December 2022
At first, Namaste to all my readers. Talking about my current situation, I am doing fine with my Goat Farming business and also with my new additional Bee Farming Business. My Husband is helping me to run both businesses very smoothly. We are very happy to announce that we are running our own businesses by ourselves.
A few weeks back, Sajan discussed Gender Equality in IBT Meeting. At first, he asked all of us a question; “What comes immediately to our mind when we talk or hear about women or men?” everyone looked at each other and I was baffled about what I should say. We started to share our thoughts and Sajan wrote them down on the flipchart.
| Women | Men |
| Two wheels of the chariot | Tolerant |
| Idealism | Brave |
| Tolerant | Moving out |
| Decoration of the house | Selfish |
| Coward | Decoration of the head |
| Unselfish | Courage |
Then Sajan asked, “Can’t the women be courageous, or can’t the men be tolerant, coward?” In this manner, women and men are differentiated/ discriminated against in terms of food, clothes, work, behavior, etc. and these have all been created by our community, which could be changed. It is not done by nature. So, this situation created by the community/society is called “gender”. Therefore, it is very essential to bring changes in our attitude and behavior. Until the responsibility of women doing household chores is minimized, the decisions taken by women are given due to recognition and they are given equal opportunity for education. It will be difficult to make women capable. The topic was so interesting.
Again, Sajan asked and informed us as followed: Then what is a boy and what is a girl?
Only the sexual and reproductive organs are different. All other organs are the same. This biological or physical construction is called sex. Because of their physical construction, boys belong to the male sex and girls to the female sex.
These biological or physical differences are created by nature and these differences are the same in every family, community, or country. Biologically, a boy is the same everywhere in the world and a girl is the same everywhere in the world. The other differences between boys and girls – like their clothes, behavior, and education the attitudes of society towards them. These are all social or cultural differences and are not the same in every family and every society.
These social and cultural definitions of men and women are called gender. For example, it is society which makes rules, such as a girl should stay within the house, where else a boy can go out. Or a girl should be given less time to play than a boy. Gender is socially constructed. Gender is changeable and varies from one place to another. The responsibilities of man and woman are not based or decided by sex but are imposed by the society. As a woman, we must change our attitudes and habits and bring change in society. As mothers, we should not discriminate against our children. If we are not changing ourselves no one can change our situation. While Sajan was discussing, I was so touched.
After the discussion on gender, Sajan requested to divide us into 2 groups and develop an activity profile through the PRA tool (drawing): The materials were made available to us to make an activity profile. We made profiles through colorful markers.
Then he also asked us, who does most of the household work, and in return, we answered us women do every household work from morning to night. And again he asked us to do our work and get appreciation from men, in return, we answer no our work is not valued or get appreciated. This realization really touches me inside. Us, women, do a lot of household work compared to men. But our work does not get valued or recognized. Then Sajan explained the different women’s rights which have been allocated by the constitution of our Country. Hearing about the different special women’s rights, opened my eyes. We women are equally important as men. We have also equal rights to actively participate in the different areas mentioned above. The Gender Equality IBT was really fruitful and knowledgeable. The Training helped me to realize how backward we women are in different areas compared to men. Another important knowledge that I gained from this Training was the different women’s rights that have been allocated by the constitution of our country Nepal.
I shared all the learning of Gender Equality IBT with my husband and family. My husband was surprised and listened to me very carefully as I shared it with him. He is a very helpful person but still, he promised to help and participate in every household work and also towards our business. I am very happy that my husband is really participating and helping me in each and every household work. I am really grateful to Slisha Organization’s WAWCAS program and Sajan for helping my husband to bring positive changes.