Marginalized women including persons with disability, PWDs have been sensitized on resilience and capacity building for adaptation to reduce the impact of environmental pollution in their lives. The exercise which, took place February 6, at Fnakon Hotel at Rukpokwu in Obi/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State had as it theme: “Empowering Resilience: Capacity Building for Physically Challenged and Marginalized Women On Environmental Pollution and Adaptation Strategies.” It was organized by Healthy Life Development, HELDI with support from the Global Green Fund.
Participants also underwent free medical check-ups to ascertain their blood pressure and blood sugar levels.
In her remarks, the HELDI coordinator, Dr Mfon Utin, who expressed joy at the large turnout and timely arrival of participants, drew attention to the fact that the day marked the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation.
She regretted that despite campaigns and legislations, some communities in Ahoada area still practiced the unhealthy act.
Said she, “Today is the International Day for Zero Tolerance Against Female Genital Mutilation. HELDI joins others globally, in celebrating the day. It is regrettable that in this modern era female genital mutilation is still going on in some parts of Ahoada, especially in the rural areas.”
She expressed hope that participants would gain useful knowledge which they can in turn, pass on to others at the end of the programme.
The HELDI coordinator said women are at the forefront of their families trying to put things together and with the level of environmental pollution in the region, they go through a lot of stress with some falling into depression or battling stigmatization. She said that necessitated the project whose aim is to demand a clean environment and ensure that vulnerable groups like marginalized women and persons with disability are carried along in governance at all levels.
“All what we are looking for is a cleaner environment to ensure that persons with physical disability are carried along and have a sense of belonging,” she stated.
She stressed that the harsh economic condition in the country made worse by the realities of environmental degradation is weighing community women down as they find it difficult to provide for their children.
She pointed out that gender or disability should not be limitations to women’s engagement in nation building.
“The gender issue is a concern to all. Being a woman is not a limitation and being a person with disability is not a limitation. There must be awareness to assist our mothers.”
The academic pointed out that there should be concerted efforts by all to encourage education and skill acquisition for the vulnerable.
In her presentation on Environmental Pollution, one of the resource persons, Mrs Pamela Romeo, advised participants to be proactive.
Quoting Vicky Bello, she told the women that, “When you see the weather (situation) changing, you don’t have to wait for the bad season to come, you have to prepare and put certain measures in place to mitigate it.
“Begin to put up new habits and focus your attention on what you need to do and take action to survive,” she added, noting that one has to apply resilience in responding to every hazard situation.
Romeo described environmental pollution as a big problem pointing out that naturally, the environment is supposed to be clean to promote healthy living but the introduction of harmful chemicals, etc., contaminate the environment creating health and other challenges to inhabitants.
“The land, sea, forests, etc., are part of the environment. The introduction of harmful substances, eg, chemicals, is what we call environmental pollution which can make us to develop different kinds of health challenges.
“The fish, animals, vegetables, etc., we eat are all polluted and constitute health hazards to us” she stated.
She added that oil companies have in the course of exploring oil, polluted the environment thereby, causing environmental change and ozone layer depletion. According to the environmentalist, generators are also pollutants as the carbon dioxide they release into the air which we breathe in, is harmful.
Mrs Romeo maintained that the burning of tires, illegal bunkering and bush fires, constitute environmental pollution as well as applying dangerous fertilizers. “If you are farming with dangerous fertilizer, please stop it, go for the safe one”, she ordered.
To guard against pollution, she suggested some protective measures worth adopting-use of nose masks, regular exercise, drinking of plenty water, regular health checks including BP and blood sugar level monitoring.
Another resource person, Dr. Emem Jaja while presenting on “health and Gender Equity”, noted that urbanization and industrialization also contribute to environmental pollution leading to illnesses and in extreme cases, sudden death.
The medical practitioner pointed out that women are more vulnerable while there has to be a contingency plan for women with disability such as diversification into other areas of endeavor to enable them make ends meet and take care of their families.
“You can save and have some form of insurance should you have some health challenge in the future”, she advised the two vulnerable groups while advocating that used items be preserved and recycled.
Dr. Jaja also advised on water conservation, shopping wisely and tree planting as mitigation measures.
One of the participants from Abara Community, Happiness Ntuueibok, expressed joy over the programme which she described as very informative with potential for reshaping the livelihood of the women. She urged others to spread the information disseminated as they go back.
