April 2024
Namaskar, my name is Saraswoti Sarki. I’m thrilled to share that I have earned the respect of the community. It’s a wonderful feeling to know that my situation has been changed and valued by those around me. The Women at Work Children at School (WAWCAS) Program has brought about significant changes in our society. I would like to express my gratitude for playing an important role in addressing various societal issues.
WAWCAS provided special support for women’s rights, empowerment, and access to resources, which helped women create a separate identity from their past. Earlier, we were only aware of our rights, but we did not know how to access them in reality. After joining the WAWCAS Program, we had the opportunity to learn many things about our rights and responsibilities. Not only that, but also special thanks for making clear how to solve complex problems such as distortion, inconsistency, touch, and discrimination in the society. Our society is multi-lingual, multi-cultural, multi-religious, and multi-caste. In which I was a low caste person. When Issue-based discussions started taking place in our group, I got the opportunity to learn many things and I also got the opportunity to teach. In our society, there used to be untouchability and discrimination between high cast and low cast women. Now these things have diminished among us.
Previously, it was not permissible to wash ourselves in the community tap stands. As a result, we used to splash water on ourselves when we returned home. During meetings or gatherings, people used to sit in separate groups and converse among themselves. However, since all of us have participated in the WAWCAS Program, these separations have ceased to occur.
During today’s discussion on women’s rights, a couple of crucial points were highlighted. Firstly, it was reported that government has policy of 33% of women must participate at all levels. as Also, we learnt that 10% of total budget is allocated to women’s and children’s development activities. However, neither of these policies have been implemented in our community. As a result, our group decided to visit the municipality. And each ward should discuss this matter in the coming days.
In this way, I would like to thank the organization that has played an important role in changing the society and making it possible to fight for our rights. Our group has undergone significant changes in recent times. For instance, there has been a reduction in discrimination and untouchability. During today’s discussion on women’s rights, we had the opportunity to learn many things. We urge the WAWCAS Program to continue providing various activities aimed at empowering and uplifting women in the future.
Thank you.