Empowered Women Build Resilience in Tanah Putih Village

Yeni Rambu Ngoma Beli, usually called Yeni, is one of the women participating in the Resilient Village Training of Facilitators (TOF) organised by the Circle of Imagine Society (CIS) Timor, supported by the SIAP SIAGA Program in Tanah Putih Village, East Kupang Sub-District, Kupang District, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).

Yeni, along with the other mamas (a familiar term for mothers in NTT), appreciated the presence of CIS Timor and the SIAP SIAGA Program, which prioritised an inclusive approach to training in the village. ‘I was touched when I was involved in the Training of Facilitators. This proves that the participants for this training do not need to come from a highly educated background. All community elements that have the ability to speak up and are confident can be facilitators for the community’, explained Yeni.

The Training of Facilitators, which Yeni and other women figures joined, aims to build the capacity of village actors in Tanah Putih to facilitate village planning and budgeting from the perspectives of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR or PRB)and Climate Change Adaptation (API).

This activity is part of a series of activities being carried out by CIS Timor together with the SIAP SIAGA Program from March to November 2024 to build sustainable community resilience in Kupang District.

As a housewife dealing with the workload that comes with supporting children and a husband, Yeni said this training has given her important knowledge, providing her with a new insight into drought, which can severely disrupt family life  – especially economically.  ‘I learnt that we can reduce the impact of drought by exploring existing potential in the village. We learnt about threats, vulnerabilities, and capacity’, said Yeni.

The SIAP SIAGA Program Coordinator for NTT Province, Silvia Fanggidae, explained that one of the important points of this training is to increase people’s understanding of disaster threats around them. ‘The community needs to understand better that drought is not only about the distribution of water or rice assistance from the government. There are steps that can be taken and anticipated by the community before drought happens.’

Similarly, Haris Oematan, the Director of CIS Timor, explained that women in Tanah Putih Village were also trained on how to put in place disaster contingencies. One example is by saving. ‘If a dry season is about to hit, mamas must already know and start to save for food, so none of their family members will starve or have difficulties obtaining food.’

Hard Work to Build Resilience

NTT Province is a disaster-prone region that faces 12 types of disasters, from floods and earthquakes to drought. NTT Province is geographically located in the ‘Ring of Fire’  and has longer dry seasons than rainy seasons.

The memory of severe Tropical Cyclone Seroja is also still imprinted in the minds of NTT residents. According to the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG),the disaster that occurred in April 2021 was the second-strongest cyclone since Tropical Cyclone Kenanga in 2008.

Cyclone Seroja not only caused extensive loss of life and infrastructure damage in NTT but also damaged the agriculture and farming sector. This included people living in Tanah Putih Village.

Tanah Putih is home to 1,509 residents, with 714 males and 795 females. The majority of the population are farmers planting vegetables and horticultural plants in rice fields and dry lands. Some residents are involved in small-scale trade, while 5–7% work as civil servants, including teachers and government officials. Despite having a relatively dynamic economy, this village was also impacted significantly by Cyclone Seroja.

Yeni, as one of the affected villagers in Tanah Putih, still remembers clearly how this disaster affected her life. ‘Cyclone Seroja was the most devastating disaster to this village. In dusun (small village)1, RT (Neighborhood Association) 1, RW (Community Association) 1, there were 18 Heads of Families who lost their homes, belongings, and livestock’, said Yeni.

Yeni also shared her experience of Cyclone Seroja and the lessons she learned after participating in the training with CIS Timor and the SIAP SIAGA Program on the importance of building resilience against disasters.

‘(When the disaster occurred), the village was evacuated. The house was flooded. We went to the command post, there was one evacuation point. Before this, we had no idea about disaster management. So during the evacuation, there was only one tent, and women, men, and children were combined there. After this socialisation, we realise the importance of preparation and the need for separate tents’, explained Yeni.

Despite these positive steps, the Director of CIS Timor, Haris Oematan, explained after conducting a village resilience assessment that Tanah Putih Village is still in the first stage of resilience.

Despite being only 7–8 km away from the nearest city/district, the resilience of Tanah Putih Village is still at the basic level. Based on this condition, Haris concluded that there is an urgency to improve the village’s resilience in order to be better prepared to face disasters in the future.

Steps Towards Sustainable and Inclusive Resilience

To build a disaster-resilient Tanah Putih Village, CIS Timor, supported by the SIAP SIAGA Program, has formulated nine steps as a guideline to achieve this goal.

The Village Resilience Assessment (PKD) is the first step and this has been carried out. This assessment revealed 2 primary disaster threats: floods during rainy seasons and droughts during dry seasons. Floods damage roads and irrigation systems and submerge rice fields and vegetable gardens, while droughts delay planting seasons and limit access to clean water for many villagers.

The second step is Village Actor Mapping. In this case, the selected facilitators need to use an inclusive approach to ensure that the aspirations of all segments of the community are heard, making the resilience-building process truly representative.

The third step is developing a Guideline for Village Facilitators, followed by socialising this through training village facilitators as the fourth step. Tanah Putih Village’s resilience efforts are based on a strong commitment to Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion (GEDSI). As part of facilitator training, there has been an emphasis on ensuring that women and people with disabilities are active participants.

The fifth step is establishing the Village Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR/PRB) Forum and the Village Disaster Preparedness Team (TSB). This forum and team will prioritise GEDSI principles and coordinate activities related to disaster preparedness and resilience in Tanah Putih Village.

The sixth step is using the data gathered from the Village Disaster Risk Assessment as a basis for the next two steps, namely formulating the Village Action Plan as the seventh step and developing Contingency Plans as the eighth step.

This cycle ends with lessons learning, in which CIS Timor and the SIAP SIAGA Program will help to document learning from village actors, which will then be processed into knowledge products. This effort is a form of sustainable commitment because the knowledge gained can be used to inform advocacy, policy instruments, future program planning and knowledge sharing.