Story of Change, Jartu B. Johnson breaks the cycle of male dominant leadership, becomes Deeward First Female Clan Chief Gbarpolu
Gbarma Women Under the JEC Project are Turning the Ties for Women's Leadership
Fifty-years-old years Jartu B. Johnson grew up in a traditionally fierce community where women are made to remain in the back and told that leadership for women was never their place and then with no formal education made matter even worse for her to even come closer to leadership in her town.
This challenge coupled with many other factors she pushed her to spending more than more than half of her year in the traditional bush school for women known in Liberia as the ‘the Sande,’ where female genital mutilation practices are carried out on girls and women which subsequently earned her becoming a female Zoe.
Zoes in Liberia are the women hierarchy within traditional female bush school - the Sande.
For nearly 26 years, Jartu worked as a zoe, knowing only this way of life and engaging into substance farming as her only way of survival, but she said all these have changed. She has further gained lots of respect and in her community including respect from men who once despised her.
With time, under Just and Equal community project, Jartu has found a new path, embracing change and now leading the way by mobilizing other women traditional practitioners to drop the harmful part of the bush school and she’s introducing them to a more sustainable and positive way of life.
As the acting clan chief of Deeward Clan, Jartu says this would not have been possible if ActionAid Liberia had not worked in their community which she said had helped in making her bold and fearless to express herself and lead advocacy on issues that concern and affect her town, unlike in the past when she could not express herself before a group of people.
“I was a made clan chief because they know that I am fit. Jartu told AAL recently.
When she came in contact with ActionAid Liberia under the just and Equal Community project, Jartu says not only that she abandoned FGM, but she had gained financial sustainability through the Village Saving and Loans introduced to them as a way of obtaining sustainable living.
“ActionAid put in into village saving and we are there and saving. I now make my own money, so I know now that I can make it.”
Main while, Jartu praised the current commissioner of Gbarma District in Gbarpolu County, Hon. Musa B. Kamara for being a strong supporter of women’s leadership.
“This commissioner that we are working with is fit and he is good to work with. He works with the women and he is really willing to work with us, because hew as the one was the one who appointed us.” Jartu said.
Commenting further, Jartu is therefore calling on commissioner Kamara to finally appoint them permanently lifting them from being ‘Acting Clan Chiefs’ to Clan chiefs.
When appointed permanently at as clan chief of Deeward clan, Jartu has outlined plans to help support more women get empowered to like her. She says, she also has plans to lead advocacy in order to empowerment single mothers in Deeward Clan.
“When we are appointed permanently as the clan chief, we will push our women and we want to empower women who don’t have men and we will also train them with know about the villages saving.” Jartu announced.
From the village saving which Jartu now spearheads in her clan, she says they have been able to raise over one hundred thousand Liberian Dollars.
On top of these, Jartu and other women of Deeward have made groundbreaking impacts are turning the ties and breaking decades-long barriers that have limited women and being the first group of women to standup to challenge social norms and male dominance that have for several years denied women of assuming leadership in the clan.