Mr. Aea is 24 years old; he is very energetic and a hard worker, he is married and has a child. He is a famer living in Sean In village, Mai district, Phongsaly province. This is one of the villages that CARE focuses on. Mr. Aea said before CARE, there was no livestock available. It was difficult for his family because he was only farming and finding some food from the forest to sell. In 2012 CARE conducted a survey on how people lived in the village, afterwards CARE supplied livestock to the villagers and taught them where the market was and how to sell their products there. Mr. Aea followed every step that CARE suggested, now he knows how to manage his livestock, his family income increases every year and his sister is able to go to school.
In 2017, there was a Strengthening Civil Society Engagement Against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Project that published knowledge about Violence against Women and Children. This project was implemented in Mr. Aea’s village and he was one of the first to sign up to take part in all 6 sessions.When the project started the activities the group talked about the violence that happened in their community. We noted Mr. Aea was interested in all of the lessons. He was active and had many opinions taking part in all of the activities, especially during Unit 6. He critically reflected on past and present generations noting that due to their belief system, there was and continues to be, violence against women and children today. He used to think violence was common in the family, and though he has never abused his own family members, he has accept other families lifestyle. There were time when he would like to help them, but he did not know where to start.
While attending the 6th session, Mr. Aea learned that certain forms of violence is illegal. During the group discussions, he said that people should be using what they learned in the sessions at home. Some families disagreed, but after learning about gender equality Mr. Ae realized that they all needed to change their beliefs. ” There is a new generation, including our children, ready to learn what we’ve learned. So we. So we must share with them the information to develop a peaceful village.”
When the GBV project was completed, we noticed people changing. There was now less domestic violence, and familiy members like Mr. Aea were sharing before gendered workloads. In addition, he had talked to his family about how violence against women and children is illegal. He was becoming well-known for sharing the work within the family, and he noticed many people were also changing.
He will Continue to use what he’s learned from the lessons with his family and the future and teach the new generations. ”The lessons related to our family and the community that we learned from this project are all very important. All of the knowledge we have learned are true, if we can apply it with in the household, it will improve families, and stop violence within our community.
