Widows' Tsunami Video Project

This project is part of PEKKA's efforts to help traumatised women find ways to overcome shyness and fear so that they can publicly speak up for themselves in an environment where women - particularly those who have lost their husbands due to conflict - can face constraints to participation. One strategy has been to train some of the women as photographers and videographers. These technologies are meant to be tools to enable widows to express themselves - to give voice to their lives, their struggles.

In the aftermath of the tsunami disaster, PEKKA carried out an assessment, using video as a tool to think about the emergency aid process. The widows themselves contributed to the production of the 14-minute video, which reflects on the tsunami disaster and its short- and long-term ramifications through images, commentary, and interviews (English subtitles are provided). The viewer hears eyewitnesses describe what was like to watch the waves rising, sees images of destroyed villages and homes, and listens to widows' experiences as they discuss the ways in which the natural disaster has exponentially challenged their efforts to overcome grief at the loss of their husbands, to support themselves financially, and to keep their children in school ("my child wants to go to school but has no clothes", says one woman interviewed here). While highlighting the trauma, fear, sorrow, and isolation that the disaster has created, the video also examines some efforts to rebuild. One organisation featured here is trying to help provide correct information in the tsunami's aftermath and is working to eradicate people's fear that the tsunami is God's punishment for their sins.

The video has been made available as a webcast to enable a broad audience to understand these widows' experiences. Entitled "Beudeoeh", the video may be viewed online by clicking here.

Emergency, Women.

Founded in 2001, PEKKA uses communication to address the needs of widows and women living in areas of conflict. The group, which as of May 2004 had approximately 6,000 members, helps women organise themselves to overcome their isolation, and provides them with job training and small-scale loans. PEKKA is the result of a collaboration between the government's Ministry of Home Affairs and a civil society group called the National Commission on Violence Against Women. It is part of Indonesia's Kecamatan Development Project, a World Bank-funded programme that allows communities to choose and help implement future development projects in their region.

According to the World Bank, widowed women living in war-torn regions rank among the economically poorest of Indonesia's 28 million people living in poverty. In a number of villages in Aceh, for example, 40% of the households living on less than US$1 a day are headed by a woman. "It is difficult for these women to access resources because our law clearly states that a man is the only head of the household", according to Nani Zulminarni, a community organiser who directs PEKKA.

Ms. Zulminarni claims that, having been trained to use cameras, "The women have become more confident, more empowered". Most of the widows live in remote areas where cameras are not common. With their skills and training with cameras and film developing, many of the women are being asked to take pictures for weddings and other important events in their villages; organisers say that village leaders have asked the widows to take pictures of village events to document their needs during meetings with district government. "Now my community has accepted me as a photographer and they have used my skills," said one PEKKA participant. "I know that I am good at this."

In April 2004, the World Bank hosted an exhibit in Washington, DC (USA) featuring photographs by 20 of PEKKA's widows. Nine of the widows traveled to Washington to attend the opening of the exhibit, which showcased women's work from 7 conflict areas (Aceh, West Kalimantan, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Maluku, Southeast Sulawesi, West and Central Java, and Nusa Tenggara Barat).