Benefit Maldives: the powerful change-makers behind Ruhgandu Festival and much, much more

Words by Jumana

The air was electric with melodies of pleasant live music and laughter of children mingled with the aroma of delectable baked goods and fresh plants.

It was August 2018 and gardens sprang up amid the telltale palm trees of Hulhumale’ Ruhgandu 1 near the classic Dome outlet on an evening where the only thing that shone more than the array of talent and hard work on display were the genuine smiles on everyone’s faces. This is the festival of festivals, with a music festival, children’s festival, bakers and plant festival all rolled into one.

Fast forward to 2023 and the festival made an appearance in Hulhumale’ Ruhgandu 2 with more pomp and circumstance than the first. It was an evening of celebration, and appreciation of creativity among the many small businesses and artists in Maldives. Any participant of a festival held by NGO, Benefit knows what it is like to be surrounded by kinship and togetherness among strangers and laughter. That is what sets these festivals apart.

We at Kaleo were fortunate enough to sit down with the Co-founder and President of Benefit, Mariyam Salwa Shiyam as well as their Public Relations Director Aishath Maavii during their preparation for Rugandu 2 – the comeback of one of the more legendary pre-Covid era community fundraisers in the Greater Male’ Region.

It all goes back to 2018 the NGO took its first steps into the world around International Women’s day with their “All Women” social media Campaign. #Kulhadhaanakambaleh (Capable woman) sprung up with the most beautiful depictions of the strength of everyday women. “Back then we noticed that Women’s Day usually features quotes from prominent women so we wanted to shine a light on the ordinary, every day woman”, Mavee recalled.

The NGO focuses mainly on three different areas which are, women’s empowerment, environmental sustainability as well as welfare works. Salwa noted, “Many people ask us why three? They say “it’s a lot’. We added an environment because we see that Maldives is vulnerable and we wanted to contribute to that in whichever way we can, however small. But most of our work centers around women’s empowerment and welfare”.

Looking back at how it all began, co-founder Salwa recalled wanting to finally do something with all she had learned through overcoming her personal experiences growing up. Thus began an NGO with her best friend while she also invited friends and  family members to join the board with the promise of full commitment. Social Specialist by day, she also interned and learned as much as she could about social work and advocacy, in addition to a full time work schedule and being a mother to two young children. Public Relations Director, Maavee on the other hand has been in the field of marketing in the private sector since she finished her studies, with a small caveat. “I was always very interested in the field of social work and wanted to do something. I learned a lot through this whole experience since I like the writing and research aspect of these campaigns, and I think that is what Salwa does best by utilizing the best of our skills”.

Great ideas are borne out of avid discussion. It was such a day when Salwa and her aunt had been discussing plans for the International Day of the Girl Child and asked the question,

 “Why is it that the efforts are only directed towards women when it comes to empowering women and preventing domestic violence? Why don’t we try it from a different perspective?” So we decided to aim our awareness towards young boys so that we can try and proactively prevent things like domestic violence from happening. We were thinking along the lines of, “Instead of only calling for the adult men to stop violating, let us face and speak with the upcoming generations?” 

Very soon afterwards in the same year that the NGO officially began, the “Boys for Tomorrow” initiative was launched. You would have seen them in action inside the halls of the Maldives National University for instance, holding audience at one of the first, “Understanding Gender roles and Domestic Violence in Maldives” seminar, or at the #Raising Boys awareness session at Maldives Polytechnic for parents. On Men’s Day 2020, Benefit was also quick to remind that it is holistically all of our responsibility to combat toxic masculinity and that it is high time we all “take this opportunity to start a conversation with the men in your life about their physical, mental and emotional health”.

Maavee recalled the statistics that popped up once the organization began conducting their in-depth research and found a major disparity amongst both genders when it came to crime, violence, school dropout rates, incarceration and even traffic violations wherein men were significantly higher in number than women. She noted,

“Everything starts at a very young age, all of our research indicated that as well. So then we decided to design a campaign to try and generate empathy, respect, and emotional maturity in these young boys. When they suppress their emotions, it turns to anger and aggression. We need to actively encourage them to express themselves. That is some of the messaging that we need to get across in our social media campaigns as well”

~ Mavee ~ PR Director

“Similar to how we put extra effort in empowering young girls, we also must out a concerted effort in empowering boys and teaching them how to be empathetic and kinder”

~  Salwa ~ Benefit Maldives Co-Founder

Staying true to the strength of those that brought together so much camaraderie and community at the Ruhgandu festival, that fateful weekend in March also proved to be the birth of a new call. Something that families with young children are in desperate need of. A new “cultural shift” was to be called to order.

From a woman who has to cross the bridge with her son about five times every day and still have to keep him at her workplace after he is done with school, to a mother who has been forced to spend over 400,000 in daycare over seven years, and a another, who is only able to work with the help of her mother, Benefit highlighted the plight of childcare in Maldives.

From a woman who has to cross the bridge with her son about five times every day and still have to keep him at her workplace after he is done with school, to a mother who has been forced to spend over 400,000 in daycare over seven years, and a another, who is only able to work with the help of her mother, Benefit highlighted the plight of childcare in Maldives.

“We found through our research that there isn’t such a disparity between genders as they initially enter the workforce, and yet the gap grows bigger and bigger as they age. We saw that women are more involved with informal means of earning. It isn’t always a choice. Families cannot usually sustain themselves with a single income.

Why is childcare so inaccessible while we are in such dire need of it? Not only is childcare extremely expensive, but it is pushing women out of our workforce. We therefore wanted to lobby for the State to provide childcare solutions”

~ Mavee ~ PR Director

“In this economy, it is a crisis that is faced by our generation. This is important for especially low income families. Not everyone can afford childcare. This is also linked to stopping domestic violence where so many women are dependent on their perpetrators to provide for them while they take care of their kids”.

~ Salwa ~ Benefit Maldives Co-Founder

Benefit has found the dire facts that while women are more educated in tertiary education than men, they hold informal jobs without any job security. Even with such a strong stigma against childcare, the Benefit team believes that this goes beyond traditional roles in society, for there should always be the option for affordable and quality childcare. Salwa and Mavee explained that ultimately, the State has the power to integrate school with an after school day care program in a familiar environment and provide other childcare solutions. “We need the support of people to call upon the government as well as private businesses to prioritize this”, said Mavee. Companies like STO and STELCO are already offering solutions such as on-site daycare as well as allocating a percentage of daycare allowance.

With delicious catering from a several home owned businesses and speakers Mariyam Mohamed as well as Rado Rashid from the NGO, Society for Awareness, Fostering, Awareness and Enlightenment (SAFE) spewing out the facts mingled with entertainment, the promise of Benefit’s new campaign hung in the air. We can surely look forward to the next one eagerly while doing our part to advocate for this initiative that ultimately affects us all.