The day I had been waiting for finally came. I finished my household and went to the meeting. Sworup had told us that today would be the final selection for the group. I was afraid that I would not be selected. But as Sworup had mentioned before, WAWCAS is looking for women like me, so I was very happy.
All the information I get about WAWCAS makes me even more wish to be a member of the new group.
I arrived at the meeting. Other women were already waiting for the meeting to start. They were as curious as me.
Finally, Sworup arrived. He smiled as usual and greeted all of us. Then after a while Sworup started the meeting. He welcomed everyone. First, he described the aim of making economic ranking – as one way to get an understanding of who can be a member of the WAWCAS group. Then he asked us to express indicators we know of being ultra-poor, poor, medium-poor and well off in our community, and he wrote down what we said. After that, he appreciated what we have said, and again he explained us about the meaning of ultra-poor, poor, medium-poor and how it is defined according to Nepalese standards and according to the World Bank. He told us that if a person does not have an income of USD 1.90 per day according to the World Bank, then he/she is regarded ultra-poor, and those who have an income of USD 3.10 per day is regarded poor.
The Government of Nepal defines poverty:
- If a family does not have enough food for three months, produced by themselves from their own land, the family is regarded ultra-poor.
- If a family has enough food for 3-6 months, the family is regarded poor.
- If a family has enough food for 6-8 months, the family is regarded medium-poor.
- If a family has enough food for 12 months, the family is regarded not poor.
Through Economic Ranking and our own and Nepali government indicators on poverty, Sworup made us realize which category each of us belong to.
I knew the answer already about myself, but some of the women were confused and not certain. Sworup explained again and helped them with their answers. Then he gave us a small piece of paper on which our name was written. He lined us up and we should place our name under the category each of us think we belong to. All the women started to put their name under their category, and I placed my name under poor, which is true.
Then again, he repeated for the confirmation. He already knew the status of everyone, because he has visited everyone’s house several times. Then he told us that only women who are ultra-poor or poor could be in the group. I was so happy that I was finally selected. Sworup also mentioned that only women who were present that day could be in the group. Then he gave us a piece of paper and told us to make a map showing where our home is located and how our surroundings are. He told us that this map should help others to find our house. He helped us make the map which included all our houses and what we have available around us.
Finally, Sworup mentioned that the next meting would be about Social Situation Analysis to get an overview of the social situation for each of us, for Sworup to plan relevant training.
We all looked very happy, but I am sure that I was the happiest one among all of us who were selected.