Buhata Pinay, Do It, Filipina!
Written By: Phyllis Marsh
Published: Saturday, January 14, 2012
Buhata Pinay, Inc., (Do It, Filipina!) grew out of a shared vision developed independently by women on opposite sides of the world. Rev. Rebecca Sienes, President of the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Philippines (UUCP), wanted to find a way to empower women in her country—to change the perspective on women’s role in society, to find ways for women to earn a living, to provide education, and improve health. In Maryland members of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis (UUCA) began a Women’s Rights Worldwide initiative to seek ways to empower women in the same areas. Their UU faith brought them together in 2006.
When Rev. Sienes was asked what women in the Philippines ranked highest in priorities, she responded that she had never asked them that question. Out of that grew a project called Community Organizing & Identification of Needs (COIN) funded by the Endowment Fund of UUCA. Rebecca and three other UUCP members went to 12 communities and led a community discussion to identify the needs considered most important to the women. Livelihood was at or near the top in many of the communities.
When women in the communities who were not UUs asked if they could be part of the program, Rebecca responded that our UU principals teach us about the inherent worth and dignity of all individuals and all women should be included in the project.
Following the COIN study, five members of UUCA traveled to Negros and visited with women in five UU congregations to hear their concerns. During three days of meetings at Bethel Guest House in Dumaguete a decision was made to formally establish Buhata Pinay as a Philippine NGO. Funding to do this was provided by a grant of approximately $5,000 from UUCA’s Endowment Fund and $5,800 from the UU Women’s Federation. These grants covered such things as registering with the Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission in order to become a formal organization to negotiate, transact, and conduct matters legally, hire an executive director, develop a communications network, provide information to the women, and undertake feasibility studies of livelihood projects.
The following is from the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission to establish Buhata Pinay and provides a broad overview of the organization:
VISION: Buhata Pinay aims to build just communities with opportunities available regardless of gender where respect for our earth is promoted and sustained.
MISSION: Buhata Pinay is committed to enable and empower women and theirfamilies in the following four areas: Economic participation within sustainable environment, education, health and safety, and building leadership within the broader communities.
GOAL: To improve the quality of life for women and their families residing within marginalized communities.
OUR SHARED COMMITMENT: Persistent with Patience
We recognize that this is a major undertaking and we expect delays and setbacks. And that’s okay. Despite these setbacks, we will persevere with patience and persistence. While the timetable is important, success or failure is not dependent on it. We will create a communication environment in which people also can share their successes and frustrations in a way that is sensitive and mindful of our diversity and varied backgrounds.
In early 2008, Buhata Pinay held a planning retreat for its leaders to establish its goals. From that came decisions to concentrate on safety and health issues as well as economic participation.
