October 2025
Hello everyone,
I am Dudh Kumari Gurung from Lamjung. I hope you are all doing well — I’m doing well too. As in every month, I am here once again to share my monthly blog. This is my 13th blog, and the topic I’m going to talk about today is “Gender Equality and Development.”
Like every month, we hold two meetings — one for savings and business training and another for Issue Based Training (IBT). In this month’s discussion meeting, our topic was about gender equality and development. During the conversation, we talked about the discrimination that often exists between men and women.
Our Trainer explained that before we can achieve equality, there must first be equity. She asked us what the difference between equality and equity is, but none of us could give a clear answer. Then she beautifully explained it herself:
“Equality is the goal, and equity is the means to reach that goal.”
She gave an example to help us understand better. She said, “If a daughter is naturally quick to learn and a son struggles a bit, then to bring equality between them, the son may need extra tuition classes.” That example made it clear that everyone has different needs, and fairness means providing what each person requires to reach the same level — that is equity.
Then she gave us another interesting activity. She asked each of us to name one doctor, one lawyer, and one teacher who came to our mind. We started giving names, and when she wrote them down, most of the names we mentioned were of men. She then asked, “Don’t we have any women doctors, women lawyers, or women teachers in our society?” Of course, we do — but we realized that we tend to think of men first. This showed us how deeply gender bias is rooted within ourselves, even without realizing it.
She reminded us that when a baby is born — whether a boy or a girl — it is society itself that defines their roles and expectations. Society decides what a man should do and what a woman should do. These roles are not natural; they are created by people.
After the discussion, Sunita divided us into four groups and said, “Now, let’s play a game of Ludo!”
While playing, we learned many new things in a fun way. The game helped us realize the importance of teamwork, patience, and fair play — just like in real life where everyone should get equal opportunities regardless of gender. We enjoyed the activity a lot and learned through laughter and play.
From today onward, I have made a commitment — I will no longer divide work as ‘men’s work’ or ‘women’s work.’
If we have the will and determination, we can do any work — and many women have already proven this true.
With that realization, I would like to end my blog for today.
Thank you all so much for reading, and I look forward to meeting you again in my next blog.
With love and learning,
Dudh Kumari Gurung