Four years ago, Yanti Nomnafa had a clear idea of what she wanted. "I want to learn," she said. "I want to be confident enough to speak in front of people. I want to process what I harvest better so I can provide for my family."
These were not grand ambitions. But in Neke Village, East Nusa Tenggara, they were not easy ones either. NTT has arguably the driest climate in Indonesia. Despite its rocky beauty, the landscape offered little relief. Protracted dry seasons wilted crops and left families with scant harvests. The belief that “this land yields nothing”, as well as the scarcity of local employment, drove many NTT residents to leave their villages and seek work elsewhere, as far as Surabaya, Kalimantan, and Malaysia.
The pressure did not stop there. In a region where patriarchal traditions run deep, gender-based violence was common: physical abuse, abandonment. Mama Yanti and her two children experienced the latter firsthand. Left to run the household alone, she carried the roles of both mother and provider. The Women's Field School changed that.
Pastor Seprianus Adonis, head of the GMIT church in Neke Village, had long observed the untapped potential in the women of his congregation. He envisioned a space where they could gather to explore their own strength and voice—not only to learn practical skills, but to reclaim what custom and circumstance had taken from them. His vision found a partner in Land4Lives, which aimed to help communities strengthen their livelihoods and adapt to climate change. Since 2022, Land4Lives has provided vital support for the founding and expansion of the Nekamese Women's Field School, including funding, technical expertise, and facilitator training.
The curriculum was co-designed by the village chief, Pastor Adonis, ICRAF, and the local administration. It was built to be participatory: group discussions, documentary screenings, practical simulations, and field work. ICRAF, through Land4Lives, helped Pastor Adonis recruit and train a team of facilitators who would become the school's backbone.
The school covered seven themes: gender equity, climate change, climate-smart agriculture, food and nutrition, health and parenting, village politics and policy, and household economy. For many women, the climate change sessions were revelatory. They had lived through longer dry seasons, more unpredictable rains, and thinning harvests — but had never had a framework to understand why. The school connected their daily experience to the science of global warming and human activity. It also showed them a way forward: diversifying crops, improving soil health, conserving water. They learned to manage household finances and build small enterprises selling processed garden products—virgin coconut oil (VCO), banana chips, sweet potato sticks.
The lessons extended well beyond the fields. In the shade of the church hall, the women talked about their bodies, voices, and rights — subjects long considered taboo. They heard from local leaders about political participation, from health workers about nutrition and basic medical care. They practiced speaking in forums, structured and clearly, so their concerns could reach the ears of village decision-makers.
The shift was felt at home as well. Harlenci Mone said instances of violence in her household had decreased, replaced by a growing sense of mutual respect. "We're learning to value and respect each other more," she said. Even male facilitators were transformed. "Before, we thought household chores were only for mothers," said Filmon Benu, one of the few men who joined the school. He began to cook, wash dishes, sweep the house, and share childcare with his wife. "Work we thought was very heavy became easy and light, because we do it together," he said. The impact on men prompted Pastor Adonis to hold separate sessions for them – Skol Atoni (Father’s Field School) – helping them understand gender issues and how to share roles with women at the household, community, and village levels.
The impact went beyond Neke as well. Since February 2024, the District, Village, and Church governments in Timor Tengah Selatan (TTS) have worked to scale the model across the region. Three facilitator training batches held between August and October 2024 – facilitated by ICRAF Indonesia, the local DP3A, and the GMIT Church – produced 153 trained facilitators, who are now running the Women's Field School across 31 villages. For Mama Yanti, one of the most valuable lessons from the school was how to build a kitchen garden. In the yard of her house, she now grows a variety of plants—some for the family table, some for sale. "What we used to do was wait for the rainy season," she said. She does not wait anymore.