A woman from Zambia explains, "Without a cultural foundation, it is hard to know who I am. My culture is an integral part of my identity. But our culture has been oppressive to women, and both men and women are implicated."

"My culture is an integral part of my identity. But our culture has been oppressive to women, and both men and women are implicated." --Zambian woman

What we experienced in all three countries is that much of cultural tradition is life-giving, sacred, and good. However, in all cultures there are oppressive elements which find expression in, and are perpetuated by, the socialization process.

In all three countries, both women and men identified culture as a significant factor in the subordination of women. Men and women are conditioned from birth to believe that women are inferior to men. The subordination of women is expressed in many ways including a high level of violence against women and girls, very low levels of self-esteem among women and girls, and less access by women and girls to resources and benefits (basic necessities such as food and clothing, education, land, money, skills, income-earning opportunities, health care, power, government representation, leadership, and life itself in some cases).

Although both men and women identified culture as a key factor in the subordination of women, it was during our meetings with women that this was most clearly articulated and expanded upon, which is an important lesson. Women are more likely to speak honestly and openly about their situation and position in society if men are not present. An obvious difficulty lies in finding ways to communicate these hard truths to men. More difficult yet is convincing men to participate in confronting the destructive aspects of cultural tradition and to refrain from using culture selectively to justify discrimination against women.

Culture is of fundamental importance to the identity of a person and of a community. Therefore, changes in cultural tradition, especially changes that challenge privileged positions in society, can be very threatening. And it is simply not in the interests of most men to change the status quo: "men are beneficiaries of the system" (Zambia: Suzanne Matale at CCZ). As one young man put it in Zambia, "It is a lot easier to sit back and let your wife do all the work and serve you. And the culture sanctions this" (community development worker). For women the cost of changing the reality is great; as the more powerless they are very vulnerable in trying to do this (Zambia: CCZ).

But it is happening. As one poor, rural woman in Zambia ventured to say, "I see God's hand in the positive changes that are taking place in our culture" (Sikalongo). This is a critical point. What we heard in the board rooms and under the trees is that culture is not static, but changing all the time. And Indians, Zambians, and El Salvadorans are the main participants in this process--searching, pushing, resisting, analyzing, dialoguing, acting.

To cite one example among many, the war in El Salvador provided fertile soil for changes to occur in the roles women have traditionally played in El Salvadoran society. During the war fewer men were available to provide leadership because many were killed, left the country, or were unwilling to assume leadership positions because of the risk of assassination. This created the space for women to assume these roles.

Also, men were expected to assume more responsibility for cooking and cleaning for themselves, which freed women to become more involved with men in health work, church work, and other community-based activities. One woman in El Salvador was careful to point out that this increased participation by men in domestic tasks was more the result of orders from supervisors than any increased gender awareness (Carmen Elena Hernandez). In the refugee camps, women had access to training workshops which incorporated political and economic analysis and emphasized skills development and leadership training. And as there were fewer men to assume leadership positions in the camps as well, it was women who stepped in to fill the void.

Since the war, there has been a tendency to revert back to traditional roles for women and men, and a number of persons we talked with, especially women, feel discouraged about this. However, many feel that the changes in women's power and status in society during the war have had some lasting effect and continue to influence the present reality. Women's expectations of what they can and cannot do are different, and more women are involved in leadership and non-traditional roles than before the war started.

Another lasting effect of the war is that the exposure to political and economic analysis during the war has made gender analysis in the post-war era easier to grasp and incorporate. Gender analysis was not done during the war for fear that it might have a divisive effect. However, because class analysis was done, people are accustomed to looking at all of their lives through an economic lens. This makes it easier to look at their lives through another lens of gender. The difficulty lies in overcoming resistance that arises because gender analysis forces people to look at their understanding of themselves as well as their most intimate relationships. We heard many people say that tackling this resistance and confronting inequitable relations between men and women must be an integral part of their continuing liberation struggle (Professors at SEBLA Seminary).

Thus in El Salvador as well as in Zambia and India, we heard some people express the cautious opinion that the disadvantaged position of women is being acknowledged at different levels, from the community level to the government level, that women's contributions are starting to be recognized, that women's roles are expanding, and that their position in society may be slowly improving. There was also a distinct sense of discouragement and frustration among others. In El Salvador, a female professor at a Baptist seminary said, "The more you insist the reality has changed and improved, the more barriers you create for change and improvement." We heard that this transformative process is anything but quick, straightforward, or easy.

What is our role as MCC workers? MCC is involved in efforts to address economic and social injustice in many parts of the world and while we are sensitive to the issues that arise when we as MCC workers are "outsiders," this has not deterred us from getting involved. Arguably any involvement has an impact on the local setting and culture. However, in the area of gender, a cross-cutting issue and not a separate, isolated dynamic, MCC is extremely sensitive to the issues that arise as a result of being outsiders.

As descendants of colonizers and missionaries and as representatives of our own gender insensitive cultures, expatriate service workers are often perceived to be implicated in the undermining of cultural tradition and the subordination of women. We felt this most keenly in Zambia. We heard many times, mostly from men, that colonialists and missionaries introduced and modeled a hierarchical system of social relations that undermined women's position and role in society. The church was implicated too, by linking the suppression of women to the missionaries' interpretation of the Bible. Some said these foreign influences took away the esteemed position of women that previously existed. Others said that the model of gender relations that the colonials and missionaries brought mingled with local notions of gender relations to result in a very entrenched subordinate position for women.

This history, and the tendency for representatives of the West to impose ideas and solutions, have resulted in a heightened sensitivity to any perceived interference from the West, especially in relation to culture. We heard this most strongly in Zambia, though it is also an issue in the other two countries. In an effort not to repeat or be seen to repeat the mistakes of the past, we as MCC workers have been very careful to show that we are respectful of cultural traditions. While, obviously, this has been mostly positive, the danger is that we remain silent, passive, resigned when aspects of these cultural traditions violate the rights of either men or women.

Two Indian women explained that as a result of these strong negative feelings about the West, efforts by expatriates can provide the opportunity for those in the country who oppose this kind of work to criticize indigenous efforts to address the balance of power between men and women as being an attempt to import Western concepts. In this way our presence may actually have a disempowering effect for advocates for greater gender justice. We also heard the opposite, though: the influence of the West in putting gender on the development agenda (and other agendas as well) has helped bring visibility and credibility to the work of indigenous organizations and individuals in this area.

Finally, gender analysis affects the most intimate of relationships--our own and those of the people we are working with. Meddling in the private domain has been considered taboo. As we seek to learn more about the relationships between men and women in other contexts, it may cause us to reflect on our own relationships and that can be very threatening.

So what can be our role? According to the people we talked to, we must be sensitive to the culture within which we are living and working and recognize that there are significant cultural differences between communities (for example, Zambia has 73 ethnic groups). Therefore, we must see each setting as unique, with its own distinctive pattern of gender relations. We cannot impose our assumptions, either that change is needed or desired or, just as importantly, is not needed or desired. Only the members of that community, and the different groups within it, can decide which initiatives and strategies are appropriate for their situation.

Our role is to work in relationship with women and men in the communities in which we live and work, and also with local organizations, to recognize our own sexism and other biases and to test all of the assumptions we bring to the local context. We must learn as much as we can about the local context and its gender dynamics by asking many questions and soliciting the opinions of men and women. This will include working to examine our sources of information, cross-check the information we receive, and seek out different perspectives by expanding our range of contacts and relationships, and to sharpen our listening skills so that we are truly hearing the voices of the needy and oppressed who often suffer within a culture of silence.

We must also learn about the work being done in the country to address the situation and position of women and to bring justice to the relationships between men and women. To assume that the gender agenda is a Western agenda only or primarily, and to not recognize the work indigenous organizations have been doing for a long time to challenge cultural practices that violate and oppress women or men, is insulting and disrespectful. MCC programs working sensitively can help create the capacity and the space for men and women advocating for and working at change.

This underscores the need for organizations like MCC to work in discerning relationship with local partners and individuals who are already working at bringing greater justice to the relationships between men and women. They can advise how we, as MCC, can sensitively incorporate an awareness of gender issues and dynamics in our programs and presence. And by example they can teach us how, in the context of trusting relationships, to expose men and women to new ideas and awareness without imposing them, and to ask challenging questions that nudge and broaden thinking and approach.