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Aisyiyah continues empowering women 100 years on
Courtesy of AisyiyahLong journeys always start with small steps
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Courtesy of Aisyiyah
Long journeys always start with small steps. This old saying may best describe Aisyiyah, the women's wing of the country's second-largest Muslim organization Muhammadiyah, which is entering its second century of existence.
Starting with only a small group of educated girls in their teenage years and older women in Kauman, Yogyakarta, gathering to learn about Islam, Aisyiyah has grown into one of Indonesia's most influential women's organizations.
Under the supervision of Muhammadiyah's founder KH Achmad Dahlan (or Kyai Dahlan) and his wife Siti Walidah (or Nyai Dahlan), the small group that they helped start in 1914 was then established into Aisyiyah on May 19, 1917, or Rajab 27, 1335 according to the Islamic calendar.
This year is the year 1436 according to the Islamic calendar.
'That is why we consider this year's congress our centennial congress,' said Aisyiyah chairwoman Siti Noordjannah Djohantini, referring to the organization's quinqennial congress held in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Aug. 3-7.
According to Noordjannah, Aisyiyah was established by figures whose visions were ahead of their time in understanding Islam and implementing those visions in life.
These, she said, included how to develop women at a time when women were confined by culture, power and narrow understanding of religion. A century ago, she said, women were in a shackled position. They had no access to education. Their social life was stymied.
'But Kyai and Nyai had already seen that women had to be part of the struggle to make Islam rahmatan lil 'alamin [a blessing for the entire universe], meaning that it is capable of answering anyone at any time,' Noordjannah said.
A century ago, she said, both figures already saw women as having the same potential and rights to do something for their environment and community, and not just for their own respective families.
For this purpose they started by taking five female teenagers as their pupils and sent some of them to a Dutch school to enjoy a modern, Western-style education.
'From this I learned that Kyai and Nyai prepared these women to be sent into the community, to be the pioneers of the women's movement, Aisyiyah,' she said, adding that these teenagers were among the first nine executives of the organization following its establishment in 1917.
From the beginning, according to Noordjannah, it was apparent that Aisyiyah was designed as a modern and developed organization of Muslim women capable of facing challenges that the community, the people and the nation were facing.
The involvement of Aisyiyah's activists and executives in Indonesia's struggle for independence ' as among other things shown by their active participation in the first congress of Indonesian women (now KOWANI) held in Yogyakarta in 1928 ' proved this.
Now as it is entering its second century Aisyiyah has not just been engrossed in institutionalized and systematic activities but also in other activities aimed at empowering the community, especially among women at the grassroots level of society.
For institutionalized activities in the education sector, Aisyiyah runs over 19,000 early education institutions including kindergartens and pre-schools. This is quite apart from the hundreds of elementary schools, high schools, vocational schools and colleges the organization manages.
In the field of health services Aisyiyah has nearly 200 hospitals, clinics and health centers out of a total of over 500 hospitals that Muhammadiyah and Aisyiyah manage.
In the field of social welfare Aisyiyah manages over 200 orphanages and takes care of thousands of foster children. In the field of the economy, similarly, it oversees some 400 cooperatives and pre-cooperatives to provide micro finance to micro businesses.
For non-institutionalized activities, the organization runs the Aisyiyah Family Economy Business Development program (BUEKA), aimed at fostering family economic activities conducted by empowering housewives to generate income to help support their respective families.
Housewives are grouped into BUEKA groups comprising 10 to 15 members to conduct income-generating activities. That way they can help their families earn more without them ignoring their household routines while doing so.
'So far we have over 5,000 groups nationwide,' Noordjannah said.
Within the program, she added, Aisyiyah had BUEKA groups which produced soap products that were internally marketed among members through preaching or other activities.
In Sidoarjo, East Java, a wholesale group has even been established and tasked with collecting the products of BUEKA groups to be further marketed nationwide.
Other programs considered a success include the Aisyiyah Sakinah Center (BSA), which is the practical model of Qoryah Toyyibah, a program that the organization launched earlier together with the Sakinah Family program.
Sakinah in Arabic literally means peaceful, qoryah means village while toyyibah means good.
'The main objective of the BSA is empowering the community in various fields.'
The center, she said, was the place where women gathered to talk about problems they faced in various aspects of life including health, the economy, people's awareness of law, civics education, the making of village regulations and involvement in village development planning consultative forums (Musrenbangdes).
They also discuss how to access development and at the same time safeguard the course of development.
'For the last five years we have been particularly targeting economically poor families by using an approach that does not just include economic aspects,' Noordjannah said.
This, she said, included mediating with the government on behalf of those whose rights were ignored by the state to help them get what should be theirs by right.
For elderly people, Aisyiyah has the so-called Lansia Setaman (healthy, peaceful, comfortable elderly people), which helps people to live a quality life in their old age, to live active and happy lives. They are also involved in various activities such as cooking or handicraft classes.
'If in the past elderly people mostly were seen as a burden, presently they are not treated as such,' Noordjannah said.
Through Lansia Setaman, she added, Aisyiyah wanted to educate families that showing respect to elderly people could be done by helping those people make use of their potential, to enable them to live a better life, a quality life.
'It's by doing such things that we help them feel valued and needed,' she said.
In Dukun district, Magelang regency, Central Java, for example, elderly housewives have been involved in an organic farming pilot project where they are encouraged to make use of their wasteland to grow vegetables, both for their own consumption and for generating additional income.
In other regions, elderly women were gathered to have their health examined periodically for free by professional paramedics.
'I like to have my blood pressure checked here and get the medicine I need,' Siti, 58, of Nogotirto, Sleman, Yogyakarta, said referring to the Lansia Setaman program conducted by the local branch of Aisyiyah every 35 days.
Appreciation was also expressed by Culture and Elementary and Secondary Education Minister Anies Baswedan on Tuesday to delegates at Aisyiyah's centennial congress in Makassar.
'Being a century old is an important milestone for Aisyiyah, as there are not many organizations whose ages are older than our independence,' said Anies as quoted in a release made available to The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
Appreciation was especially expressed of the vast network that Aisyiyah has in the field of education.
'Aisyiyah's network is everywhere. Therefore, let the government join the network,' said Anies, adding that education must be seen as a movement and not just a program conducted by the government.
