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
Radhika Subedi
Spreading the happiness
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“Today is your group meeting day, let me help you with the household chores,” says Mana Ram Subedi, Radhika’s husband. He takes pride in his wife’s achievements and endeavors.
Radhika’s husband was not cooperative only few years also. He feared that his wife would be successful and stopped her to explore her potentials outside the boundaries of his house.
Born in an educated family at Jhapa where her father was a merchant and mother a teacher, Radhika got to study till tenth grade till she was married at the age of 17. When she was married to Mana Ram of Kathmandu, capital city of Nepal, she had dreamed of an easy city life. But the reality turned out to be different when she saw poor economic condition of her husband’s house. Her disappointed augmented when she faced hostile attitude of her in-laws. She was frustrated to find a conservative community and illiterate neighbors with deep rooted superstitious beliefs leading to caste discrimination, gender injustice, domestic violence and many other social evils.
Radhika’s husband, a junior administrative staff in government office was the only earning member of the family. Little produce from a small piece of land they owned was not sufficient for the whole family. Food was always scarce in her family.
Five years later, when she was at her maternal home to give birth to her second child, she appeared for School Leaving Certificate (SLC) exam and passed in second division. She was overwhelmed with this accomplishment but her joy didn't last long for her husband and family was not happy. Her husband was afraid that she would continue her studies and hold a higher degree than him.
As she continued to give birth to daughter, her family started to blame her for not giving birth to a son, an heir to the family. After the birth of her third daughter, her husband was almost ready for second marriage.
Radhika continued to struggle this mental and economical poverty. She always thought that everything would change if her in-laws were educated. So she convinced the chairperson of Village Development Committee (VDC) to start non-formal education in her community. Meanwhile, she also volunteered to form women group and facilitate the training. But her family didn’t approve what she was doing. They did not want her to step outside and work to reform the community. Her husband even asked to either choose him or the group. Radhika took this situation as a challenge and reached to a local NGO Women Awareness Group (WAG) to seek assistance.
WAG introduced Radhika and her group to Heifer. Heifer provided cornerstones training, group management training, goat management training, and two goats to each group member.
Heifer also provided gender and justice training to the group members along with their spouses. These trainings helped them to change their lives. Gender training proved to be an eye-opener to Radhika’s husband. He realized how harsh and inhumane he had been to such a loving and hardworking wife. His full support boosted Radhika and gave her new strength to work harder.
Empowered with newly acquired skills and animals, Radhika’s income increased, hence, increasing the availability of nutritious food and improved living condition. The income from the goat helped to send her daughters to school. She also started poultry farming and kitchen gardening which boosted her income.
She has already passed on a pair of goats to another needy family. Today she owns one milking cow, 7 goats and 200 broilers. She has also constructed a small gour room brick walled house. Her family members look happy and healthy.
Radhika doesn’t hesitate to give time and energy for the development of her group members. She has also coordinated with government agencies and arranged various income generating trainings such as manufacturing home made detergent soaps, candle and potato chips. To make all her group member literate, she has also facilitated Non Formal Education classes.
She has also contributed enormously for the development of her society. She led her group to gravel the mud road and to lay down drinking water pipe lines to her village. Her group also helped to form two women groups in nearby villages and trained them on Heifer cornerstones, goat management, group management, gender and justice and pass goats to them. Radhika regularly backstops these groups to solve their problems.
Similarly, Radhika is also actively involved in various awareness building programs like women health check-ups, vaccinations, community sanitation and personal hygiene. Seeing Radhika’s success, six of her group members have also started to raise broilers and commercial layers poultry.
Today, Radhika is content with her life and happily shares, “I want to share continue sharing my happiness to others to bring happiness in their lives.”
Written in May 2003
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