Putting Women in Leadership Roles

Aum Karma Choden is 45 years old and lives at Ura Village in Bumthang. She studied until fourth grade, but had to leave her studies to help her mother and sister at home while her three brothers continued their education. One of her brothers is a monk. Karma is married and has three children.

Being a housewife, Karma was a shy and reserved person and she hardly participated in community meetings.

In 2013, Karma attended one of the advocacy programs conducted by Ura READ Center. “I was really intrigued by the subject matter [women representation] and its importance,” says Karma. The program was a part of READ Bhutan’s project - Women Represent: Boosting Women’s Participation in the Public Sphere.

And since then she took part in all the activities and workshops conducted by Ura READ Center. “Due to the hectic schedule, it is difficult for women to attend such programs,” Karma admits. “But the Library [Ura READ Center] conducted most of the programs in the evening. That was good for us.”

Aum Karma Choden feels that of all the programs she attended, listening program and women’s discussion forum were highly effective.

Today, she is more confident with her life and developed a good camaraderie with her fellow community members. She is a member of Ura Women’s Group. She has understood the importance of women’s participation in the decision-making.

And that’s not all – Aum Karma surprised many in her community by getting elected as the Chairperson of Ura READ Center’s Library Management Committee. This is the first time a woman has ever held that position in all our READ communities. Aum Karma has shown the way forward and we hope more women would join her in all the communities.

Congratulations Aum Karma and her family for breaking the barriers. This is a very good first step made, For READ Bhutan, certainly this is a wonderful evidence of yet another successful program.

Comments

An endemic sense of place

A sense of place is a feeling that makes one feel at home and thereby at peace whenever he or she is in a particular area or think of one. It is the first impression or a deep sense of recognition that is deeply rooted in our memories. It is a feeling of happiness, and a sense of safety, an expression of endearment toward a particula r place (Cross 2001). Before I travelled to Perth for my studies, I used to work in Thimphu, though I was born and raised in a small village called Wamling in central Bhutan. Although Thimphu offers modern facilities and infrastructure, it is only back in the village that I feel entirely at home. It's here I get a sense of peace and experience a sense of belongingness; it's where I can genuinely be myself. In Wamling, our day breaks with a crowing of a rooster and mooing of cows in the distance. Somewhere a horse neighs, and another reciprocates from nearby. A dog howls and chickens chuckle in the coup. A stream gurgles down the hill turning p...

Utpal Academy - Bhutan's first All-girls High School

Academic Block Welcome to Bhutan’s first all-girls school. Isn’t that wonderful news to all our parents? Certainly, as a parent of a one-year old daughter I am excited about the coming of a school exclusively dedicated to the needs of girls. Our girls need special treatment, which we can for sure entrust the responsibility to Utal Academy, Paro. Dinning Hall I really like the name – Utpal – in Buddhist world, Utpal is another name for lotus flower, which is believed to grow from mud and yet blossoms into a beautiful and majestic flower. It stands for purity and many deities are depicted holding flower Utpal, more prominently Jestusn Dolma, the Goddess Tara. Symbolically, it also stands for the transformation of our girls. What an apt name for the school! Hostel Room The Principal’s message posted on the academy’s website promises providing our young women an “opportunity to participate fully in a wide range of extracurricular activities to develop skills and qualities that...

When they are ready

The Ministry of Education discovered 890 'underage' children admitted in schools across the country in 2019. Thus, the ministry in May 2019 issued a notification revoking the admission for these children. Majority were in urban centres. Desperate, parents and the affected schools requested the government to intervene. They also requested the government to consider lowering the enrolment age to five years. Currently, in Bhutan a child can legally go to school only when s(he) is six years old. And that policy was strictly followed a few years ago to the extent that some schools refused to admit children even if they were short of a few weeks. So, parents, mostly in urban areas, resorted to faking their children's ages. Many parents were guilty of adding years onto their children's actual ages. However, most parents, we are told, managed to correct their 'mistakes' later. Faking a child's age was rampant...

Nawang P Phuntsho

Search This Blog