HIGHLIGHTS Volume I
IFENDU2007-06-30
IFENDU HIGHLIGHTS,Volume I, November 2007 Newsletter of Ifendu for Women’s Development Educating for gender equality; transforming Community; That all may have life and live it to the full From the Editor’s Desk IFE-NDU, in Igbo language, means ‘the light of life, ‘and signifies the saving light of awareness. Ifendu For Women’s Development (IFENDU) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization initiated by Rev. Sister Rose Uchem in the spirit of the congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary whose originating charism was to promote gender parity in family life by providing for African women access to the (then exclusive) world of education. IFENDU came into existence out of the realization that although many Nigerian women have received formal school education, pioneered by Holy Rosary Sisters since the 1920s, and some have acquired higher education, formal education alone without corresponding changes in society’s attitude towards women has not lifted the cultural, social and economic burdens that women bear (Uchem, R., N., 2001, Overcoming women’s subordination, p. 251). IFENDU came into existence to fill this gap and provide the necessary social and gender education for justice. IFENDU has been in operation since 2002 but it gained the status of a registered charity (no. 16, 525) with the Corporate Affairs Commission, Abuja, in March, 2004. IFENDU’ is vision-driven in character and has a five-member board of trustees. It addresses issues of women’s human identity and seeks to create the necessary awareness on women’s assigned subordinate status in relation to men and to change this to that of co-equality. IFENDU envisions a new world in which women’s full human identity is acknowledged both in theory and in practice; men and women are valued equally and work together harmoniously as co-equal partners; where gender equality is understood not as biological uniformity but as equal opportunities. IFENDU’S mission in a world where a three-year-old ‘man’ is accorded more human dignity than a thirty-year-old woman, all in the name of culture and tradition, is to educate women, men and youth to dismantle oppressive cultural and religious systems that undermine women’s full human status and to promote their full participation in all spheres of life on a basis of co-equality with men. IFENDU addresses major issues which undercut women’s experience of wholeness and fullness of life; and does this in the inter-face of Gender, Religion and Culture; Sexuality, HIV/AIDS; Human Trafficking as well as Environmental Issues/Care of the Earth. The main slant in all the activities is education and theological investigation. Intervention strategies include: i) Advocacy outreach to communities and organizations; ii) Training; and iii) Documentation and Presentation Service. Our focus group is principally women and youth. However, recognizing the need for ‘gender education’ for all, we also conduct programmes for men to empower them to play their own part in effecting systemic change in the social and cultural issues that affect women negatively in families and communities. In this maiden issue, Ifendu Highlights brings you news of various activities that shed light on our core values of inclusiveness and equality for women, men and youth. Contents 1. Gender Equality: An Interview 2. Youth Sexuality Seminar in Aji, Enugu Ezike 3. Catholic Theologians Association of Nigeria Annual Conference in Makurdi 4. Gender and Priestly Formation: National Workshop of Rectors at Awka 5. Clergy/Seminary Professors Workshop on Gender, Tabor, Nsukka 6. HIV/AIDS Preventive Education in Igbo-Ukwu GENDER EQUALITY: AN INTERVIEW At the turn of the New Year, 2007, the editorial crew of the Bigard Thinker’s Magazine interviewed the executive director of Ifendu for Women’s Development, Sr. Rose Uchem on the subject of Gender Equality. Included in this issue are some excerpts from that interview reproduced here with permission. The Thinker: What is Gender Equality? Sister: ‘Gender’ refers to the power relations between men and women. It is a social and cultural construct by which a society assigns feminine and masculine attributes and roles. Consequently, gender is changeable and varies from one cultural area to another, also from one era to another. It is different from sex role but so often the two are confused. ‘Sex’ is biological; it is physical and up till recently permanent. I say ‘up till recently’ because these days we hear of people who have developed feminine or masculine characteristics through surgical treatments and injection of hormones. Nevertheless, there are aspects of the biological makeup which cannot be altered. So when we speak of gender parity, we refer to opportunities, privileges, rights, duties and responsibilities that have until now been reserved only for men or women. So it is a situation where nobody is held back from doing anything for reasons of sex. In gender equality, what are considered are the qualities and the competencies to perform a particular task. In this way nobody is ruled out even before being tested. Gender role is sometimes stereotypical. That is, something that is fixed by sociological habits and supported in mental constructs; but when you look at the actual situation even as we are talking now, you see that gender roles are changing even in families. Yet a lot of people are conditioned by stereotypes. They don’t pay attention to the changes on the ground and they go on talking about the fixed ideas in their minds. They say women are the weaker sex almost as unthinkingly as a parrot without observing that it is not every man that is physically strong and not every woman is physically weak. The Thinker: You insist on the equality of the sexes. But in the very nature of things, equality is everywhere an exception where inequality is almost the rule. Is your demand not out step with reasonable expectation? Sister: I never talked about equality of the sexes. There is no such thing as physical or biological equality or sameness between one man and another or between one woman and another. No two people are equal in height, color, intellectual abilities, and other personal qualities. However, what we are saying is that when individual talents, abilities, and qualifications are the guiding principles in assigning tasks and no boundaries are set on what men or women can do just because they are men or women; then you are observing gender equality and paving the way for gender balance in the society. The line therefore is no longer to be drawn between men and women but rather between the able and the unable, the qualified and the unqualified irrespective of their sexual mode of existence. The issue boils down to the question: to whom is more worth assigned—male or female? Gender balance requires that both should have equal worth in word and deed because both are equally human. The Thinker: If men and women are ontologically equal, what brought about the almost everlasting universality of women domination by men? Sister: I think the universality of male domination of women can be attributed to the role of the human unconscious. I am saying this because in every part of the world, you have this tendency for the male to dominate the female, even in matrilineal societies, where women are highly valued and the structures respect them and all that. In a very subtle way particularly in the symbolic and spiritual realms, the male has a way of getting every thing back. It is amazing. You find this preponderance of the male, operating in human society because of something in the human being. The psychologist, Carl Jung, calls that factor within the human personality, ‘an archetype’ and he defines it ‘as patterns of human becoming’. And so what is responsible for this dominance is that where this factor finds suitable social environment, it manifests and comes out. And so in an individual you may find this tendency to dominate in a mild or moderate form or in a severe form. That is why we find different shapes and colors of subjugation and marginalization in different parts of the world. But with growth, development and enlightenment, you see some people who were brought up in patriarchal societies beginning to change when they reason and realize that the way they have been going about life has been unfair and unjust. You see those making adjustments. So that is what I can say. It is nature and nurture at play. The Thinker: Can you briefly tell us the most important areas of women marginalization and subjugation in Nigerian societies? Sister: To begin with, the two words don’t fit together as a list. Subjugation which is another word for subordination refers to the tendency to attach more value and first place to the male than to the female and to give the female a secondary or lesser status. As a direct outcome of this, almost everything else about women is perceived as less or taken as negative. Hence women are prevented from doing certain things and are given only marginal space in the society. This is marginalization. And I can pick out just four of such instances though they are numberless. The first is ownership. There is a tendency, a very strong tendency for men to own women and take over whatever they have acquired and not allow them to own anything. First of all, they are owned by their fathers and later by their husbands and those of us who are not in the family situation experience a similar pattern in ecclesiastical settings. And this is an area where women need to open their eyes. This despoliation of women breeds other problems such as denial of inheritance rights to daughters and wives. Some are beginning to pick the courage to change it. For example in some enlightened families, the parents write wills and bequeath specific property to named sons and daughters. Without the wills, the relatives of the daughters and widows will hurry to dispossess them of these things upon the death of the parents and husbands; and these may be church people, front bench church members. The second is what I call voice. The practice of not seriously consulting and involving women during decision-making and policy-making denies women their voice. This is very serious because those who effect such exclusion are literally saying that God made a mistake in creating male and female human beings. You know men have a perspective and women have a perspective. So you make a decision or policy without them, you are making it for men alone because you have not represented the feminine dimension. And who suffers? The society! Then, the third area is the domestic roles. Our tradition makes us believe that it is woman’s work to cook, clean up and look after babies. Men are simply oppressing themselves by cutting themselves away from participating in domestic roles, as those men who have emancipated themselves from that bias will tell you. Those men have given themselves freely to doing house chores and caring for their children. The fact is that once a woman has carried the baby to term and brought it forth, outside the purely biological functions such as breast-feeding; nothing prevents the father from taking care of his own baby. There is no biological or psychological necessity binding the mother alone to the infant, its napkins and pampers. However, you find out that some men might be prepared to carry their baby but only when it is clean. They are the losers. What do you think is behind the close bond between children and their mothers? Men should try and liberate themselves. You see, these things, I mean so called gender division of roles, may have worked well in agricultural settings. But in this era where both parents might be involved in wage-earning employment outside the home, and most families cannot do without a second income; and they saunter back from work tired and worn out, the one goes to relax, read papers, and watch the television, the other enters a second shift in the kitchen, it becomes oppression of the highest order. It doesn’t matter if some women are not complaining. But this is where love should come in. Some couples have worked it out. Both partners enter the kitchen; and they are chatting and regaling. While this person is doing this the other person is doing that; and in no time the food is ready and they all enjoy and clean up together. The partners really love each other practically not merely verbally and they don’t need anybody to preach to them. Some couples are already doing this and they are modeling something good for their children. This is sometimes seen not only among the elites in urban settings but also among rural dwellers and some less educated people. However, our people tend to ridicule them, insinuating that it is the wife that is ‘marrying’ the man. But marriage is not an arena for power show. Rather, it is all about love, maturity and nobility. And as the parents display these deep human values, you think the children are not observing? They are attentive and will require less talking to train. Finally, we know of the Kola nut rituals in Igbo land where women are passed over and sidelined. The anti-women denigration expressed in the traditional kola ritual is the most severe. Eating the kola is not just mere chewing of a bitter nut. It is symbolic especially where they do the ceremonial head-count by passing the kola bowl round for people to pick or take home and women are excluded. By sidestepping them, you are making a theological statement about women; and it is about who is human and who is not. And once you talk about who is human and who is not, you are referring to God. Is this person made in the image of God or not? And you marvel at the insensitivity with which some men do it. …the lack of feelings! I don’t know how it is possible to be a Christian without having the kind of compassion and the type of feeling which Jesus had. I don’t mean saying fine words. I mean action. Taking a stance and changing the custom of exclusion. You see, there is a very big homework for people who call themselves Christians. The Thinker: What is your dream society? Sister: I dream of a time to come, and very soon, when both male and female human beings will be valued equally, irrespective of their age, sex, and economic status, and all will be free to take on any profession they choose. I look forward to such a time when God’s reign will be realized upon earth. The Thinker: In such a society, would you recommend a permanent and voluntary spinsterhood to young ladies perhaps to demonstrate a conclusive feminine independence? Sister: No. I wouldn’t recommend to anyone to marry or not. Instead I will support anybody’s dream. Somebody should be free to remain single, if they so wish. They can only receive guidance. About independence, I want to say that independence is not even the desirable mode. What is desirable is interdependence. God has a reason for creating us male and female. It is often called complementarity but the trouble is that it is usually one-sided. Women are often seen as complementing men; rarely the other way round. True complementarity goes both ways. The male complements the female and the female complements the male. The Thinker: How do you evaluate the women’s inheritance rights in Igbo land especially ownership of land? Sister: We need to make two distinctions. One is between mainland Igbo and the riverine Igbo. In riverine Igbo, male and female inherit, even land. Examples are Onitsha and Oguta. In Afikpo, though mainland, women build homesteads. The other distinction is between movable and immovable property. Women inherit movable property but not immovable property like houses in most parts of Igboland. The problem is really with landed property. And it is a complex issue, which has past, present and future dimensions to it. In the past and to a great extent the present, daughters and wives were denied the rights to inherit their parent’s landed property. And I think it is related to the fear that the family’s property might go elsewhere; and so one way of ensuring that it remains in the family is by directing the inheritance through the male line; the male that supposedly stays within the family. So even if that male is an imbecile the property goes to him. And this is the root of a number of other things that women suffer; something like the oppression of widows in terms of depriving them of inheritance. Another one is male child preference. The denial of women’s rights of inheritance is at the root of all these; and dealing with it will also solve other allied problems. Some people break their marriages, enter polygamous marriages and do other undignifying things in search of the golden baby boy who will become the heir to the family. At the same time we notice a growing trend these days whereby families write wills. They will their inheritance to their children who are sensible, whether they are male or female. It is hoped that this trend should continue. So referring to the future, looking at what some NGO leaders have been able to achieve in the area of getting bills passed and creating awareness of the bills, we have reasons to be optimistic. Take for instance, the bill protecting the widows, which Enugu State has passed. Recently, Imo State has followed suit, and I think Anambra State too. And it is being enforced in these places. Considering this, I am hopeful that in not too distant future, the bill prohibiting any discriminatory practices regarding inheritance will be passed. The Thinker: What of women participation in Nigerian Politics. Satisfactory? Sister: No! In the very recent past we have begun to see more veritable signs of movement towards achieving some gender balance. But a lot more is yet to be done. Contrary to what many think, it is not so much out of goodwill that these appointments have been made. I am referring to some of these prominent women we can point to; like Prof Dora Akunyili, Oby Ezekwesili and others. There are international machineries that are in place; monitoring the progress of implementation of the outcomes of the 1995 Beijing Conference and the follow- up conferences. You may have heard of ‘the Beijing plus five,’ and ‘Beijing plus ten.’ At present, one of the reference points is the United Nations ‘Millennium Development Goals.’ Recently, I came across the 2004 report on Nigeria which I picked up at a conference and which gave me a sense of the pressure under which the government is, to show the extent these international protocols are being implemented. So I think that if the committees that are exerting this pressure continue to work, we will see greater progress in the near future. But let’s go more directly to women’s political participation as different from ministerial appointments. When it comes to elections, there are some problems there. The terrain is still very rough; too rough, not just for women but also for decent men. We all know of what happened in Anambra State, the sad saga of dubious impeachments. This is what happens all over the nation. It is not clean politics. So the climate does not allow decent people and women in particular, to come out. The appointments have shown all of us what could happen if more women were given a chance to come out and participate in ruling this country. What I find sad apart from the roughness of the politics, is that many of the women in politics really do not do it from the perspective of feminine models. Understandably, they don’t even have role models. And so they have a lot of work to do, I mean creative work to do, to formulate, and to develop for themselves their own leadership styles and to become role models for subsequent women. Men have a different approach to leadership. Women don’t need to imitate men. In fact, they should combine characteristics because no one is purely feminine or purely masculine. A balanced person is one who is able to bring out the necessary qualities to address any situation depending on what is called for. But you find out that some of those women in politics sometimes allow themselves to be used in furthering men’s agenda instead of standing in their own right. Some are happy enough to form women’s wing of political parties to sing and clap for the men; and they put in everything to support male candidates. Instead of this, they should open their eyes to bring out a woman from among themselves who has all it takes and stand by her. This is important because with a woman in a top post, and I mean a good natured and qualified person, not a sadist, women have more chances of having their interests represented. In fact, everybody’s interests will be taken care of. The Thinker: Women are the greatest oppressors of their own kind. You hear this statement all over the place and even the word of God bears witness to this: ‘women hurt other women just as moth damage clothing’ (Sir 42:13). How do you contain this? Sister: It is a saying one hears very frequently that women are the greatest oppressors of their own kind. What I say is that it is both true and false. I say it is true because I myself have many experiences of this. However I say it is false because it is only one side of the story: what women do to themselves and to other women. The other side of the story is forgotten; and that is what men do or perhaps what the male-supremacy-system does to women which women internalize and then act out. This phenomenon is referred to as internalized oppression. So I use the situation in the apartheid South Africa to illustrate it. You know in those days, it was the black police that were used to torture and brutalize Africans. Again at this time and indeed at all times when someone wants to get rid of another, they pay someone else to do the job or they use remote control. From findings, I have seen that men actually use remote control on women. They set them up and they will begin to fight one another. It is simple. So, internalized oppression is a psychological and sociological condition which is found in persons or groups that have been subjected to domination of any kind over a long period of time. It is so much so that they take in all the negative attributes that the tyrannical person assigns to them even in their language and manners and begin to live up to these. You know the best way to produce a tyrant is to subject the person to tyranny. Long after the oppressor has gone they continue to act these out on themselves and others who are like them. That is what happens and it is what the Algerian thinker, Frantz Fanon, called ‘internalized oppression’ and Steve Biko of South Africa called it the ‘colonized mind’. The effect of this in the case of women is an unconscious self-hatred and hatred of other women as well as low self-confidence. And this accounts for why during elections, women hardly vote for other women no matter how competent. Women are therefore acting out deeply encrusted brutalized unconscious. How the Blacks stand among themselves in relation to the oppressive colonial Whites even till date is analogous to the way women stand among themselves in relation to men. You find out that Blacks have more confidence in White people than in one of themselves who may have more qualifications. Such wounded psyche needs to be healed both psychologically and through various levels of affirmative actions. Men and women should undergo similar healing so as to be liberated psychologically and otherwise. The Thinker: All things put together, we know that the gains in the project of women’s liberation are already appreciable considering the grotesque past. Where do you pin the cause for this reversal of fortune in History: the event of Jesus Christ and the new attitudes he preached or the force of human reason which is constantly engaging problems of human society? Sister: I like this question and it is a complex one. Well, not every body who is working for change is inspired by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Enlightenment in Europe which took exception to the women’s plight was not an ecclesial agenda. Yet I think that the spirit of Jesus is at work in the world and is blowing freely outside and within the Church alike. I believe personally that even those who do not seem to be influenced by the Gospel of Jesus are under the influence of the Spirit. I seriously hold that the change that is blowing through the world today around this women situation originates from the spirit of God and it follows a pattern. For example, think of the slavery and slave trade. Do you know that the movement that eventually led to the official abolition of slavery began outside the Church? Very sadly, the Church people, our well-respected fathers of the Church quoted the Bible in support of slavery that it is written in black and white: slaves should remain slaves. And of course, they took a literal approach to the Bible. Hopefully, we will not repeat their mistakes. But it is sad that some of us are bent on a literal approach to the Bible. So no matter how those campaigners claim to be agnostic, it is good to remember that their society was built on Christianity and eventually everything goes back to Christ. That is why I say it is a complex question. Those of us who answer Christians ought to reclaim our heritage; this movement for the emancipation of women, slightly more than half the world’s population, rightly belongs to us. I believe that if we go back to the spirit of Jesus, the spirit of egalitarianism and love, we will do more actively in promoting gender balance in our world. CATHOLIC THEOLOGIANS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN MAKURDI The annual conference of the Catholic Theologians Association of Nigeria (CATHAN) took place at St Thomas Aquinas Seminary, Makurdi, Benue State April 10th to 13th, 2007. The executive director of Ifendu for Women’s Development, Sr. Rose Uchem was in attendance and presented a paper titled: Violence Against Women In Marriage Rituals, A Prelude To Domestic Violence, with the following abstract. The paper, “Violence Against Women In Marriage Rituals, A Prelude To Domestic Violence,” examines the issue of unequal power relations between men and women in the context of the family in Nigeria. It makes the case that the marriage ritual in both African cultural and Christian contexts predisposes the male partner in the marriage relationship towards violence against the female partner by the customary emphasis on the headship of the man over and above the woman. Using two case stories, the paper underscores the systemic nature of the issue of domestic violence against women and highlights its meaning, causes, and impact, as well as the nature of the ritual violence that sets the stage for it. In the light of the gospel values of Christ as found in the scriptures, the paper re-evaluates the headship model of marriage and proposes a set of responses as a means of promoting peace in Nigerian families. Gender and Priestly Formation: National Workshop of Rectors at Awka Gender and Priestly Formation was the theme of the workshop paper presented by Sr Rose Uchem, executive director of Ifendu for Women’s Development to the National Seminaries Commission at their invitation on 4th May, 2007 at the Pope John Paul II Major Seminary, Awka, Anambra State. This move was in response to a corporate invitation to the commission – comprising all the rectors of seminaries throughout Nigeria – minor, major and spiritual year; to attend a gender workshop being organized by Sr Rose Uchem under the auspices of IFENDU for Women’s Development with support from Missio Aachen. The proposed workshop was to motivate and enable participants to take concrete steps towards integrating knowledge of key gender issues into their own programmes in their respective institutions and places of work in line with the recommendations of the ‘Consultation on Teaching Philosophy and Theology in Tertiary Institutions in Africa and Madagascar,’ co-sponsored by SECAM and Missio Aachen, in Accra, Ghana, 10th to 17th June, 2002: “That Gender Issues be an integral part of our theological and philosophical reflections.” The paper aimed at motivating participants to take concrete steps towards integrating knowledge of key gender issues into their own programmes in their respective institutions and places of work. The following are excerpts from her presentation to the rectors. The majority of clients who go to the clergy for one form of assistance or the other are usually women and girls. (Similarly, women and girls constitute a greater number of benefactors of priests and seminarians worldwide). Although some men are known to be doing their best to alleviate the plight of women and girls in our society, most of the problems these clients present in pastoral counseling sessions are often gender issues. Without a specialized knowledge of key gender issues, the minister’s response might be limited or even unwittingly reinforcing the problems. The reasons for this are obvious. Up until very recently, gender awareness was not part of the initial formation curriculum of pastoral ministers anywhere in the world. Worse still, most people were ordinarily socialized to consciously and unconsciously act out convictions in a supposedly divinely ordained inequality of men and women, supported by literal approaches to the scriptures. Sometimes too, it is noted that women seem to be their own oppressors and resist some moves aimed at improving their lot. Many instances seem to support this observation. Yet, there are forces that work on women and condition them to act in these ways against themselves and each other. There is need to identify and address these factors that affect women adversely, and together seek adequate solutions to them, and the clergy occupy a strategic location for a transfer of the necessary knowledge to redress this situation. Moreover, some of these issues also affect marriages and families. It is important that pastoral agents be adequately prepared to respond to such issues in the pastoral field with renewed theology of marriage based in turn on renewed theology and philosophy in the new context. The new context of theology/philosophy in a changing universe All theology is contextual; more so creation theology, the context of which is the entire universe itself. The current image of the earth (as a spherical earth suspended in an ever-expanding universe) is certainly different from that (of a flat earth on which rested the sky as an inverted bowl), which under-girded the biblical stories of creation. Much of our time-honoured philosophy and theology was constructed within the context of a pre-scientific worldview and also influenced by now antiquated cultural and socio-biological theories of women’s nature. Thus, there is need to take cognizance of the changing context of philosophy and theology and to take into account insights from modern biblical scholarship particularly, the more recent insights into the world behind the bible. Implications ought to be drawn from new conclusions arising from a different interpretation of scriptural passages that were written with a worldview of the earth as flat and the sky as an inverted bowl over-arching it, signifying an unchanging hierarchical social order; in contrast to a spherical earth suspended in an ever-expanding universe, engendering in humans a different social consciousness, demanding equality of social opportunities, mutuality and partnerships among (male and female) humans but also between human beings and the whole of creation. At the same time, we need call to mind a dynamic view of inspiration and revelation in contrast to a static view of these realities with reference to the time-bound and culture-bound elements of the bible. Consequently, close attention is to be paid to the meaning and role of myths in different cultures as well as different scripture narratives pertaining to the project of priestly formation towards the goal of gender balance. The guideline in all this is how to measure up to the person of Christ; in terms of his attitudes, words and deeds rather than to our cultures. GENDER TRAINING WORKSHOP FOR CLERGY AND SEMINARY PROFESSORS To speak with one voice on a common interest, through closer collaboration, IFENDU organized a 4-day training workshop for clergy and seminary professors on “Gender Awareness” at Carmelite Conference and Retreat Centre, Tabor, Onuiyi Nsukka, Enugu State. In the workshop which commenced on 19th May and ended on 22nd May 2007, the Executive Director of IFENDU, Sr. Rose Uchem, in her welcome address appreciated the participants’ presence, according to her, “the gathering was formed for the need to effect changes through policy makers like us. I believe that this gathering would not meet many hurdles in the course of implementation”. She described the workshop as part of attempts at giving good interpretation to ‘women’s human identity’. Although the church and society are already embracing the call for gender equality, courtesy of efforts of the contemporary women, such efforts are distorted by the entrenched belief that women are naturally made inferior to men. She further acknowledged huge contributions of colleagues in socio-economic sectors. But what were those efforts when the root cause of endemic women subordination is not addressed? For the ED, the solution lies in massive education on gender imbalance, which IFENDU represents. Rev. Fr. Anthony Umoren one of the resource persons in his presentation on ‘Gender and the Bible’ portrayed the bible as a write up that is divinely inspired but written in human language and by human persons. As such, he said interpretation need carefulness in which the leading principle must be hinged on the fact that God’s word must not contradict the nature of God. He said there is no scriptural basis for gender inequality, describing it as a product of an “unredeemed socio-cultural consciousness”. Another resource person Lady Nkechi Onah made her own presentation on Gender Analysis (Core Gender Issues and Collaborative Leadership). She saw gender as different from biological differences between men and women. Gender equality she said means men and women having equal opportunities to realize their full human potentials. She cited the various ways by which men deny women the opportunity to realize their full human potentials due to gender bias and said that society should be fair to all concerned. Referring to gender mainstreaming as an approach to integrate men and women into design, she said that most of the projects in our communities die because somebody was never consulted at planning stage. Again, she described the strategic interest of an ideal society as that which is built on getting more claries, more options or more voices, that which will only come about when both male and female gender are integrated into the mainstream of community plans. Rev. Sr. Rose Uchem presented her paper on ‘Sexuality, Gender and Priestly formation’. She stated that gender equality presupposed that there is a single human nature occurring in two forms, and not two different natures, male and female. She said that the two should work as complements to one another, to enrich the human community. Other resource persons like Rev. Sr. Catherine Asomugha, Rev. Fr. Wenceslaus Madu and Mrs. Apollonia Obi presented on different topics like ‘Collaborative Ministry of Clergy and Religious Experiences’, Review of Church Documents on Women and other resource materials’ and ‘Core Gender Issues Addressing Stigma and Stereotypes’ respectively. A Gallery walk took participants round the conference room to observe pictorial lessons from pictures pasted around the room. At the end of the walk lasting about 15 minutes, the participants shared their experiences on a one-to-one basis. The participant broke up into small groups for discussions and reconvened later for reports and questions. The workshop was brought to an end with the passing on of a lighted candle. The participants accepted the candles with happiness promising to carry on the light and message of gender equality to their various areas of ministry. They expressed joy for being invited and showed interest to attend subsequent similar workshops. HIV/AIDS Preventive Education in Igbo-Ukwu HIV/AIDS Training seminar has been conducted by IFENDU for Women’s Development at the Holy Family Secondary School Igbo-Ukwu on Friday 27th April, 2007 at the invitation of Rev. Sr. Sr. Chinyere Nwosu, MSHR. Among the participants were: students of the school, both boys and girls, members of staff, the principal, the vice principal and the chaplain of the school. In her opening speech, the Director of IFENDU, Sister Rose Uchem appreciated the presence of the participants and gave an overview of IFENDU as an organization. According to her, “the project IFENDU, meaning the light of life; aims at contributing towards creating a world in which men and women are valued equally and operate as equal partners in development.” She admonished men to take women as equally human as themselves in all facets of life and advised women to imbibe a sense of high self-esteem; to demand to be respected by men so as to be less vulnerable to HIV/AIDS as the statistics shows. The topics addressed were: HIV/AIDS Basic Facts, Gender and HIV/AIDS, The Youth and HIV/AIDS, HIV/AIDS Prevention, Care and Support of Persons Living with HIV. The presenters; Mrs. Apollonia Obi, Sr. Chinyere Nwosu, Mr. Humphrey Ubani presented their papers to the comprehension of the participants.The participants, in response, asked the following questions: What good has retroviral drug done to the society since it doesn’t cure HIV? Is there any way to teach sex education without corrupting the children the more? Is there anything like protected and unprotected sex? Accurate answers were given to these questions. IFENDU TRAINS 280 YOUTHS ON SEXUALITY AND RELATIONSHIP In a one-day seminar organized by Ifendu for Women’s Development, 280 youths from Immaculate Heart Parish, Aji, Enugu Ezike, were sensitized on “The Youth, Sexuality Relationships”. The event which took place on Saturday 30th June, 2007 began with a holy mass by the Youth Chaplain, Rev. Fr. Greg Omeje. It was facilitated by Rev. Sr. Rose Uchem and her team: Mrs. Apollonia Obi, Miss Josephine Amalu and Mr Felix Offor. In his welcome remarks, Fr. Omeje expressed his deep appreciation of the positive response from the team and urged the youth to avail of the opportunity of the programme. Rev. Sr. Rose Uchem delivered the first pape, which among other things, highlighted the meaning of sex and sexuality, gender roles, and five aspects of human being, which are the social, physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual. All of these were explained to enable the participants to understand the nature and meaning of human sexuality as well as enable them discover the reason why they should delay sexual intercourse till marriage as a sure way to help reduce their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS and other STIs among the youths. The other resource persons, Mrs. Apollonia Obi and Miss Josephine Amalu presented their papers respectively. The participants were enjoined to say no to early marriage, mind their dressing mode, embark on total abstinence from premarital sex and disembark on the use of condom, which is the order of the day because condom can disappoint. Many questions were raised and addressed, such as: if their sexual organs would not regress if they didn’t use them. They were assured that nothing would harm their sexual organs if they didn’t exercise them wait to become married. On the contrary their health would be better assured. In the process, many of the sexual myths that held the youth captive were surfaced and dispelled. Early marriage was identified as the key problem among the youth of the area and was mainly caused by pressure from their parents. In the end, the participants expressed their deep gratitude for the seminar and strongly suggested that a seminar of this kind be organized for their parents. IFENDU FOR WOMEN’S DEVELOPMENT No. 1 Ihiala Avenue, City Layout, New Haven, P.O. Box 9677, Enugu, 400001, Nigeria. Tel: 080-3471-8951 E-mail: nkeonyereu4@hotmail.com