Abstract
Mutual help is essential to the human race to progress to a full humanity. Participating in voluntary associations has multiple
benefits and makes a bigger contribution to resiliency in socio-economically deprived neighborhoods. Therefore, the objective
of the study is to assess the role of women’s iddirs (burial societies) in promoting their lives, particularly in terms of their social and economic well-being. We employed a
quantitative cross-sectional survey. The study population from which the survey data were collected was members of five women’s
iddirs’. Majority of them (52.5%) reported that their iddirs helped them to a great extent to become more connected with the people in their local community and 36.4% reported that their
confidence has increased to have their own say. Nearly three-fourth (70.3%) of the participants indicated that members were
willing to help each other. About 71.6% totally agreed that participation in iddirs alleviates stress and difficulty when a relative or family member dies. Majority of the participants (93.3%) stated that
their iddirs didn’t help them to have access to money. All participants (100%) reported that their iddirs don’t have explicitly stated credit mechanisms and nearly all (94.8%) didn’t have any experience of borrowing money from
banks. Most study participants appeared to appreciate the social benefits of iddirs much higher than that of their economic benefits. This suggests that iddirs need to be well-organized and co-operate with each other and ensuring flexible lending and interest payment criteria need
to be established logistically to serve the needs of the poor members.
benefits and makes a bigger contribution to resiliency in socio-economically deprived neighborhoods. Therefore, the objective
of the study is to assess the role of women’s iddirs (burial societies) in promoting their lives, particularly in terms of their social and economic well-being. We employed a
quantitative cross-sectional survey. The study population from which the survey data were collected was members of five women’s
iddirs’. Majority of them (52.5%) reported that their iddirs helped them to a great extent to become more connected with the people in their local community and 36.4% reported that their
confidence has increased to have their own say. Nearly three-fourth (70.3%) of the participants indicated that members were
willing to help each other. About 71.6% totally agreed that participation in iddirs alleviates stress and difficulty when a relative or family member dies. Majority of the participants (93.3%) stated that
their iddirs didn’t help them to have access to money. All participants (100%) reported that their iddirs don’t have explicitly stated credit mechanisms and nearly all (94.8%) didn’t have any experience of borrowing money from
banks. Most study participants appeared to appreciate the social benefits of iddirs much higher than that of their economic benefits. This suggests that iddirs need to be well-organized and co-operate with each other and ensuring flexible lending and interest payment criteria need
to be established logistically to serve the needs of the poor members.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Category Original Paper
- Pages 1-9
- DOI 10.1007/s10900-011-9503-2
- Authors
- Elias Teshome, Institute of Gender Studies, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 33103, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Mulumebt Zenebe, Institute of Gender Studies, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 33103, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Henok Metaferia, School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 28125/1000, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Sibhatu Biadgilign, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Public Health and Medical Science, Jimma University, P.O. Box 24414, Jimma, Ethiopia
- Journal Journal of Community Health
- Online ISSN 1573-3610
- Print ISSN 0094-5145