Author : Pesimo, Ma. Larissa Lelu C.

Summary : This case study was conducted in order to analyze the influence of a Church-sponsored livelihood project on the women-beneficiaries at the personal, household and local environment levels with emphasis on the gender structures and relationships of the member-households. The resarch was done in five forest-based communities in Catanduanes, two of which were located at the municipality of Bato while the rest were in the town-capital of Virac. Using qualitative research design, the methodology was a combination of various techniques of data gathering and validation that included: key-informant interview, focus-group discussion, use of semi-structured and structured questionnaires, use of secondary data, and life histories of selected individuals. Tools for gender analysis were the main instrument utilized in drawing the following conclusions: (1) The Diocese of Virac Social Action Foundation, Inc. (DVSAFI), as a church-based non-government organization, has been instrumental in promoting social development among the women-beneficiaries through the Grameen-Sabwag livelihood project which contributed to the improvement of the socio-economic status of the women and their households, their environmental awareness and gender structures and relationship present within their households. (2) The Grameen-Sabwag centers had encountered some difficulties in sustaining their individual and collective activities. There were a number of factors that affected these women-beneficiaries in terms of their ability to save for loan repayment, attendance in center activities, and farm productivity and business profitability. (3) In terms of the gender structures and relationships, the traditional reproductive roles of these women were sustained rather than challenged by the church-sponsored livelihood project. However, such relationships were regarded by these women as complementary rather than contradictory and struggle-oriented.