Work Burden

Women in this sector are overburdened because of their many roles. After working for a whole day they come home so tired and have no leisure time. They cannot even look after themselves properly. As a result some of them often have poor health. My own researches have established that women in the rural settings work for about 14 hours daily serving others. As a result, they hardly read newspapers, new books and magazines related to development (Omari 1987).

The fact that women spend much of their time working for others, means that they never have time to participate in politics both at the community and the national levels. Thus, involvement in the informal business, may be a way of diverting women’s participation in formal politics where social issues related to development are discussed and decision made on the implementation of policies. Many of these policies have lasting effects on women’s development. Yet women have very minimal role, if any, in making decisions due to their involvement in the “important projects” necessary for their survival and “development”.

The multi-faceted roles that women play in the community, have both negative and positive effects to them. On the one hand, it may be a way for them to participate in various developmental activities. On the other hand, they get involved in so many activities that many are unaccomplished.