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March
2003
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Bridging Worlds Emerging
Leaders
Indira Ghale, Feminist
Dalit Organization (FEDO)
Kathmandu, Nepal |
Namaste friends! My name is Indira Ghale.
I am 34 years old. I live in the Eastern part of Nepal called
Dhankuta where I am working in the Tribeni Secondary school
as a primary teacher. There are 7 children in my family (5 daughters
and 2 sons). I was born into a tailor family which is known
as Dalit (untouchable)
in the Nepali (Hindu) society. My parents are educationally
illiterate, economically disadvantaged, politically neglected
and socially untouchable as are about 20% of the total population
of our country. My mother gave birth to a child when she was
only 14, after getting married at the age of 13. She had to
have many children as my father required her to have a son.
There is a popular song in our society that is sung when a girl
is born. The words are:
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Kori deu aama , Bati
deu aama phool pani Lagai deu
Ma aauti cheli Dher Bhaya Bhane Tammer ma Bagaideu.
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| This means |
Groom me my mother
Decorate me with a beautiful flower in my hair
But if you think I am a burden to you
Please leave me in the river.
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| When I
was born my father did not see my face for 10 days because
I was a daughter. I was encouraged to study by my mother,
who wanted me to have a better life than herself, so that
I could lead other women of the community . During my
school years, I never thought about my caste, because
I received a scholarship and stayed in a hostel in the
capital city of Nepal, Kathmandu. After my high school
education I had to stop my studies because my mother died
and my father thinks that to support a daughter is "like
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| pouring water into the sand," a
sentiment felt by other men in our society. Soon I started to
work as a primary teacher in order to support my sisters and
their education. Being a teacher from the Dalit community is
very difficult especially in creating relationships with the
other teachers and the students as well. Parents also do not
want their children to be taught by a Dalit teacher. I have
found that there is always a social gap between the Dalit and
the non Dalit. |
| Regarding
the struggles of my life I have visited about 60 disticts
out of 75 in Nepal. Three years ago, I worked in a community
based mapping program organized by an International NGO
(INGO). It was for Dalits, women and disadvantged people,
that for 25 days, in a hilly region of the eastern part
of Nepal, we did |
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that job by walking. One day it was sunny, no food on the way,
no water to drink, carrying heavy loads, getting tired. Me and
my guide reached the president of the organization where we
were going to spend the night. The housewife asked about our
real caste. We said our real caste sincerely. Because of this,
we were not allowed to stay in that house and were forbidden
to use the public pond (there was no water tap in the village
so people had to use pond water to drink and wash). What oppression
we experienced that day being a Dalit! We had no place to stay,
no food to eat, even though it was late at night and we had
come as their superiors to check whether there were programs
for the lower caste or not. We finally searched for a Dalit
house to stay over night. At that time I felt real pain due
to my social condition. |
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At that time I also realized that Dalits
are lower than dogs, without social prestige. Now I have a big
question in my small head which is "The labour, skills, and
blood of the Dalit's are accepted by the society but why can't
we drink the same water ??" From that day on, I decided to devote
my life to fighting against caste and gender discrimination.
Because only 0.5% of Dalit women are educated, I have commited
my self to doing something to improve their horrible lives by
awakening them from the grassroots level.
I am a young woman fighting against caste and gender discrimination.
I have had many bitter experiences when I work, going to visit
the rural areas, as well as in the capital city of Nepal. I
have to face caste probelms for example I am not allowed to
enter into the temple, use public water taps, restaurants and
houses of so called higher castes, something even a dog can
do. A UNICEF report said that about 60% of Dalit women are victims
of trafficking because of their poverty. These are all factors
that foster my energy to move ahead as a Dalit woman activitist.
(As part of my work) I am involved in gathering information
on those events of inhumane behaviour toward Dalit people. I
am building a coalition and support network to influence opponents
for positive change and to reduce the inhumane acts upon us.
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Now I am working for The Feminist Dalit
Organization (FEDO) the only Dalit women's organization in Nepal.
I am a central board member and the district president. I have
been working since it started as a volunteer. We have about
300 general members in Dhankuta. We work at the grassroots level
because we belive that if we can create change from the bottom
to the top there will be effective results and we will not have
to hang our heads.
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FEDO was established with the mission to uplift and empower
downtrodden Dalit women economically, educationally, socially
and politically and to advocate against caste and gender discrimination
from the grassroots level . By generating awarness and unity
among Dalit men and women, and by co-operating with our international
friends such problems will be wiped out. Walking "hand in hand"
it is not impossible to change the views of society and get
the justice of humanity.
I am also excited to get the chance to be a Bridging Worlds
volunteer in the USA through Jagriti International. I feel
this opportunity will build the capacity of my working abilities,
provide dialogues with various women and offer activities to
learn from, including the sharing of ideas, experience, knowledge
and skills. Thank you! |
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Kabita Upadhyay,*
Tewa
Kathmandu, Nepal |
"My Work at Tewa"
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Tewa is a philanthropic organization and
the only women's fund in Nepal. Tewa is a Nepali word which
means "support." The organization aims to increase the self-reliance
of Nepalese by reducing dependency on foreign donors and inculcating
the habit in Nepali men and women to donate regularly for the
sustaninable development of the country. Tewa works with a special
focus on women through grant making, identifying and prioritizing
emerging groups of rural women for the allocation and disbursement
of its grants.
Tewa tries to create awareness throughout Nepali society about
the value of philanthropic giving for equitable development
and the empowerment of women through its Volunteer Development
Program. Fund-raising training for urban housewives, and philanthropic
education to children, youth and senior citizen are the main
activities of this programme.
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| Tewa identifies,
trains, mentors and mobilizes cadres of volunteers, primarily
targeting educated, resourceful and privileged housewives.
They work towards disseminating and enhancing Tewa's philosophy
as well as to help in fund raising for Tewa. In doing
so, the volunteers expand their knowledge of development
issues and build their confidence. Through the volunteer
program, Tewa gives these educated housewives a forum
to share their joy and sorrow while also helping them
to realize their own strengths and skills. The forum is
also viewed as developing a sense of sisterhood |
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and community among urban women where
there is more isolation as a result of nuclear family structures
and internal migration. Thus the volunteer program has a two-fold
purpose. One, it expands learning and empowers the educated
urban women. Two, it provides these women with an opportunity
to extend support to the underprivileged grassroots women who
are heading toward their empowerment and who are change-makers
in their communities.
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Tewa gives three-day fund raising training
to the interested volunteers. The volunteers make a moral commitment
to work for Tewa for an initial three to four month period,
which is also called the mentoring period. Four to five follow-up
meetings are organized during the mentoring period. In every
follow-up meeting a resource person who is an expert in the
issue selected, is invited to talk on current development issues.
Likewise, the volunteers are also given a chance to share their
fund raising experiences so as to help them improve their presentation
skills. Thus within the mentoring period, volunteers get a chance
to develop their capacity and realize their potential while
exploring the space to best utilize their talent. The mentoring
period ends on graduation day when volunteers can make a choice
to continue or conclude their commitment with Tewa. Those continuing
will join the volunteer alumni, which is a loose network where
they can meet each other on a monthly basis and share their
experiences and learn from resource persons as well as continue
to help in fund raising and other activities of Tewa.
Up until now, Tewa has trained 258 volunteers out of whom 15
are men. More than 100 volunteers are associated with the alumni.
Together they have raised more than NRs.1,000,098 ($ 12,863)
and have brought in 1,359 Nepali donors during their mentoring
period. This is a huge amount for Nepal, and none of this would
have been utilized for development purposes had it not been
for the volunteers.
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Tewa is like a maternal home for some of the volunteers
and a learning space for others. A few say that they found
the meaning of their lives only after coming to Tewa since
they had lost all hope and love for life after the death
of their husband. One volunteer, who is diabetic, says
she forgot her illness, and is now motivated to help others
whenever she can. Tewa means different things for different
volunteers. It is like a huge deep ocean where every sea
creature can find its own space and gets its due share.
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| Tewa Volunteers
Group Photo |
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Motivating and mobilizing volunteers for fund raising is challenging
work. I am directly involved in selecting, training and mentoring
the volunteers and I conduct all the volunteer development programs.
Though this work is very challenging it is also equally satisfying.
In my opinion the volunteer program is for the empowerment of
urban, educated, resourceful housewives who have very little
say in family decision-making. Through this program Tewa is
trying to bridge the class, caste and geographic gap among women,
so both can mutually gain from each other and help create a
just and equitable society.
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| *Kabita was elected as the first alternate
in case one of the two emerging leaders selected are unable
to participate. |
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| Maryma Scotlin, Centre
for Women's Development & Research (CWDR) Chennai,
India |
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I was born on the 25th of
June, 1974 to Mrs. Aruna and Mr. Ebenezer Sargunam, in Alankulam,
a place situated in the tip of Cape Comorin on the Indian Sub
continent. I was christened as Maryma Scotlin on my first birthday,
and my nickname is "Scotty." Ours is a nuclear family. My parents
settled in Chennai (formerly Madras), a metropolitan city where
my mother has worked as a primary school teacher for the past
thirty years, employed in this state government job. My father,
trained in machinery works, worked for nearly thirty years,
but voluntarily retired from active work due to chronic asthmatic
complaints. I have a brother who is four years younger than
me, who after his higher secondary education now runs a small
scale industry (mechanic shop) under the guidance of my father.
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| I graduated
from English literature in the year 1994 and I was the
first college graduate in my family. Without any specific
reasons I went for my post graduation in English Literature
and finished it in the year 1996. All my schooling and
college were done in women's institutions. Since I was
a civil service aspirant then, I wished to do an additional |
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post graduate course
in one of the social sciences. Doing my schooling in primarily
women's institutions, I had very little exposure with
the opposite sex. I began my master's degree in Anthropology
at the University of Madras in 1997 and finished it with
a first class in 1999. By this time, I realized that I
had become a burden to my parents. So I approached my
professor to employ me in any of his projects. This was
how I got my first job as a research assistant in June
1999 in a project entitled "An Ethnography of a Tribe"
sponsored by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
I spent a year living in a remote tribal settlement to
bring out the ethnography. Since I was not paid properly
I did not want to continue doing projects for him. With
that experience I started looking for jobs and I got a
position in an NGO.
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My career in NGO's was accidental but today I feel it
suits me from all angles and for very good reasons. I
was able to make a compromise between an NGO career and
civil service because both involve individuals working
directly with the people. I am very energetic, flexible,
love to travel a lot and have chosen to remain single,
so that I can spend more hours for others rather than
for myself.
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Pushpa
N. Prakash, Guild of Women Achievers (GOWA)
Bangalore, India |
| I am Pushpa N. Prakash. I
am an Indian born in Bangalore Karanataka. My father was in
the defense service hence my schooling was in the Kendriya Vidyalaya,
a Central Government school as it was a transferable job. Most
of my schooling was in different parts of North India and later
in South India. My collegiate education was in Bangalore. As
I was interested in Biological science, my graduation was in
CBZ (Chemistry, Botany and Zoology). Later I did my post |
| Pushpa N. Prakash
presenting |
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graduation in Personnel Management
from NIPM (National Institute Of Personnel Management) Bangalore
chapter. I have worked in different commercial establishments
but I wanted to do something different. That is when I came
across GOWA (Guild Of Women Achievers) where I have been working
for the past year. Organizing and coordinating various activities
of the organization and day to day administration are my responsibilities.
Fund raising for the organization is the subject I would like
to pursue during my training in USA. As I have been traveling
right from my childhood I have a passion for traveling and meeting
new people. My other hobbies are gardening, sports, reading
and listening to music. In my free time I love to be in the
garden watering my plants. In sports, volleyball is my favorite.
I have been a state level champion and have received various
prizes for the same.
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