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Spotlight On Manushi, Nepal
| Women of
Panchkal Women's Cooperative |
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"Before we had the help of Manushi we were in a deep well, looking
up and only able to see a small piece of the sky. Now, with
their help we're able to see how big that sky really is."
Women of Panchkal Women's
Cooperative
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Manushi
for Sustainable Development, based in Kathmandu, Nepal, aims
to promote a development ethos based on gender, equality, transparency,
social justice and self reliance. Employing just three full-time
office staff and field staff of 49, Manushi implements projects
in civic education, community empowerment, HIV/AIDS prevention,
watershed management, income generation and gender awareness.
To generate sustainable funds for the organization, Manushi
has three sources of revenue: 1) a local primary school serving
400 students 2) a "Fair Trade" handicrafts shop, providing marketing
for local women's craft work and 3) board members donating 25%
of their personal consultant fees to the organization.
In January 2003 Jagriti representatives had the honor to meet
with six women from Panchkal Village District Community (VDC)
and learned, first hand, about the impact of Manushi's community
empowerment program on local women.
In 1995 with the assistance of a Nepal government program, a
group of village women created savings and credit groups. Within
two years they created a "women's cooperative" used by local
women like a bank. Women in the cooperative, who managed small
household garden plots, decided to provide seeds and training
in vegetable gardening to other women in the community. As a
result of this initiative more than 300 women joined the cooperative.
With more than 300 members, the founders of the coop realized
that to be effective they needed to improve their organizational
and management skills - - especially in issues related to governance,
accounting and transparency. In 2000 they approached Manushi
who now provides a full-time resource person to work with the
Cooperative. In this VDC there are 2,212 households with a population
of 12,000 of which 50% are women. Today 712 women are members
of the cooperative.
On-going problems in the community identified by the women include
domestic violence, gambling and alcohol abuse. Today the cooperative
has over 4,000,000 Rs (approximately $53,000) and activities
include:
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| 1) |
Income generating projects
including flori-culture, Goat and Pig raising (for Dalit
- members of the untouchable caste, ultra poor)
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Awareness raising through
training programs, street drama (intended to bring about
gender sensitivity in men), a speech competition on women
rights, and film demonstrations (e.g. HIV/AIDS)
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A cooperative store
- selling fertilizer with the goal of producing their
own organic fertilizer
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Offering credit of 5,000
- 15,000 Rs per person depending on the need. (They have
nearly a 100% rate of loan repayment.) |
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Future activities include:
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| 1) |
Library establishments |
| 2) |
Organic Farming |
| 3) |
Women's participation in Local Elections.
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| Kanchhi
Danwar, Jhala Kumari Dulal, Jamura and her daughter
Prabha |
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Nepal is not a land of many different castes. Only two
- - men and women!
Panchkal Women's
Cooperative motto
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Jhala Kumari Dulal, the Chairperson of
the coop, who is "functionally literate" and a charismatic leader,
claims that "The women of our village are not empowered until
75% of them are able to make their own decisions." She estimates
that this will require approximately five years of work. "Before
we had the help of Manushi we were in a deep well, looking up
and only able to see a small piece of the sky. Now, with their
help we're able to see how big that sky really is."
Fortunately this group has been spared from Maoist activities.
The group is well accepted and appreciated by the community.
Domestic violence continues to be a major issue, but the street
dramas, which are greatly enjoyed by the men in the village,
have raised awareness. Increased government and police support
facilitated by the co-op has also contributed to a slight decline
in domestic violence.
Kanchhi Danwar, a Dalit woman, currently serving on the Cooperative
Board, described her life with nine children (four boys and
five girls). Eight years ago, through the cooperative she received
a loan for raising vegetables. With profits from her vegetables,
which people now come to the field to buy, she has bought land.
In fact, with the consent of her husband she has placed two
of the seven plots in her own name, which is highly unusual
in Nepalese society as Nepalese Women have less legal control
over land and other assets. Except for her two eldest daughters,
who were responsible for caring for the younger children, all
her other children have gone to school - - a privilege that
growing up as a typically landless Dalit, she was never able
to enjoy.
| Subhadra Adhikari, another of the board
members, has become involved in local politics and she
also attributes her success to the support and leadership
training received from Manushi. Her husband is also supportive
and because of his support she has been able to "step
out." During her first village meeting as a ward representative,
when she arrived the nine other |
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| Subhadra,
Cooperative Board member and candidate for election
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members, all men, were already seated. She wondered "how can
I sit with all these men?" Now five years later, and with the
support from other women and Manushi, she feels more empowered
and she has moved even beyond her own village to work at the
district level.
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