850s, when
Madeleine Marie Slavick
in North Korea is also bitter, as harvests
from women’s rights to filmmaking
More than anything, Beauty wants to
women in New York garment factories
Editor, Oxfam News E-magazine
were flattened by floods last year.
and more, and was a colleague at
change the way that men and women
staged a protest on the eighth of March
Oxfam Hong Kong
Oxfam. Her book is being launched to
think about gender and power.
against inhumane working conditions.
emagazine@oxfam.org.hk
For some emotional and political
Please, listen to Beauty and Shuhua and Yuen-ling. Please listen to the voice of peace and justice. It’s the most beautiful weather.
South Asia: POVERTY, VIOLENCE AND ‘BEAUTY’
About 70 per cent of the poor people
in the world are women or girls, and in South Asia, the chance of girls and woman living in poverty is probably higher – with a likelihood of being out of school as children, being illiterate as adults, earning very little cash, if any, for the work they do, living a shorter life than men do, and a life that is full of inequality, discrimination and
Bangladesh: These women all volunteer in Oxfam’s ‘We Can’ campaign against gender-based violence and for gender equity.
possibly gender-based violence. Bangladesh, India, Nepal and
South Asia: POVERTY, VIOLENCE AND ‘BEAUTY’
Beauty as seamstress and campaigner.
Pakistan all rank in the lowest third
Improving the quality of people’s lives
called ‘change makers’, and there
would divorce her if the child was
All around the world – not just in
in the 2006 Gender Development
means working with men and women,
are many repor ts that behaviours
a girl. It was a boy, so they stayed
South Asia – violence against girls and
Index (GDI) developed by the United
together – wives and husbands, children
are already beginning to change. By
together, but his violence soon flared
women is condoned and supported,
Nations.
and parents, teachers and students.
2011, We Can wants to have recruited
up again. When the boy was about
tacitly or explicitly. All around the
Only in this way can everyone reach
5 million change makers who will
two, he threw Beauty out of the home
world, there is a deep-seated belief that
their potential.
have mobilised some 50 million other
and she has not seen her son for over
girls and women are fundamentally
people.
fifteen years. Beauty started a new life
less important, less valuable, and less
Worldwide, domestic violence is the single biggest cause of injury and death for girls and women, and in
This holistic thinking is at the heart
South Asia, this violence in the home
of Oxfam’s ‘We Can’ campaign in South
The change makers visit people’s
elsewhere, joined a village committee,
capable than boys and men are, and
can also include honour killings (if a
Asia, an initiative to end gender-based
homes, persuading married couples to
was able to buy a sewing machine and
so therefore the violence is not really
woman is suspected of adultery) and
violence in Bangladesh, India, Nepal,
find ways to address their differences
set up a small home-based tailoring
seen as being so wrong. It is these
infanticide. In fact, the violence can
Pakistan, Afghanistan (for which the
without violence. They go to schools
business, raises chickens and ducks,
misperceptions that Oxfam wants to
begin in the womb: female fetuses
UN has no gender-based statistics)
and talk openly with schoolchildren
and volunteers as an Oxfam change
change.
are more likely to be aborted than
and Sri Lanka (which ranks exactly
about conflict in the family home.
maker.
All photos by G.M. B Akash / Oxfam
male ones are. Amar t ya Sen calls
in the middle of the GDI, at 68 of
One Oxfam change maker in rural
Beauty – which is a fairly common
these millions of murdered people the
136 countries). The Oxfam campaign
Bangladesh named Beauty Ara had
name in Bangladesh – says, “What
‘missing women’ of South Asia.
recruits and trains volunteer activists to
once suffered abuse from her husband
happened in my life, I don’t want
Promoting equality in the South
mobilise their communities to change
for years and years. “The psychological
anybody to go through that, that’s
Asian contex t is not a shor t-term
people’s attitudes and actions towards
abuse was 24 hours a day,” she says.
the reason I talk about it [as a change
task. It is also never about separating
women. These activists, numbering
When she was pregnant with her one
maker]… This violence in women’s
women out for privileged treatment.
over 350,000 in the six countries, are
and only child, her husband said he
lives… Why can’t we change it?”
SUMMER RAINS, WINTER SNOW Nearly every August, floods from the
Text and photo by Wendy Wong
three years.
To see a short video about the Oxfam change maker named Beauty, visit: http://www.oxfam.org.uk/oxfam_in_action/impact/ success_stories/beauty_wecan_video.html For more about gender issues in Hong Kong and mainland China, visit: http://www.oxfam.org.hk/public/contents/categor y?cid=3707&lang=iso-8859-1
supply, so the loss of the harvest had a
“The whole village was washed away,
huge impact on the nation.
our houses damaged, our crops gone.”
Two staff members from Oxfam Hong
The head of one farm said that some
Kong’s Humanitarian and Disaster Risk
families have been sleeping in their
Management Team recently returned
neighbours’ homes for safety and for
from a monitoring trip in the DPRK. It
added warmth.
The crisis was severe, the fax said: the
was the first time that both Oxfam staff
Oxfam Hong Kong began supporting
floods came before the harvest could
members had been to the country. They
projects in the DPRK in 1996, mostly of
For the past thirteen years, North
and washed away over 200,000 hectares
felt that despite the hardship of the
a humanitarian nature. In 2004, when
Koreans have faced food shortages,
of farmland, hundreds of thousands of
floods and the harsh winter, people
we began partnering with KCPIT, the
and this is especially difficult to bear
people were struggling, schools and
were very hearty and thankful, not
work shifted more to rehabilitation
in the wintertime, which is long, with
hospitals and reservoirs and irrigation
blaming anything or anyone for their
and development, with a focus on
six months of frost, and as cold as -30
channels and other infrastructure was
difficulty, and maintaining a positive
improving food production through
Celsius. With the floods of August 2007
damaged or destroyed.
attitude towards life.
sustainable agriculture. From 1996 to
summer monsoon. And every winter, snowfall and snowstorms.
said to be the worst ever, this wintertime
Food was the top priority need,
The team visited three farms, all of
2007, Oxfam allocated over US$2.5
is therefore one of the hardest to
and after negotiations with KCPIT and
which are run collectively in the DPRK.
million on a variety of emergency,
endure.
finding an appropriate supplier of non-
They saw the devastation caused by the
training, rehabilitation and community
The 2007 floods hit the country from
genetically modified food (which is a
floods and observed that humanitarian
projects. Recent assistance has included
the 7th to the 14th of August. On 15
requirement by the DPRK Government),
assistance from Oxfam and other
bio -fer tilisers and bio -pesticides,
August, Oxfam Hong Kong received a fax
Oxfam sent 100 tons of nutritious
agencies, and the government too, had
sheeting for crops, diesel oil for tractors,
from the Democratic People’s Republic
soya bean oil across the border from
definitely helped people get through
and small machinery for collecting and
of Korea (DPRK) government through
mainland China. The beneficiaries were
the crisis. Food was not aplenty, but it
grinding grain, particularly corn and
our counterpart, the Korea Committee
thousands of farmers in Hwanghae, one
was sufficient, and Oxfam knew that
rice. Productivity had improved before
for the Promotion of International Trade
of the hardest hit areas. Hwanghae is
the crisis could have been much worse.
the August 2007 floods ravaged the
(KCPIT), an organisation in Pyongyang
part of the ‘Cereal Bowl’ that normally
Farmers said, “I have never experienced
land, and farmers are looking forward to
we have been working alongside for
provides most of the country’s food
such a devastating flood before” and
replanting and then the next harvest.
in North Korea
Wendy Wong is a member of Oxfam Hong Kong's Humanitarian and Disaster Risk Management Team.
His name is Haji Quirino L. Oranto.
this movement after a group of about
of Mindanao, but it too had needed
I call him Haji, as his friends and
100 military men stormed his village in
time to develop, having been formed
colleagues do.
1974 and shot many of his neighbours
only after three years of community
Later, I learn that the term ‘Haji’
dead. His instinct was to fight back,
development and peace advocacy
is a title of respect given to devotees
and he thought he would always be
work supported by Oxfam Hong Kong
who have made the long, and often
fighting. He was so opposed to the
and other NGOs. Seven core member
expensive, pilgrimage to Mecca. Yet, in
Marcos government and so dedicated
organisations of Sindaw are strategically
the first few minutes of meeting I had
to the MNLF that he was fearless, even
located in different peace zones set up
already felt him to be a man committed
when his relatives were in danger.
by local governments, so the alliance
to a cause.
Even when family members were taken
can reach far and wide: Sindaw has
A devout Muslim, he is also a
captive, Haji did not give in. “Why
facilitated constructive dialogue among
determined pacifist. Haji works with
would I be afraid? I was so used to the
the Philippine government and the
an alliance of peace advocates in
sound of gunfire, it was like music to
separatist groups, empowered various
Mindanao called Sindaw Ko Kalilintad,
me,” he says with a bitter smile.
stakeholders in Mindanao to take up
Gradually, he found it harder and
Peace’, and when I interviewed him
harder to justify the war with the
in his office, he said that one of the
military. The military was taking lives,
Haji feels at ease these days ,
happiest times of his life was at the
which they do not have the right
peaceful. He has a new set of skills
International Peace Conference in
to do, but what about us, he asked
as a peace advocate than as a soldier-
Guangzhou, China, in 2006. Meeting so
himself, we are also taking up arms
commander. “I have learned how to
many people working for peace was a
and fighting, sometimes killing. Do we
organise people to uphold our rights
very emotional experience, he said. He
have this right? So, Haji left the MNLF
for peace and security, and I learned
felt part of a large movement for peace
in the early 1990s. But when a spate of
how to do this in a sustainable way,”
The following court case is one of the most influential cases in China, with
and human rights, and felt happy to be
bombings in 1998 killed civilians and
he said. He has learned to integrate
widespread coverage, particularly on the Internet. Although Huang Shuhua lost
able to contribute in his way.
destroyed public facilities, his response
peace into many areas of his life, for
the case, and nearly lost herself with the years of fighting in her daughter’s
to the chaos was to pick up the gun
himself, his family, the community and
name, in the name of all women, and for women’s rights, she has won the res-
again.
the next generation, too. He regrets not
pect, admiration and support of many people throughout China and the world.
Yet, in the past, Haji was a fierce fighter, a commander of an army. In the
peace advocacy, and has mobilised
China: A Mother Devoted to Women’s Rights
which can be translated as ‘Light of
peace zones to carry out their work.
1970s, he explains, when the country
He did not fight for long. Around
attending his daughter’s graduation
was led by Ferdinand Marcos, the
the year 2000, Haji committed himself
from kindergarten and considers that
government infrastructure was corrupt,
to peace and to monitoring the ceasefire
as one of the saddest mistakes of his
martial law was enforced, and many
that had been officially negotiated, but
life. “I don’t want to miss my beloved
innocent people were massacred. The
was proving hard to implement. Being
daughter’s school graduation again
Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF)
involved in the Sindaw peace alliance
because I am fighting in the mountains,”
was established in 1972, soon after the
has been a big part of Haji’s life ever
he says, tears filling his eyes.
beginning of martial law, and led the
since.
Haji is endearingly popular among
armed resistance for an independent
Sindaw is now a leading peace
youth, and is frequently asked to talk
Islamic state in Mindanao. Haji joined
advocate in the conflict prone region
with university students around the region. When he shares his life story, he makes sure he always says, with a forceful peace, “War makes everyone a loser, and civilians lose the most.”
Haji in the office of the peace alliance, Sindaw, telling Holly Chan of Oxfam Hong Kong his life story of giving up guns for pacifism. Upstairs is where he and other Sindaw members pray, five times a day.
“Huang Shuhua is an ordinar y
enormous attack from some sections of
teacher. Like tens of thousands of
society. She was threatened and beaten
Chinese women, she had expected to
by people related to the suspect, but she
live a normal life, giving her daughter a
refused to give up….
new family, watching the growth of her
Huang Shuhua’s effort eventually
grandchildren, leading on to aging and
bore results. On June 2, 2003, Jiang
death. However, the unexpected and
Junwu was detained by the police as a
mysterious death of her daughter has
suspect. He was arrested on July 8, 2003
made her into a “well known” mother.
with a charge of rape. To her dismay, the
Huang Shuhua’s daughter, Huang
Procuratorate did not accept the reports
Jing, was also an ordinary primary
by Nanjing University and Zhongshan
school teacher in Xiangtan, Hunan
University. In April 2004, Jiang Junwu
Province of China. On February 23, 2003,
was released on bail after nine months
Huang Jing died in her hostel after her
in detention.
For another O.N.E article about peace-making in Mindanao: http://www.oxfam.org.hk/one/200708/index.html
boyfriend came to spend a night with
Huang Shuhua did not give up...
her. When discovered, she was naked
the Supreme People’s Court sent five
Holly Chan is a member of the Archipelagic Southeast Asia team at Oxfam Hong Kong. She was in the Philippines for a disaster management workshop and to meet with organisations involved with conflict resolution.
lying on the bed with many bruises to her
experts to Xiangtan to re-examine the
lower body and private parts. The next
cause of death… On July 2, 2004, they
day, Huang Shuhua received a call from
reached the conclusion that ‘Huang Jing
her daughter’s school. She rushed there,
died because of the abnormal sexual
but nothing could bring her daughter
intercourse by Jiang Junwu.’
back. Knowing her daughter well, she
[On 7 December 2004], more than
believed that the school was keeping
600 days after the death of Huang Jing,
something from her. The fact that Jiang
the People’s Court of Xiangtan started
Junwu, her daughter’s boyfriend, had
to process the persecution of Jiang
spent the night in Huang Jing’s bedroom
Junwu on the charge of rape… [On 10
and had left the next morning at 7 came
July, 2006, the Court found Jiang not
to light only later….
guilty.]
The Public Security Bureau issued
As a mother, Huang Shuhua has
three separate autopsy reports res-
unfulfilled tasks and unceasing sorrow.
pectively dated February 25, March
Her life has changed, so have many
19 and June 8, 2003. They all came to
others. ‘The latter half of my life is to
the conclusion that Huang Jing died of
be devoted to public welfare. I have to
sudden physical illness.
work on protecting the rights of women,
Huang Shuhua knew her daughter was an active athlete and was physically
and to repay so many people who have helped me.’”
fit with no medical problem. She and her family members could not accept the conclusion that her daughter had heart disease. She believed her daughter was
PHILIPPINES: One Man’s Way to Peace By Holly Chan
Holly Chan (centre) with some members of the Joint Monitoring and Assistance Team, consisting of Bantay Ceasefire (a community monitoring group), International Monitoring Team – Mindanao and other groups. Genela Buhia (2nd to right) manages Oxfam Hong Kong’s Philippines programme.
murdered and the murderer was Jiang Junwu. So she turned to experts and scholars for assistance…. Professor Chen Yuchuan of Zhongshan University, an expert in forensic science, conducted a fourth autopsy on August 14, 2003. The report showed that the police did not have sufficient evidence to substantiate their claim of sudden physical illness. Because she took up her daughter’s case, Huang Shuhua came under
The interview excerpted here first appeared in PeaceWomen Across the Globe (a profile of 1,000 women nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005) and Colours of Peace (featuring 108 nominees in and around Hong Kong). To order the books, and related DVDs: www.1000peacewomen. o r g , w w w. 1 0 0 0 p e a c e w o m e n - h k . o r g , a n d www.1000peacewomen-china.org. Oxfam Hong Kong supported Garden in Heaven, a film which documents Huang’s long pursuit for justice: NGOs and universities use the film, and it has also been a powerful policy advocacy tool for judicial reform. The director Hu Jie says, “The film is the people’s history. I allow people to copy it freely.”
What can people do about
For two weeks in January, Oxfam Hong Kong and the Ming Pao, a leading newspaper in Hong Kong, ran an on-line poll (in Chinese) to determine what the public saw as the most important poverty news in 2007. These ten news items received
Climate Change: food and water shortages will result if temperatures rise by 4.5 C, according to a report by the IPCC o
the most votes.
1
522 votes (8%)
WTO: poor countries at risk as governments of wealthy countries use regional and bilateral trade deals to get what they could not get through multilateral WTO-regulated deals
3
Floods across South Asia:
UN Millennium Goals:
Millions of people affected, particularly in India and Bangladesh
18 million more teachers needed toreach the goal of universal education by 2015 (72 million children out of school now)
4
421 votes (6%)
Hunger in Iraq:
15% of the people face food shortages, according to Oxfam Intermational
7
5
374 votes (6%)
413 votes (6%)
Homless in the Democratic Republic of Congo:
8
1.3 million people have fled their homes for safety during the armed conflict
332 votes (5%)
Patents in India:
courts protect India’s right to produce affordable no-brand medicine, dismissing the lawsuit by pharmaceutical giant Novartis; India is the leading manufacturer of low-cost medicine
9
268 votes (4%)
251 votes (4%)
Rising Food Prices: people demonstrate around the world
Climate Change and Poverty?
2
Please tell us at: http://forum.oxfam.org.hk/?c_lang=eng
481 votes (7%)
Inflation in China: poor people at great risk with inflation at an 11-year high (November)
6
339 votes (5%)
Cyclone in Bangladesh:
at least 3,260 people die and 40,000 injured when super-cyclone Sidr strikes the country, according to UN
10 222 votes (3%)
OXFAM HONG KONG WEBSITE www.oxfam.org.hk
OXFAM BOOKS Oxfam Hong Kong has created more than 30 books, some in Hong Kong, some in Taiwan, some on the Mainland, some in Chinese, some in English, some bilingual, and some
The worst blizzard in 50
day marking the new lunar
used for blankets, coats,
– that the snowstorm may
mostly with images, which cross all
years brought much of China
year, trying to get supplies
food and other basics.
be indicative of the extreme
languages. Through publishing the
to a standstill in January
through to people who need-
Oxfam is equally com-
weather patterns related to
voices of poor people around the
and February. News stories
ed it most. It has not been
mitted to the rehabilitation
climate change. Adaptation
world, we want to change the way
have mostly focused on the
easy, with snow and ice on the
and rebuilding ahead: there
to climate change will
people think about poverty. We
power cuts, the collapsed
roads and rails. The HK$10.4
will be a lot of work to do,
need to be a component of
want justice.
houses, people relocating to
million in donations from the
including with livestock
any disaster management
To order books: www.oxfam.org.hk/public/bookstore/list?lang=iso-8859-1
safer areas, and the frenzy
Hong Kong public and the
and forestry. Oxfam is also
response, in China, and
of the millions of migrant
Hong Kong SAR Government
concerned – along with
around the world.
workers tr ying to return
(as of 19 February) is being
meteorologists in China
home but getting stranded and sometimes trampled at train stations. There has been less cover-
CHINA: Working By Feng Ming Ling through the snow
For more on the snowstorm, visit: http://www.oxfam.org.hk Feng Ming Ling is a member of the Oxfam Hong Kong rural livelihoods team. She is based in Kunming, China.
OXFAM in the NEWS CHINA: Oxfam Trailwalker was nominated for a 2007 Rhino Award in recognition of the pioneering nature of the global event and its environmentalism. Oxfam Trailwalker began in Hong Kong and
age of all the livestock that
is now also held annually in Australia, England,
have died: animals which
Japan, New Zealand and in mainland China in 2009. Thousands of people challenge
provided a food and income
themselves to walk, or run, 100km of often mountainous terrain, and to raise as
source for millions of rural
many donations as possible for Oxfam. Oxfam Hong Kong holds the ‘world record’
people. All the farmed trees
of raising over HK$27m at the 2007 event. The Rhino Awards are presented by China
that have cracked and fallen
Outdoor Adventure Magazine (
have also been a huge loss,
外探 险 雜志), which is well read among hikers. See
www.oxfamtrailwalker.org.hk for more.
but less reported. Oxfam Hong Kong is assist-
MOKUNG
ing thousands of people in three provinces through the crisis. Emergency relief teams
Oxfam Hong Kong publishes this quarterly
worked through the Spring
magazine in Traditional Chinese. Mokung,
Festival, China’s major holi-
which means both “no poverty” and “infinity”, Straw brings a better grip in snow and ice
highlights a different aspect of development in each issue. The Editor is Tung Tsz-kwan. The
Poem and Person
April 2008 edition looks at the poverty news poll in Hong Kong.
O.N.E remembers Wong
Beijing. She made many
her poems, with visual art
Yuen-ling (黃婉玲) (1958-
contributions to social justice,
by Wong Yankwaï (黃仁逵).
To subscribe: www.oxfam.org.hk/public/bookstore
20 0 8 ) who worked with
in her very own creative and
Here is the title poem, in
/?lang=big5
Oxfam Hong Kong’s educa-
open-minded and open-
the original Chinese, with a
Mokung is online at www.oxfam.org.hk/public/contents/category?cid=1017&lang=big5
tion team and with several
hearted way, and a circle
translation by Jacob Wong
other organisations and art
of friends is celebrating her
(王慶鏘), and the painting
groups in Hong Kong and
life by publishing a book of
‘Tea’ by Wong Yankwaï.
坐下來寫封信
Think I’ll Sit down and Write a Letter
沒有紙就托付風
Since there’s no paper, I ask the wind
擁抱我
Hold me
言語之前敞開的世界
The world before the beginning of speech
此時呼吸最是回事
Here, breathing is everything
生命之流起伏
The ocean of life rises and ebbs
還是讓我坐下來寫封信
Think I’ll sit down and write a letter
靠近你
To get close to you
從時間領土裡
To pluck from the realm of time
摘下文字的花串
A garland of words
讓風帶給你
And send to you on the wind
ONE O.N.E – Oxfam News E-magazine – is uploaded at the beginning of every month at www.oxfam.
Launched for International Women’s Day 2008, the book (in Chinese only) is available on-line http://www.cp1897.com.hk/Index?Page=1 and at various bookshops in Hong Kong.
org.hk/one. To receive a copy in your inbox, please subscribe – it is free. To subscribe: www.oxfam.org.hk/one/subscribe.html
Hong Kong
17th Floor, 28 Marble Road, Northpoint, Hong Kong O. N .E, published in the middle of each month, is also online:
www.oxfam.org.hk/one//
COVER: Madeleine Marie Slavick
POVERTY NEWS