http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/01/20/magazine/20080120_CIRCUMCISION_SLIDESHOW_index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germaine_Greer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_de_Beauvoir

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/08/18/IN237263.DTL

I got a hypertension attack last week and I lost three days of my life (I think).

We came home on the night of Tuesday, to find that our water service was cut off.

It was well past 12pm, and I've been working late nights for many weeks (since April 7), with an occasional all-nighter dropped in (don't ask why), so there was nothing I could do until the morning.

I was mad --fuming mad -- because in the poor community (the infamous Nagpayong, Pasig) where my daughter and I live, several households tap from our water and electric service.

Mukha kasi kaming Instik (Filipino Chinese), and just because I'm the only one around with a regular paycheck, kami ang pinupuntahan, kahit di naman kami mayaman.

The last bill I paid for water was P1,500.--and we're only two, how many cubic liters does it take to bath twice a day? I'm short, by the way, so that really means less water consumption. And our lifestyle is to be always out! 9am-12 midnight, we're out. Often, we have our clothes laundered, because I have to work one extra day during weekdays to complete my work tasks.

But for many months I just agreed anyway to pay for everyone, because my neighbors are tricycle drivers and vendors, and my heart went out to them, struggling through their harsh lives.

Pero too much naman that even when I pay-- they hadn't been paying it to Manila Water pala for the past three months!

Now I had to pay surcharges + reconnection fee + the inconvenience of not having water! The total bill came to P3,700.

I've been so mad and there's no way to express it (apart from my matrona-like pagbubunganga), the blood pressure (I think) shot up and would not come down.

Up to Friday morning, we did not have water. And though I paid, the landlord did not take care of it immediately. We had to move around in different friends houses for three days-- and you can imagine how tough that is with a kid involved. And in between the constant headache...

I think I will finally, finally give up in my social experiment to live among the poor. I suppose I will still feel for them, advocate for them, but I can't allow myself to be victimized anymore!

..........................
We have our water back, but I'm so mad, mad, mad. I guess only ex-activists will understand the level of betrayal I feel.

..........................
It's called Horizontal Violence.

Horizontal violence is non physical inter group conflict and is manifested in overt and covert behaviors of hostility (Freire 1972; Duffy 1995). It is behavior associated with oppressed groups and can occur in any arena where there are unequal power relations, and one group's self expression and autonomy is controlled by forces with greater prestige, power and status than themselves (Harcombe 1999).

... such as the urban poor community I live in...

It may be conscious or unconscious behaviour (Taylor 1996). It is, generally, psychologically, emotionally and spiritually damaging behaviour and can have devastating long term effects on the recipients (Wilkie 1996). It may be overt or covert. It is generally non physical, but may involve shoving, hitting or throwing objects. It is one arm of the submissive/aggressive syndrome that results from an internalized self-hatred and low self esteem as a result of being part of an oppressed group (Glass 1997; Roberts 1996; MCCall 1995).

It is the inappropriate way oppressed people release built up tension when they are unable to address and solve issues with the oppressor.

(And it also happens in the workplace...)

In the majority of western cultures, a dominator model (Eisler 1993) of social organization enables workplace hierarchy to limit autonomy and practice of various groups of workers and therefore acts as an oppressive force.

Workers are socialized into the oppressive structures and unequal power relations of the workplace system. Some groups of people within each particular workplace unconsciously adopt inflated feelings and attitudes of superiority.

(Sound familiar also where I work)

Some groups adopt unconsciously submissive attitudes, learned helplessness, within the workplace. The internal conflict, generated by conforming to structural pressures and, in some, subduing the desire for autonomy, whilst over inflating it in other groups, compounds the self-hatred and low self esteem of certain groups of people and perpetuates the cycle of horizontal violence (Taylor 1996).

Horizontal Violence is a symptom of the dynamics around oppression and a sense of powerlessness. It is to the workplace culture like water is to fish. It molds, shapes and dictates the behavior of those within the workplace culture. It is a form of bullying and acts to socialize those who are different into the status quo.

(All artists are different)

Horizontal violence in the workplace is the result of history and politics in western society and the ideology and practices associated with the socialisation and stereotyping of males and females in western culture. Horizontal violence is a systems and cultural issue, a symptom of an emotionally, spiritually and psychologically toxic and oppressive environment. Horizontal violence is not a symptom of individual pathology, although individual pathology flourishes in a climate that supports and condones aggressive behavior.

Horizontal violence includes:

All acts of unkindness, discourtesy, sabotage, divisiveness, infighting, lack of cohesiveness, scapegoating and criticism

For example:

• Belittling gestures e.g. deliberate rolling of eyes, folding arms, staring into space when communication being attempted - Body language designed to discomfort the other
• Verbal abuse including name calling, threatening, intimidating, dismissing, belittling, undermining, humorous 'put downs'
• Gossiping (destructive, negative, nasty talk), talking behind the back, backbiting
• Sarcastic comments
• Fault finding (nitpicking) - different to those situations where professional and clinical development is required.
• Ignoring or minimizing another's concerns
• Slurs and jokes based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender or sexual orientation
• Sending to 'Coventry', 'freezing out' excluding from activities and conversation, work related and social.
• Comments that devalue:
  • people's area of practice;
  • women;
  • others that are different to the 'norm'.
• Disinterest, discouragement and withholding support
• Limiting right to free speech and right to have an opinion
• Behaviours which seek to control or dominate (power 'over' rather than power 'with')
• Elitist attitudes regarding work area, education, experience etc "better than" attitude
• Punishing activities by management e.g. Repeatedly sending someone out of area; bad rosters; chronic under staffing; lack of concern with mental, emotional, spiritual and physical health of employees
• Lack of participation in professional organisations (a subtle form of self-hatred) however, busy family lives can preclude participating in professional organizations.

1 out of every 6 American women have been the victims of an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime (14.8% completed rape; 2.8% attempted rape).

17.7 million American women have been victims of attempted or completed rape.

9 of every 10 rape victims were female in 2003.

• 29% are age 12-17.
• 44% are under age 18.
• 80% are under age 30.
• 12-34 are the highest risk years.
• Girls ages 16-19 are 4 times more likely than the general population to be victims of rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault.

Victims of sexual assault are:

3 times more likely to suffer from depression.
6 times more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
13 times more likely to abuse alcohol.
26 times more likely to abuse drugs.
4 times more likely to contemplate suicide.

The Rapist isn't a Masked Stranger

Almost 2/3 of rapes were committed by someone known to the victim.
73% of sexual assaults were perpetrated by a non-stranger.
38% of rapists are a friend or acquaintance.
28% are an intimate.
7% are a relative.

He's not Hiding in the Bushes

More than 50% of all rape/sexual assault incidents were reported by victims to have occured within 1 mile of their home or at their home.

• 4 in 10 take place at the victim's home.
• 2 in 10 take place at the home of a friend, neighbor, or relative.
• 1 in 12 take place in a parking garage.

43% of rapes occur between 6:00pm and midnight.

• 24% occur between midnight and 6:00am.
• The other 33% take place between 6:00am and 6:00pm.

The Criminal

• The average age of a rapist is 31 years old.
• 52% are white.
• 22% of imprisoned rapists report that they are married.
• Juveniles accounted for 16% of forcible rape arrestees in 1995 and 17% of those arrested for other sex offenses.
• In 1 in 3 sexual assaults, the perpetrator was intoxicated — 30% with alcohol, 4% with drugs.
• In 2001, 11% of rapes involved the use of a weapon — 3% used a gun, 6% used a knife, and 2 % used another form of weapon.
• 84% of victims reported the use of physical force only.

What Can Men Do?

While individuals of both genders are perpetrators of sexual assault, the majority of those who commit sexual assaults are men. Even so, it is important to remember that the vast majority of men are not rapists.

There are many things men (and women) can do to help prevent sexual violence.

If you see someone in danger of being assaulted:

• Step in and offer assistance. Ask if the person needs help. NOTE: Before stepping in, make sure to evaluate the risk. If it means putting yourself in danger, call 911 instead.
• Don’t leave. If you remain at the scene and are a witness, the perpetrator is less likely to do anything.
• If you know the perpetrator, tell him or her that you do not approve of what s/he is doing. Ask him or her to leave the potential victim alone.

Be an ally:

• When you go to a party, go with a group of friends. Arrive together, check in with each other frequently and leave together.
• Have a buddy system. Don’t be afraid to let a friend know if you are worried about her/his safety.
• If you see someone who is intoxicated, offer to call him or her a cab.

If someone you know has been assaulted:

Changing the culture:

There are certain things in our culture that make sexual assault more possible. By speaking out and educating ourselves and others, we can help to decrease the number of sexual assaults.

It's still Women's Month, as far as I'm concerned...

...............................

Here's an interview of Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard by Ruby Washington/The New York Times; published: July 4, 2006.

If a list were made of the great biologists of the past 100 years, Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard would certainly be on it.

caption: Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard in the Hall of Biodiversity at the Museum of Natural History.  Photo copyright of the New York Times.

The best thing about this, is that, while it's not original, l received it on the mail from my aunt...ibig sabihin, I'm a phenomenal woman in her eyes. Hehehe.

So here -- something light naman:

..............................................................................

WHY I LOVE MOM

Mom and Dad were watching TV when Mom said, "I'm tired, and it's getting late. I think I'll go to bed"
 
She went to the kitchen to make sandwiches for the next day's lunches.
Rinsed out the popcorn bowls, took meat out of the freezer for supper the following evening, checked the cereal box levels, filled the sugar container, put spoons and bowls on the table and started the coffee pot for brewing the next morning.

She then put some wet clothes in the dryer, put a load of clothes into the washer, ironed a shirt and secured a loose button

She picked up the game pieces left on the table, put the phone back on the charger and put the telephone book into the drawer.

She watered the plants, emptied a wastebasket and hung up a towel to dry.
 
She yawned and stretched and headed for the bedroom. She stopped by the desk and wrote a note to the teacher, counted out some cash for the field trip, and pulled a text book out from hiding under the chair.
 
She signed a birthday card for a friend, addressed and stamped the envelope and wrote a quick note for the grocery store. She put both near her purse.
 
Mom then washed her face with 3 in 1 cleanser, put on her Night solution & age fighting moisturizer, brushed and flossed her teeth and filed her nails.
 
Dad called out, "I thought you were going to bed."
 
"I'm on my way," she said.
 
She put some water into the dog's dish and put the cat outside, then made sure the doors were locked and the patio light was on.
 
She looked in on each of the kids and turned out their bedside lamps and TV's, hung up a shirt, threw some dirty socks into the hamper, and had a brief conversation with the one up still doing homework.

In her own room, she set the alarm; laid out clothing for the next day, straightened up the shoe rack. She added three things to her 6 most important things to do list She said her prayers, and visualized the accomplishment of her goals.
 
About that time, Dad turned off the TV and announced to no one in particular. "I'm going to bed."
 
And he did...without another thought.
 
Anything extraordinary here? Wonder why women live longer...?
 
CAUSE WE ARE MADE FOR THE LONG HAUL..... (and we can't die sooner, we still have things to do!!!!)
 
Send this to five phenomenal women today...they'll love you for it! I just did.
 
THEN, GO TO BED!

By Vinia Datinguinoo
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
July 1998

Photo by Luis Liwanag

http://luisliwanag.multiply.com/photos/album/53/Happy_land_Ulingan#4

Bonglo, Bordon, Cebu—JOSEFINA Flores is only 40 years old, but she looks at least a decade older. Thin and gaunt, the mother of six seems in no condition to do even the least of her daily chores at her farm here in this mountain barangay, about 80 kilometers from Cebu City.

But she does them all, and beginning at the crack of dawn until late evening, Josefina is in constant motion. She starts the day with a two-kilometer trek to fetch water, and continues on to cooking meals, gathering and selling firewood, making charcoal, cleaning the house, looking after the children and her husband, and seeing to it that everyone in the family has something to eat.

Of all her chores, it is the last that Josefina is finding hardest to do these days. Hunger is a familiar feeling in Bongdo-a community of nearly 400 families-as it is in many other poor farming communities elsewhere. But in this prolonged season of El Niño, the situation has gone from bad to worse, and there has been even less food here to go around. And the mothers, as usual, are having it toughest.

"Life has been hard," says Josefina in Cebuano. "But there must be something that my husband and children could eat. If there's any left, then that's what I eat."
Every year, the National Nutrition Council declares July as 'Nutrition Month' in the hope that some attention, however short-term, would be given to the kind of diet Filipinos should have. But the annual event seems to have become a mockery in places like Bongdo, where there is almost no food to be had, and where the women are especially unlikely to ever be in good health because of malnutrition, if not sheer hunger.

To be sure, health workers would be hard pressed in finding any Bongdo resident-male or female-in sound health today. After all, Bongdo is among the areas that have been declared to be in a state of calamity by the Cebu Sangguniang Panglungsod because of the drought, and people here now count themselves lucky if they had at least corn lugaw to eat.

But it is the mothers who have it worst, because, say nutrition experts, "culture" dictates that they eat last-and often risk eating nothing at all.

This is a practice not unique to Bongdo. "Kung isda ang ulam, yung pinaghimayan niyan na halos tinik na lang, yun ang sa nanay (If the viand is fish, then the mother usually gets to eat whatever is left clinging on the bones)," says nutrition anthropologist Catherine Castañeda, who did a 1994 study on how food is distributed in Filipino dining tables.
The explanation goes something like this: The father should have something, because he's the "breadwinner." And the children should have something, too, because they are children. As for the mother, Castañeda notes: "She's the one that is expected to make the sacrifice."

But such a sacrifice exacts a heavy toll on the women's health, making them weaker in the long term.

Women menstruate, get pregnant, lactate, and give birth-activities that take so much out of them that there is need for the women to slow down, space births and eat well in order to regain their lost energy. But before they can even recover from giving birth, women in poor communities often get pregnant all too soon. There is also no slowing down because there is simply too much they have to do. And eating well is out of the question for most of these women.

The result is that anemia, for example, remains a very pronounced health problem among women. The 1993 National Nutrition Survey found that 43 percent of pregnant Filipino women were anemic. This is higher than the 40 percent cut-off set by the World Health Organization for mild and moderate anemia in that population group.
Other nutrient shortfalls among women are being found survey after survey, among them deficiencies in iodine, protein-energy, vitamin A, thiamin, and riboflavin. Goiter, which manifests iodine deficiency, is most prevalent among women than in men, in all age groups.

Experts have said malnutrition makes women susceptible to disease, exacerbates fatigue, and reduces their capacity in the workplace and at home. It is also particularly dangerous for pregnant women.

The irony is that these same women are made almost solely responsible for the health and nutrition of the rest of the family. Says Castañeda, who is with the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI), which monitors malnutrition in the country: "When you talk of a nutrition program the priority is always the mother and the child. And when you talk of the mother, you talk of the needs of the mother and how they relate to the nutrition of the family." Always, she says, the state of nutrition of children is dependent on the mothers.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has also said that women are key to guarding children's nutrition, and that ill health in women often translates to not being able to take care of the children properly.

There is even a term nutrition experts use: "maternal time allocation," which measures the time a mother spends on her duties that include work, child care and child feeding. As for the fathers, Castañeda says, "walang pakialam iyan (they couldn't care less)."
She does say, though, that fathers are now attending government-sponsored "mother's classes," where they are lectured on their role in caring for their children. That's why, she says, there are now fathers sharing the burden of monitoring the children's nutrition and general well being, though still "the exception more than the rule."

Such lectures may also be lacking in listeners today in places like this farmingcommunity, where people would much rather spend their time looking for food than discussing balanced diets. What had been a three-month dry season has stretched drastically to the current nine-and still counting-and people can now see clear across fields where rows and rows of corn stalks had once obstructed their view.

"Dakong kausaban (There's a very big difference)," says Pelagia Olivares, 45, when asked if life has been the same after El Niño. And she does not just speak of the springs drying up, making them hike longer trails to find other sources of water.

Before El Niño struck, her family could afford a ganta of corn for every meal, says Minda Arnado of Bili, also here in Borbon. But these days, they are down to five gantas per week. "Wala na mamunga," she says, "walay lubi, kamote, saging."

The lowly corn lugaw has become the staple for families here. On very bad days, they make do with malunggay, boiled in water with salt. On worse days, there is only salt. Mothers have also taken to making coffee out of corn grits to replace milk for the infants.

"It's pitiful if it goes on," comments Castañeda. "Making infants take coffee made of corn grits could be tantamount to neglect." She also says a prolonged lugaw diet can have disastrous results, quipping, "Kung puro lugaw ang kinakain, magiging utak-lugaw yan (If all they have is porridge, they'll have porridge for brains)."

White corn, which Bongdo residents use for their lugaw, is an energy-giving food. It does not contain vitamin A, which the yellow corn variety has, but it does have carbohydrates. A balanced, proper diet, however, requires much more than carbohydrates almost every meal. Other nutrients are needed to keep the body functioning normally. (The FNRI has drawn up the recommended dietary allowances for these nutrients; the RDA is different for different age groups.)

Especially for growing children under seven and pregnant and lactating women, the effects of inadequate diet could be long-term and irreversible. Malnourished pregnant women give birth to underweight infants. Iodine-deficient mothers, in particular, suffer frequent miscarriages, still births and early infant deaths. For their babies who do survive, the chances are high that they will be born deformed, mentally retarded or even complete cretins.

Read the second part at:
http://www.pcij.org/stories/1998/women2.html

A friend sent this through the mail:

Hello, I thought you should know about this:

Burma is ruled by one of the most brutal military dictatorships in the world. For decades the Burmese regime has fought off pressure--imprisoning elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and democracy activists, wiping out thousands of villages, imposing forced labour, creating refugees-

But last Tuesday Buddhist monks and nuns, revered in Burma, began marching and chanting prayers. The protests spread as hundreds of thousands of ordinary people and public figures joined in, finding the hope they’d lost. Now they’re facing crackdown – so please, show your solidarity to this movement towards reconciliation and democracy and sign the emergency petition supporting the Burmese people -- it'll be delivered to United Nations Security Council members and international media all week:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/tf.php?CLICK_TF_TRACK

In the past, Burma's military rulers have massacred the demonstrators and crushed democracy. The world must stand with the Burmese people at this time, to show the military rulers that the world will not tolerate repression and violence.

Right now, global leaders are gathering in New York for the annual United Nations summit. In speeches, press interviews but also in real actions, we need them to show Burma's military junta that the global community is willing to act in solidarity with the protesters.

Show your solidarity to this movement for peace and democracy and sign the emergency petition supporting the Burmese people. It'll be delivered to UN Security Council members and the UN press corps all week:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/tf.php?CLICK_TF_TRACK

Thank you for your help!

This photo was taken this date in Burma, a year ago, by Eric Sales, ADB photographer, Baguio Boy and friend of the Cordilleras. (visit his blog from my contacts sections)

Top photo from The Guardian

Philippine Science High

Thou stands above with thy thoughts that lift

And fit all thy sons with wings

To lend us flight in the sowing of our gifts

O, Philippine Science High

Thy wisdom arms our youth

As we reach for our dreams, as we strive for our goals,

As we search for the untarnished truth.

Philippines Science High

The PSHS in us will grow

And go as we wander o'er

The crests and troughs of the sea of life that flows

O, Philippine Science High

Thy light our beacon be,

As we reach for our dreams, as we strive for our goals

In pursuit of the glorious thee.