Usha Krishna S Puvaneswary Web editors, eHomemakers Malaysia editor@ehomemakers.net

In the last two years, the concept of working from home has attracted men’s interest as well. Thus, the network has noticed that more and more men are joining as members.

Homemakers are a vulnerable group in the digital divide as they have little or no access to ICT. As is elsewhere in the world, homemakers in Malaysia are being left out of the rapidly progressing era of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).

The Mothers for Mothers network, formed in 1998, started as a voluntary group of mothers from multi-ethnic communities. Members of the network were initially involved in women-connecting-women activities to promote the concept of working from home, especially for homemakers who need the economic empowerment to uplift their gender status. The group had to overcome public prejudice about useless housewives who did not contribute to society and helped its members gain self-esteem through mutual support activities.

Moreover, those women who chose to work from home to balance family life and career were exploited with low paying assignments and belonged to the informal sector, with little assistance for personal development.

Disadvantaged people, especially, are left out of social development due to the lack of access to relevant information. If they could generate income from home and use ICTs to improve all aspects of their family life, they would, in fact, actively participate in the information economy.

It was evident that using ICTs would provide women with an avenue for self- development and e-Homepreneurship that required little capital, and personal growth. Therefore, the main aim of the network is to transform the existing digital disadvantages, especially for marginalised women, and empower them economically through digital learning and usage of ICTs at home.

The core group then realised that an e-Networking platform through various access points was necessary for the stakeholders’ development. Initially, a static website (www.mom4mom.com) was built to meet the needs of mothers and homemakers by providing them with a platform to access information and to network. The site was managed and maintained by a small group of volunteers.

Over time, the network realised that the static website could not support the growing needs of members who wanted a more dynamic platform with interactive features. It was also frustrating for members that there were no information updates on the site for long periods of time due to a series of virus attacks. On its own, the network lacked funds to improve the portal.


Salaam Wanita members at a workshop session learning to make baskets
Hence, a proposal was submitted to the Government of Malaysia for the eHomemakers project – a detailed plan to address the concerns of Malaysian homemakers. After a year, in November 2001, the eHomemakers project was finally approved, under a one-year Demonstrator Application Grant from the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment.


Winners of the Teleworking Moms contest 2004
With funding, a dynamic portal was built to cater to the needs of members, replacing the old static one. Known as eHomemakers (www.ehomemakers.net), this trilingual portal was created to link homemakers and homeworkers all over Malaysia into an e-community, bound together by common interests in parenthood, homemaking and issues on economic, social, family and gender development. The portal’s main aim is to transform the existing digital disadvantages, especially for marginalised women, and

empower them economically through digital learning and usage of ICT at home. It assists in the development of home-based businesses and provides information that is of use to all levels of society, including the disadvantaged. The portal also offers a host of e-Community services such as a forum, chat room, e-Cards and a platform called Home-based Xchange for homemakers and home workers to market their products and services. All of the above services are provided free-of-charge to members.

The eHomemakers portal is especially useful for members in the grey zone – those who wish to quit their full-time jobs to be with their children or aged parents but are afraid to venture into a home-based business for lack of knowledge. All e-Activities are complemented by ground activities such as training/talks for life-long learning and community outreach, annual Mother’s day contests and contests for home-based business ideas.

In the last two years, the concept of working from home has attracted men’s interest as well. Thus, the network has noticed that more and more men are joining as members. Today, the ratio of men to women e-Members is almost 50:50 while the ground members comprise women without access to Internet.

Helping the disadvantaged
Salaam Wanita is a pilot project to equip urban poor special women in the Klang Valley and Ipoh with basic knowledge of computers and the Internet so that they can work from home. Salaam Wanita members include single mothers, chronically ill women, abused women, single income earners and caregivers whose work options are limited to their home confines. About two hundred disadvantaged Salaam Wanita members from two regions - the Klang Valley and Ipoh – have received basic training on the use of computers and the Internet under this training programme in 2002. Second-hand computers were procured for some of these women then so that they can use their new-found skills to generate an income and become self-reliant. Last year, the training programme was extended to include skill-based training such as basket weaving from paper rolls and baking cookies. eHomemakers then helped to source orders for these women from a multi-national company.

A unique marketing website is being created to market the products and services of Salaam Wanita members. The Web application is able to send email that will transform into SMS and fax messages to the women’s handphones or fax machines (for the deaf). The SMS and fax replies will be converted into email or statistic charts in the website to manage orders received from buyers, thus reducing communication and human resources expenses for organising, procuring orders and compilation of group delivery as the women live all over the Klang Valley and the Ipoh region. This R and D application is enabled by an international grant won under the IDRC’s Pan Asia R&D Small Grant Award 2003. The website (www.justmarketing.info) is expected to go live by May 2005.

eHomemakers is actively involved in advocacy work to promote working from home as a means to balance work and family life. Currently, eHomemakers is working with the Malaysian Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, to develop a guidebook on working at home and setting up a home-office.

This guidebook, when ready, will form part of the Government’s campaign to promote the concept of working at home to professional women who have chosen to be homemakers in order to raise a family or to take care of elderly dependents. Two other research papers that broach on the gender perspective include, ‘Study on how gender dynamics affect teleworkers performance in Malaysia’ and ‘Empowering Homemakers to become Homepreneurs and eHomemakers through a Gender Governance Framework’.


Basic computer training workshop for Salaam Wanita members
Both these reports can be purchased from the Pan Asian e-Mall (www.panaseanemall.org/browse.ihtml?step=4&store= 22&id=17&mallcustid=1416130522) from March 15, 2005. The objective of the ‘Study on how gender dynamics affect teleworkers performance in Malaysia’ is to explore how Malaysian women’s family lives and home situations affect their performance as teleworkers.

The paper delves into concerns like how ICTs and gender issues affect telecommuting, whether ICTs can affect the efficiency and productivity of a teleworker and the conditions that enable women to be efficient teleworkers.

Recommendations have been made to create an enabling environment for home-based work to be successfully undertaken. The findings of this study were presented at the WSIS APC sessions in 2003. It has been found that, with time, flexibility and ICT usage, teleworking generally improves women’s lives. ‘Empowering Homemakers to become Homepreneurs and eHomemakers through a Gender Governance Framework’ research was conducted on Salaam Wanita members to find out the barriers that prevent them from using ICTs and becoming home-based entrepreneurs for economic self-reliance.

Having to deal with discrimination and social stigma, most Salaam Wanita members suffer from depression and a lack of self-esteem. As a result, these women refrain from seeking income-generating options outside their homes. Others barriers include lack of finances, lack of knowledge and lack of family and social support. The study reveals that women have the ability to govern themselves and their families and shape the governance in others if they are willing to go through the 5As Process of Change. Economic self-reliance and personal self-esteem can be achieved through this process.

Conclusion
eHomemakers has been successfully working with the grassroots since it was formed in 1998 to improve the lives of homemakers, home workers and the urban poor. Through more active advocacy, out-reach and grassroots research on the relationship between ICT tools usage and its stakeholders, eHomemakers network hopes to bring social economic development to the informal sector and recognition to homemakers’ contribution towards the public and at the home front.

Apply now – Gender and Ict Awards 2005 The Gender and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Awards is an initiative of the Association for Progressive Communications Women’s Networking Support Program (APC WNSP) www.apcwomen.org and the Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) www.globalknowledge.org. In 2005, the Gender and ICT Awards focus is on empowerment, specifically ICT initiatives that promote women’s economic empowerment as it relates to development. The APC WNSP and GKP Gender and ICT Awards aim to honour and bring international recognition to innovative and effective projects by women to use ICTs for the promotion of gender equality and for women’s empowerment. The Gender and ICT Awards 2005 is open to civil society organisations, community-based groups, women’s organisations and networks and social movements based in Asia Pacific. The target beneficiaries of the projects must be women or girls. Special attention will be given to projects initiated by women themselves. Focus of The Awards The focus of the 2005 Awards is on ICT initiatives that promote women’s economic empowerment as it relates to development. Economic empowerment is seen in terms of: overcoming marginalisation, oppressive social norms, and inadequate support and responsibility from governments in terms of  access and rights to resources and making sound decisions; offering women choice and opportunity, encouraging  women to fulfil their potentials; giving  voice and capability to counter their seeming powerlessness. Category Two winners will be awarded for outstanding ICT Project for Women’s Economic Empowerment. A cash prize of USD 8,000 will be given to each winner. Timetable Nominations will be accepted from February 15 to April 30, 2005. Winners will be selected and announced by August 30, 2005. For more information, please read the complete application procedure and download the application form at: www.genderawards.net or write to: awards2005-apply@apcwomen.org To receive regular updates about the Awards, please send an email to: awards2005-info@apcwomen.org The Awards is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) http://www.sdc.admin.ch and the Department for International Development (DFID), United Kingdom http://www.dfid.gov.uk.