qualitative monitoring of shiree interventions: cms5 (s) life histories

More documents

Recommendations

Info

QUALITATIVE MONITORING OF SHIREE INTERVENTIONS: CMS5 (S) LIFE HISTORIES2. Mauza level: A number of villages are grouped together to form a territorial unit ofjurisdiction called a mauza, of which there are more than 350 in the entire CHT. Each mauzahas a headman/woman, who is responsible for collection of revenue, preservation of peace,allocation of agricultural lands including the jums, conservation of the natural resources ofthe mauza and administration of customary law. They are appointed for life by the deputycommissioners in consultation with the “circle chiefs”.3. Territorial level: At the highest level it is the Raja who has authority over his/her territory.The internal matters of each village community are decided by its members, including acouncil of elders under the leadership of the Karbaris. Most matters are resolved byconsensus; if there are any disputes, the Karbari has the decisive voice. Any matters whichcannot be resolved satisfactorily, or involve members of other villages, are placed before therelevant mauza headman for decision. If required, matters are taken to the Raja, and canbe filed as a court case if necessary.Children, inheritance and new sources of incomeShaithuaung conjugal life went very well despite their poverty. In 1992, after one year ofmarriage, their first daughter was born. This was followed in 1995 by their first son and in 1996by a second daughter. This increased family size was a problem for the household as he wasthe only income earner; he said “I started daily labouring for the well being of my family andto feed my children. My wife couldn’t work due to our new born baby as jum cultivation ishard work”.Box 2: Jum land and cultivationJum cultivation is a traditional practice of the indigenous people of the CHTs where forest hillslopes land is cultivated on a rotational basis through a process of slashing vegetation andburning the land before cultivation.Jum cultivation is labour intensive and begins most often in January and February with theselection of around 1-10 acres. Each plot is demarcated under the supervision of the Mouzaheadman and the immediate forest area cleared to prevent forest fires. Vegetation isslashed in March with the preservation of valuable trees which are used for shadingvegetables and for conservation. Slashed trees used for timber are left to try for around onemonth. In April jum land is burnt and the ash acts as a fertilizer. After burning the forests, landis prepared for cultivation which takes 15-20 days.
QUALITATIVE MONITORING OF SHIREE INTERVENTIONS: CMS5 (S) LIFE HISTORIESIn late April/early May jum crops are selected sown (around 25 different agricultural cropsare produced in jum land). Subsequent months are spent weeding before the harvesting ofearly vegetables, as well as early variety of rice, in late July/early August. Other crops areharvested and hauled back to the home between August and October. Ginger andturmeric are harvested and processed in December/January. Land is then left fallow forapproximately 10-12 years before further cultivation.Jum land plays an important role in indigenous culture and identity, it is seen as an ancestralright and managed through customary laws.Shaithuaung’s children didn’t attend school. There was none in the village, and the nearestwas three to four km away. In 1997 he planted 1000 Gamari (Gmelina arborea) trees on theland he had been given by the Headman as a future investment, and at the same timecontinued daily labouring and collecting forests products.His father had had nine cows before Shaithuaung separated from his parent’s house.Following his father’s death due to old age his elder brother distributed all parental propertywithin the family. Despite his poverty and his brother receiving three cows, Shaithuaung onlyreceived one cow, which he was very unhappy about. He continued doing a variety ofwork, and became involved in wood cutting before starting to rear goats in 2000.Asset erosion and downward mobilityShaithuanung’s situation gradually worsened over the next few years as his wife gave birth totheir fourth and fifth daughters (in 2001 and 2003). His wife couldn’t work outside thehousehold as she was too busy caring for their children and they received no extracommunity or family support.By 2005 Shaithuanung had two cows and one calf bred from his inherited cow. In 2005 hesold one cow and one calf for 5000 and 2500 taka respectively. At that time he had noalternative options as he was the only member of the household capable of work. He wasn’table to invest the money productively but had to spend the entire amount of maintain hishousehold consumption. After selling the cows the household was left with only one cow andtwo goats as productive assets. Unfortunately one night in 2005 the goats were attacked andeaten by foxes. At that time he felt helpless as the goats represented a loss of 2500 taka.In 2006 his fifth daughter’s stomach grew worse and worse from worms, before dying withouttreatment. At the end of 2006 his sixth daughter was born but she died after five months dueto unknown reasons.
Page 1 and 2: QUALITATIVE MONITORING OF SHIREE IN
Page 3: QUALITATIVE MONITORING OF SHIREE IN
Page 7 and 8: QUALITATIVE MONITORING OF SHIREE IN
Page 10: Life history map of Shaithuaung (45

qualitative monitoring of shiree interventions: cms5 (s) life histories

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?