CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — For many women, it is a constant struggle to rise above the assumed roles given them by society.
For this reason, Nekka Lorelle D. Abueva, a 20-year-old student and youth leader from Cagayan de Oro City, has taken it upon herself to help in empowering women.
Nekka is the co-founder of KAMAKA (Katilingban sa Mauswagong Kababaihan), a program for fifteen housewives of trisikad drivers in Cagayan de Oro City who desire to help their husbands earn for their families, too.
She is one of 30 young leaders chosen by the Asia Foundation and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to be among 2021 Leadership and Democracy (LEAD) Fellows under The Youth Leadership for Democracy (YouthLed) program.
She states that while there are existing gender-awareness campaigns or women’s rights programs, these hardly reach women in urban poor communities. “I have seen the struggles of various women. This is the reason why we are so invested in helping the wives of trisikad drivers, ” explains Nikka, a student of the University of the Philippines, Visayas, majoring in communication and media studies.
Nikka and her fellow youth leaders started their work with the trisikad drivers last year at the height of the pandemic. Like countless others, trisikad drivers were forced to stop work to help curb the spread of the virus. They were left with little or no means to feed themselves and their families. Her group, thus, formed Tabang Sikad to help the different trisikad associations in different barangays all over Cagayan de Oro City. They also looked into the plight of the wives of the trisikad drivers and established KAMAKA.
Among the goals of KAMAKA is to establish a collective enterprise that will provide the housewives with supplemental income. These will surely enable them to get through these difficult times.
They hold weekly sessions with members to lend knowledge and skills as entrepreneurs. Financial literacy sessions were also held.
KAMAKA also held courses on women’s rights and existing policies, plans and programs that can benefit them, their families, and communities.
After the learning programs, KAMAKA will award a seed grant amounting to P 15,000.00 to each participant. This will be pegged as funds to start their own enterprise.
Despite knowing they will get much from the programs, the women beneficiaries still find it challenging to be present in the Sunday afternoon gatherings. One of their partners, Rachelle, finds it difficult to leave her child to attend the sessions because of the lack of support from her relatives. For them, Rachelle’s place is in the house doing domestic chores.
But while changing mindsets is difficult, Nekka is undaunted. In fact, Rachelle is one of the reasons Nekka perseveres. “If we create a safe space for people and make them aware of their rights and power, they can empower themselves,” she explains.
To help her with the difficult tasks, Youthled is providing Nekka with training programs, mentorships, and access to grant support.
The two-year program includes scholarships with prestigious institutions like the Asian Institute of Management’s (AIM)’s Future Bridging Leadership Program, the Ateneo School of Governments (ASOG)’s Executive Education Courses, and the Ayala Foundation Inc.’s (AFI)’s Servant Leadership Program. They can also undergo mentorship activities with Makati Business Club (MBC) and Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP).
“I believe that Youthled can help me become more efficient in the community that I am working with right now. I know that through its training, we can deliver better solutions for the sector that we are serving,” says Nekka.
Nekka hopes that her program will also be replicated in other communities and will build more networks of empowered women.-PR
