Manfoosa Ali
Kalat, a small city in Pakistan’s least developed province, Balochistan, has a unique cultural, social and religious history shaped strongly by tribalism. The gender inequalities that pose challenges to many Pakistani societies are of particular controversy. Restrictions on women’s power to make decisions creates an especially vulnerable rural territory, as not only are services limited to alleviate problems that do arise, women lack voice and education to demand such resources. This silencing has a serious impact on sexual, reproductive, and maternal health.
These tribal norms that dominate an already patriarchal culture are illustrated by limiting conversations about sexual reproductive health and issues in motherhood to the elderly and doctors. Unmarried people are prohibited to discuss sex and are subject to social demoralization if overheard talking about it. Girls and boys can’t even confront their parents about concerns of a sexual nature, and risk infection and disease as a consequence. This inability for youth to discuss sexual and reproductive health issues freely pose severe health threats, a concern that LDM Fellow Manfoosa Ali works to fight against every day.
Manfoosa describes her childhood as one of beauty and bravery. “King” of her home as the first born child, Manfoosa was loved and cherished by all, and often sought adventure and a life similar to the boys.
“I always played with their Cricket Ceram board and football and also wanted to be a doctor. I had a stethoscope, syringes and my notebook for writing prescriptions. I always filled my syringe with water and proudly injected my dolls and my friends’ dolls.”
Manfoosa’s parents urged her to complete her bachelor’s degree in Zoology, Botany, and Chemistry, but she was not ready to give up on her childhood dreams. After earning her bachelors’ degree, Manfoosa’s friends shared with her that The Safe Motherhood Project in Reproductive Health was in need of surveyors for three months. Cultural values at the time required that Manfoosa gain parental consent, and ready to take the next step in her career, she confronted her parents with the opportunity.
“My father rejected [the plan] and said ‘continue your education.’ My mother added, ‘if you complete your education [and] if this is your choice and this organization is safe, then ok, you can work and I will discuss with your father.’ She motivated him and he agreed but just for [a] short time.”
On her own volition, Manfoosa educated herself with different medical books, manuals and articles to satiate her appetite for learning the field, and became a favorite amongst her managers.
“During the Safe Motherhood research I personally saw how much people are vulnerable. Women, even [men], in many places have no power to discuss or make decisions about their personal life and problems. For example, many women die in labor because of not making timely decisions at the time of delivery.”
When the three months were complete and Manfoosa returned to school for her masters, she noticed her interest waning and jumped when the opportunity to join The Safe Motherhood Project came up again.
Manfoosa’s parents agreed to allow her to continue working, and she kept her word and completed both the project and her master’s degree. After graduation, Manfoosa worked in Peace and Human Rights, Democratic Governance, and different disaster related programs, never failing to commit the highest level of work and exercise power over the decision-making at official and personal levels.
Childhood dolls and play syringe cast aside, Manfoosa’s early passion developed as she experienced people suffering from the social and cultural restrictions that limited access to life- saving and life-changing sexual health information.
Exposed to local atrocities that occurred in her village, Manfoosa often heard heartbreaking stories of women suffering in the community. One story about the death of a woman and her baby who suffered from labor pains for five days before her family finally transported her to a hospital via donkey, illustrates the long-standing issues that enlightened Manfoosa to the realities she and her colleagues face every day.
“When I worked for them [the suffering women] I felt happiness from my heart because I think this is real work through [which] we can save women and their children. But, we can’t change behaviors of people in three or four years. We need to think about long term work and sustainability.”
Acquiring accurate sexual health information is essential for youth development in life skills, positive attitudes and social values. Manfoosa explains that with heightened sexuality and sexualization infiltrating popular culture, youth’s interest in sex and sexuality peak earlier and earlier. Further problems arise when these individuals’ curiosity is stunted from a lack of resources. Manfoosa decided to focus her attention to address the many reproductive health needs and issues effecting youth through use of an LDM mini grant.
“It was not easy for me to work in this conservative society with youth on sexual reproductive health. But I had a background of working with men, women and youth and having conducted individual and combined meetings with youth and their parents made it easier to interact with them.”
LDM Mini-grant Project
Manfoosa’s LDM mini grant project, Youth Development on Sexual and Reproductive Health, was a collaboration of her own organization and REHIYA project, AAHUNG, a Karachi-based NGO that also tackles sexual health needs. The project concentrated on developing the youth capacity in Quetta district of West Balochistan by strengthening the power of speaking and knowledge on the very sensitive, but real-life topic for the deprived youth communities. Implemented in seven union councils, the project focused on male and female youth groups and achieved several major objectives including:
- Creating an Advisory Group comprised of representatives of Balochistan and Karachi with experience in reproductive health to provide project management and training support.
- Conducting introductory meetings with youth from different union councils to explain the project concept, objectives and major activities and identify sexual and reproductive health issues for youth.
- Forming five youth groups that totaled 134 participants to attend sensitization meetings, sexual and reproductive health trainings, and implement follow-up activities such as meetings to share stories and experiences.
- Collecting data for a training manual and to create materials for participants.
The community’s response to Manfoosa’s outreach was significant. People seek knowledge and the chance to engage in safe, proactive conversations about their health, yet have only recently had the platform to do so. Manfoosa is a powerful advocate for gender equality and youth education. Her initiatives to create a friendly environment for individuals to learn are successful and her impact on the community translates to positive change. As an example of Manfoosa’s impact, upon evaluation, youth leaders decided to form a network to continue addressing health issues in their respective areas.
“Now youth can talk easily, they are solving each other’s issues and motivating other youth. Many times they call me and discuss their issues and also request that I please conduct these kinds of trainings for them again, and we do it for them.”