Photo credit: Hamish McDonald |
The family ties help, and Ms Parua has returned usually three times a year to the home she keeps in her village, but she is denigrated by some of her rivals for being an inconsequential woman. ''They say women don't stand up in a sing-sing place and speak out on behalf of the clan or tribe, and therefore women can't stand up and speak for us in Parliament,'' she said.
Her campaign seeks a way around this. ''On the campaign trail my brothers - from the clan and the tribe we call each other brothers and sisters - say mothers are good managers of the home so why don't you vote for Margareth?'' Ms Parua said.
''A mother knows how to manage a home, it starts from home, so if you can manage your home, you go out, the basic understanding and expectation is the mother will manage whatever else she touches.''
Photo credit: Hamish McDonald |
The family ties help, and Ms Parua has returned usually three times a year to the home she keeps in her village, but she is denigrated by some of her rivals for being an inconsequential woman. ''They say women don't stand up in a sing-sing place and speak out on behalf of the clan or tribe, and therefore women can't stand up and speak for us in Parliament,'' she said.
Her campaign seeks a way around this. ''On the campaign trail my brothers - from the clan and the tribe we call each other brothers and sisters - say mothers are good managers of the home so why don't you vote for Margareth?'' Ms Parua said.
''A mother knows how to manage a home, it starts from home, so if you can manage your home, you go out, the basic understanding and expectation is the mother will manage whatever else she touches.''