Feature Stories

Back to School

Dang, June 2008

Sita, now 14, is one of the five daughters of Chetnath Pariyar and Kamala Devi Pariyar from the Dalit community. Sita also has two brothers. Her family lives in a remote and hilly village of Dang Purungchheda, Kavre Village Development Committee (VDC). Her parents work as tailors.

Sita was going to school but when her brothers reached admission age, her parents decided to pay for schooling of their sons and Sita was asked to support the family by learning tailoring like her elder sisters as well as participating in the household work. At that time she was in grade five.

The Rural Women Development Center (RWDC) started a project in the same VDC in partnership with UNFPA/GoN's Population and Reproductive Health Integrated Community Based Programme (PARHI CBP) in 2007. As a part of the project, Female Social Facilitators (FSFs) began community mobilization to raise awareness on the availability of reproductive health services at the local health facilities. RWDC also organized interaction and orientation programmes for community people to talk about early marriage and having children at a tender age. They also talked about the implications of having a heavy workload during pregnancy and soon after the delivery as well as available family planning methods. The Female Social Facilitators organized meetings to talk about adolescence and sexual reproductive health. Sita’s mother attended a few of these activities. Sita’s elder sister enrolled in ‘Choose your future’ training organized by the Women Development Section (WDO) another part of the PARHI Community Based Programme.

PARHI CBP focuses on socially excluded groups such as the Dalits, Janajaties and Muslims. The major purpose of the programme is to create demand for reproductive health related services. While focusing on reproductive health, PARHI CBP’s approach is always holistic. So among other things, the Female Social Facilitators collected the names of Dalit girls in need of scholarships to continue their education. Luckily for Sita, her name was included in this list.

Sita received a scholarship of 1,000 rupees from RWDC and 500 rupees from the District Education Office (DEO). Her parents added 200 rupees and bought a goat in her name. The goat is worth now around 4,500 rupees.

She joined school in class 6, and studied hard while also supporting her parents in their profession. At present, she is among the top three students in her class. She and her parents are very pleased with her achievements. Sita doesn't want to leave the school again and is determined to get her SLC in the future. It is very likely that she will succeed as her parents are now committed to support all their daughters in getting an education.

By Balkrishna Chaudhary

---

Back to Top     Back to Feature Stories