Who Runs the World? Women Do!

Across the world, women play a crucial yet often under-appreciated role in every aspect of society. Our partner communities in remote Eastern Nepal are no exception to this. Women here assume more traditional gender roles - they manage the household and farming chores, they run the community groups that build and preserve their society and culture. In our dZi projects, women are the most crucial participants in every program that we conduct with our partner community. We take extra steps to ensure that the leadership, experience, and wisdom of local women are incorporated into all of our project activities.

In honor of International Women's Day, we have put together a photo series dedicated to all the strong, resilient, awe-inspiring and amazing women of all ages who make our world something we are proud to be a part of.

Family caretakers

Across Nepal, women assume the roles of taking care of the home and the family. This ranges from cooking, cleaning, and washing to taking care of the children, farming, and fetching water. Just about everything crucial to survival in our partner communities rests on their shoulders.

Female FArmers

Physically challenging farm work such as plowing and felling trees is typically seen as the domain of men, the work assigned to women is deceptively hard. From digging fields by hand to carrying heavy loads of firewood, women are an integral part of the subsistence agriculture system.

CAring for livestock

Having a cow or other livestock in rural Nepal takes a tremendous amount of work. Women are responsible for bringing farm animals to and from remote pastures, collecting grasses and fodder from the deep jungle, and also overseeing animal health. In recent years, men have more frequently begun to migrate outside of rural villages in search of employment - this has forced women to assume traditional male jobs in addition to their already heavy workload. In the past, it was considered bad luck for women to even touch the rough wooden plowshares used to till the small terraces - but that tradition too, is changing quickly.

Women artisans

Women are also the ones who are preserving and continuing the traditional crafts found in many of our communities. From weaving clothes made out of a natural nettle fiber, to making household items like straw mattresses or bamboo baskets - these women are crucial for preserving local traditions, culture, and beauty.

Women-Driven Development

Women community members are also an integral part of all dZi community development projects. Women are the ones carrying stones to project sites so that their children can study in safe schools. Women participate vocally in local Parent Teacher Associations and serve as board members or staff of our local NGO partners. In a departure from traditional norms, we have begun to teach local women how to construct and repair complex drinking water systems.

As men continue to migrate in search of paying work, women are increasingly assuming leadership roles in the community. In the community of Maheshwori, one large drinking water project was managed exclusively by a committee of women. It comes as no surprise that this project was finished exactly on time, with an extremely high quality of construction.

In our newest program, we are working with more than 50 women stovemasters to build Improved Cook Stoves (ICS) in over 1200 homes which will make indoor kitchen smokefree. Below, Narita Rai a stovemaster from Chheskam smiles proudly in front of the ICS that she built for her home. Narita will be helping over two dozen houses of her neighborhood build these ICS within May of 2018.

keepers of tradition

Women are at the forefront of preserving local traditions and cultures in our partner communities. Women artisans, shamans, and participants perform annual religious and cultural rituals, they also make beautiful jewelry and ornaments - following traditions that have been thriving for hundreds of years. One 80 year-old Kulung grandmother has lovingly preserved the ancient traditional ornaments that have been passed down for generations, and wears them with pride. Others make daily offerings of water to large statues to maintain the vitality of remote Buddhist monasteries. Every month, many women from Hindu families partake in long fasts to appease the gods and bring prosperity to the family.

If you travel through our partner communities you may come upon women dressed in white robes laced with porcupine quills, dancing and shaking in a shamanistic trance. Later you may find young girls lighting butter lamps or burning incense and making offerings of bright flowers to the gods. Women maintain both the economic and spiritual prosperity of every family in these rich and diverse villages.

BORN TO LEAD

At dZi, we pride ourselves on having many women working in a variety of roles throughout our organization. This applies to our local partner NGOs as well. Women are on the board of NGOs and they act as chairpersons of local farmer's groups. Earning new income is of particular interest to women participants in our agriculture programs - sources of cash can empower them to take better care of the family or to purchase well-deserved personal items. By and large, women are the first to innovate and take risks - especially when it comes to bringing new crops to market.

Women are the present, and the future

It sounds cliche, but every day in rural Nepal is women's day. At dZi, we are continually inspired by how hard women work to bring a vibrancy to their families, their farms, and their communities. In addition to carrying massive loads, digging crops, threading pipe, managing schools, participating in committees, raising children, and so much more - these women never fail to pause and flash us a massive smile.

At dZi, we are striving to simply be this capable and strong. We're working as hard as we can, and we hope this story has inspired you as much as women here inspire us every single day.

Thanks to our friend Abiral Rai who has let us use some of his photos in this blog.