Women are capable of many things. However, they still suffer from low socioeconomic freedom. Nevertheless, they need the right exposure and encouragement to discover their potential. By providing opportunity and space for development, these ladies will thrive and bring positive changes not only to their families but also to the community.

 

As the title of the programs suggest, an income generating effort for the members of the community was initiated by the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas, Malaysia (DHRRA Malaysia) and RUMAH RAPHA. DHRRA Malaysia is a civil society moving towards organizing a strong, self-reliant community through poverty alleviation and people’s empowerment initiatives based on the spirit of dialogue, cooperation and capacity building of human resources.  RUMAH RAPHA is an organization based in Taiping, dedicated to serving humanity and focuses on youth’s development, women welfare and other social concerns.

This project aims to plant oil palm trees to generate income for the disadvantaged members of the community. In order to begin the project, a 5.5 hectare land which is located at Lot 837, Jalan Matang, Simpang has been acquired,. This program currently has 6 single mothers participating. According to Mr Saravanan, President of DHRRA Malaysia, women are most affected by poverty, discrimination and violence. They also have the potential to facilitate overall changes for the community.

Mr. Alexander s/o Samy Pillai, the program coordinator of RUMAH RAPHA, mentioned that the ladies participating in this project will gain short term of benefits of the project by learning skills needed in agriculture for them to go back to cultivating their own land. Moreover, many ladies profit from such program in the long run. The long term benefits would be the self-sustainability of the project after 7 to 8 years as gross income from the oil palm cultivation will come up to RM3000 per month.   

The project is made up of 3 distinct phases. The 1st stage involves clearing the land and preparing the land for cultivation. The second stage involves planting oil palm trees. On the other hand, the 3rd phase requires the participants of the program to plant cover crops around the land which contributes towards the sustainability of the land; nitrogen production, soil microbial activity, nutrient enhancement, rooting action, weed suppression, and soil and water conservation. Planting cover crops are also an excellent method to generate additional income, in addition to oil palm cultivation.

Furthermore, the project also looks at utilizing organic fertilizers for the plants. As there are many chicken rearing farms around the project areas, members will be able get hold of natural fertilizers from the chicken farm. This step not only cut cost but also answers the call to protect the environment and work towards sustainability.

The members of the program have also taken the effort to build a hut within the land. This hut will be a place of congregation. It will not only be a place for discussion and the decision making process and but also a venue for leisure time. An interesting piece of information about the hut is that it’s made recycling materials. This move is welcomed as it is environmental friendly and cuts the cost of the project.

It is hoped that this project will assist the single mothers to be economically independent and also to raise their self-confidence. By this initiative to empower women, we hope to make positive development in many lives in time to come.