Charlotte Kakebeeke
Oxfam Australia Timor Leste
Strategic Access to Essential Services
Group Exercise – Session I
Scenario
Teus and his wife Kris with their 6 children aged 2, 3, 6, 9, 10 and 13 years are experiencing food security problems due to crop failure as a result of a locust infestation. Their lives is dependent on the crop yield from the 1 Hct of land they own. Corn is the main crop they grow all year round and is their only source of an income to pay for the daily household needs. With the youngest two children are already malnourised they can’t afford to wait till the next harvest through rationing what they did manage to harvest. Therefore the decision was taking that Teus would go in search of another job. Teus and Kris both come from a poor background and never had the opportunity to go to school and therefore find it difficult to find a job. However, Teus managed to find a job in the next town, as an illegal labourer on a building site. The wages will just be enough to tie them over till the next harvest.
Kris is left at home with her 6 children to look after their field which needs to be prepared for the next planting season. Her children are no longer able to attend primary education as Kris needs the two oldest kids to help prepare the land while the third oldest child looks after her siblings.
Then one day Teus slips and falls off the ladder on the building sight leaving him paralysed from the waist down and having a future in a wheel chair. Because he was working illegally Teus will not be able to claim any benefits from an insurance company. Teus returns home and becomes depressed as he has become dependent on his wife and children to look after him and tends to spent his days around the house drinking.
Kris is left to manage the land and try to earn enough to cover the basic household needs as well as run the household. Her children will not return to school as they are needed to help earn an income.
Discuss and answer the following questions:
1. Who are the rights-holders and the duty-bearers?
2. What entitlements do the rights-holders have a right to?
3. What entitlements are being violated or not fulfilled in the scenario and why (barriers)?
4. What is needed and how can we strengthen the capacity of the rights-holders to claim their entitlement?
5. What are the legal obligations of the duty-bearers?
6. How can we strengthen the capacity of the duty-bearer to meet their obligation