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“We have a lot of goodwill, but we still need to eat…”: Valuing Women’s Long Term Voluntarism in Community Development in Lima

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Abstract

This paper focuses on recognizing the contribution made to development by grassroots women working on a voluntary basis in long term development projects. Using the example of healthcare, the paper problematizes the widespread move towards an increased reliance on voluntary and third sector provision. Drawing on literature around women’s community activism, the research considers the extent to which women carrying out health promotion work in Peru have taken on this role as more than “just voluntary work,” highlighting their long term commitment during more than a decade of health promotion activities. The paper develops debates around the professionalization of voluntary work, particularly considering the issue of economic remuneration for health promoters, and emphasizing the gendered nature of their voluntarism; concluding by questioning the sustainability of poor women’s long term, and largely unpaid, involvement as the linchpins of community development projects.

Résumé

Cet article met l’accent sur la reconnaissance de la contribution bénévole apportée au développement par des femmes issues du peuple sur des projets de développement à long terme. En prenant pour exemple les soins médicaux, l’article met en perspective le mouvement à large échelle vers une plus grande dépendance vis-à-vis du volontariat et de la prestation du troisième secteur. En considérant les écrits ayant pour objet l’activisme communautaire des femmes, la recherche considère à quel point les femmes prenant en charge la promotion de la santé au Pérou ont pris ce rôle plus au sérieux qu’un «simple travail bénévole», ce qui met en valeur leur engagement à long terme, durant plus d’une décennie d’activités liées à la santé et à son développement. Cet article a pour objet les débats liés à la professionnalisation du travail bénévole, particulièrement en considérant le problème de la rémunération des promoteurs de la santé, tout en mettant l’accent sur la nature sexuée de leur volontariat, en concluant sur la question de la viabilité de ces femmes pauvres à long terme et le plus souvent non payées, pilier des projets de développement de la communauté.

Zusammenfassung

Dieses Artikel konzentriert sich darauf, den Entwicklungsbeitrag, den einfache Frauen an der Basis durch ehrenamtliche Arbeit in langfristigen Entwicklungsprojekten leisten, zu würdigen. Anhand des Beispiels medizinische Versorgung problematisiert der Artikel den weitverbreitenden Schritt, sich stärker auf freiwillige Helfer und den dritten Sektor zu verlassen. Gestützt auf Literatur über das Engagement von Frauen für die Kommune, prüft die Forschungsarbeit, in wie weit Frauen, die gesundheitsfördernde Arbeiten in Peru ausführen, diese Rolle als mehr als”nur freiwillige Arbeit” übernommen haben und heben deren langfristiges Engagement von mehr als einem Jahrzehnt gesundheitsfördernder Aktivitäten hervor. Der Artikel fördert die Auseinandersetzung um die Professionalisierung von ehrenamtlicher Arbeit, insbesondere unter Berücksichtigung des Problems von wirtschaftlicher Vergütung von Gesundheitsförderern, betont die geschlechtsbezogene Natur des ehrenamtlichen Engagements und endet damit, die Zukunftsfähigkeit der langfristigen, und grösstenteils unbezahlten, Mitwirkung von armen Frauen als Dreh- und Angelpunkt von Entwicklungsprojekten in der Kommune in Frage zu stellen.

Resumen

El tema central de este trabajo es reconocer la aportación al desarrollo que las mujeres de a pie realizan con su trabajo voluntario en proyectos de desarrollo a largo plazo. Utilizando el ejemplo de la sanidad, el trabajo aborda los problemas que supone la tendencia generalizada y la dependencia cada vez mayor en los voluntarios y el sector terciario. Basado en la literatura sobre el activismo comunitario de las mujeres, el estudio considera la magnitud de la labor de fomento sanitario de las mujeres peruanas, que se han tomado este papel como mucho más que una «simple tarea voluntaria», y pone de manifiesto su compromiso a largo plazo durante más de una década de actividades de fomento de la salud. El trabajo profundiza en los debates en torno a la profesionalización del trabajo voluntario, considerando sobre todo el problema de la remuneración económica de los promotores sanitarios y haciendo hincapié en la relación del voluntarismo con el sexo de la persona. Para concluir cuestiona la sostenibilidad de la participación a largo plazo y, en su mayoría, no remunerada de las mujeres pobres, como el eje de los proyectos de desarrollo de la comunidad.

摘要

本论文重点阐述了基于志愿性质的基层妇女工作对长期发展项目所做出的贡献。作者以医疗保健事业为例,引发了对当前越来越多地依赖于志愿者与第三部门提供服务这一社会现象的思考。文中引用了有关妇女社区行动主义的文献进行分析研究,并认为妇女们在推动秘鲁医疗保健事业的进程中所发挥的作用实际上已远远超越了“单纯志愿工作”的这一范畴,同时高度地评价了妇女们十余年来坚持不懈地参与医疗保健活动所信守的长期承诺。论文围绕志愿工作的职业化展开了论述,尤其是针对保健促进工作者的低报酬问题进行了讨论,同时还重点分析其志愿意识的性别特征。最后,本文对贫困妇女长期且大都在无报酬前提下,作为重要因素参与社区发展项目所具有的可持续发展性提出了质疑。

ملخص

يركز هذا البحث على الاعتراف بالمساهمة في التنمية من جانب المرأة العاملة على مستوى القاعدة على أساس تطوعي في مشاريع التنمية على المدى الطويل. مع إستخدام مثال العناية الصحية، البحث يعرض مشكلة التحرك على نطاق واسع نحو زيادة الإعتماد على المساعدات التطوعية و إحتياطي القطاع الثالث. إعتماداً علي الكتابات الأدبية حول نشاط المرأة في المجتمع، البحث يدرس مدى مشاركة المرأة في العمل على تعزيز الصحة في بيرو وإتخاذها هذا الدور على نحو أكثر من “مجردعمل تطوعي”، تسليط الضوء على الإلتزام على المدى الطويل خلال أكثر من عشر سنوات من أنشطة تعزيز الصحة. هذا البحث وضح بالتفاصيل المناقشات حول التأهيل المهني للعمل التطوعي، لاسيما النظر في التعويض الإقتصادي لمقدمي العناية الصحية، والتأكيد على طبيعة الفوارق بين الجنسين في العمل التطوعي، و يختتم بالسؤال عن مدى تحمل الفقراء من النساء على المدى الطويل، وإلى حد كبيرغير مدفوعة الأجر، تعتبر المشاركة جزء حيوي في مشاريع تنمية المجتمع.

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Notes

  1. The research adopted a feminist methodology and was conducted over 6 months in 2003 and involved in-depth interviews with the health promoters and other key actors, and participant observation at the Integra health promotion project (see Jenkins 2007 for a detailed account of the research process).

  2. Lacey and Ilcan (2006) do begin to flag up voluntarism in developing countries, though they do not recognize the gendered nature of this scenario.

  3. Ewig (2002) also observes that the civil war with Shining Path insurgents in the 1990s impacted on healthcare provision both in terms of funding priorities and also because Shining Path targeted government health clinics for attack.

  4. Although problematic, the use of pseudonyms for organizations, places, and individuals is aimed at giving those involved in the research a degree of anonymity.

  5. Whilst in another large-scale Esperanza project the propina paid to health promoters is roughly equivalent to the local minimum wage, this is not the case at the Integra project in Barrio Alegre, where the local minimum wage would have been approximately US$170 a month in 2003 (personal conversation with an Esperanza staff member).

  6. Propina-tip, incentivo-incentive: basically a small amount of money not equivalent to a wage.

  7. All quotes from health promoters and NGO workers are translations from Spanish by the author.

  8. Interestingly, there was no recognition of the need to teach men about men’s reproductive health.

  9. An extension of their maternal role.

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Acknowledgements

An earlier version of this paper was presented as part of the Development and Civil Society Seminar Series at Northumbria University, and thanks are due to the participants at that seminar for their useful comments. Many thanks also to the NGO and individuals who participated in this study. This research was funded by ESRC studentship no. PTA-030-2002-01504.

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Jenkins, K. “We have a lot of goodwill, but we still need to eat…”: Valuing Women’s Long Term Voluntarism in Community Development in Lima. Voluntas 20, 15–34 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-008-9075-7

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