A ROLE MODEL WOMAN
65 years old, Geeta Devi Kafle of "Janaklyan Women's Group", Mahottari district gave up the long held caste discrimination practice.
She has been a role model of the Khayarmara VDC of Mahottari district. Now she eats what so-called Dalit (Untouchable) people give her. She allows Dalits in her home. The women's group participated in the Cornerstones training and changed their philosophy toward the age-old caste discrimination practice.
In Nepali phenomenon the society is divided into caste groups with hierarchy. Those of the so-called higher caste (Brahmin, Chhetrri) discriminate against the lower caste (Dalits). The level of discrimination is inhumane to the effect that Dalits are considered untouchable and ostracized from the society.
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Success Stories
Lila Tamang
Battling the odds of life
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Lila Tamang, the eldest among the six children in her family in a rural village of Thanagaun, Sunkhani in Nuwakot faced extreme poverty since her birth. At a tender age of six, she had to work at fields, take care of animals, collect firewood and look after her siblings. When she reached adolescence, she received many proposals for marriage but she denied them all. Being the eldest child, she took all the responsibilities of the house and got all her siblings married that left home one after the other.
Lila remained celibate all her life to take care of her ailing and aged parents. She made her earnings by selling firewood collected from a nearby jungle. Her life became difficult when the firewood collection was banned. Her struggle to survive became harder when her parents were dying and she could not provide them any medical care.
However, she never gave up her hopes and continued her struggle for better life. In 1993, she discovered about Heifer Project. In her leadership, she formed a group of poor women in her village and approached Heifer Project for support. In 1995, “Women’s Buffalo Raising Project” was implemented in her village. Each member received one buffalo and training in buffalo husbandry, fodder grass seeds and seedlings. They were also trained in group management.
In 1998, her buffalo gave birth to a female calf. On an average, this buffalo gave six liters of milk per day. She reconstructed her house from the income of milk sale. She also fed buffalo milk to her sister’s children. Vegetables and crop production in her kitchen garden increased from the use of buffalo manure. She invested her income in three goats and a few local chickens. She also maintained a beautiful garden of fodder trees, which contains Ipil ipil, Napier grass, Gogun, Chuletro, Kutmiro, Amriso, and Dudhe, and fruits like apple, pear, peach, and plum trees.
Her dedication was not limited to her home alone. The village was facing potable water shortage that time. On Lila’s group’s request, Heifer provided construction material for the water project and the group provided labor. During the construction, she alone volunteered 55 days of labor while the labor of the whole group was only 20 days. For this outstanding contribution, she received an ‘Appreciation Certificate’ from the then Assistant Minister Kamala Pant. She has also pioneered a movement against gambling and alcohol in the village.
In November 1999, she passed on one calf as a gift to another needy woman of the village. She continues to pass on the gift of her knowledge and skill to her community members and to folks of the neighboring villages.
Written in June 2000
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