Let the training begin!

Today marked the first day of 6 weeks of training for women in the Women’s Cooperative Society (WCS) across the Kathmandu Valley.  Each session is held for 4 days from 11am to 4pm, to accommodate the women’s schedule, which is busy with family and home, farm or work, and community.  This is what we call the triple burden of women.

The day started out with myself and Jeny, my new research assistant, waiting roadside for the WCS truck to come get us.  As a side note, the SAARC convention which is the meeting of the south Asian nations is happening next week so this week, the government has decided it’s time to fix up roads, bridges, fences, flag poles and a number of other things that are making the city look run down.  They’re doing it this week, when the meeting is… next week.  So nevertheless the traffic was a nightmare and the truck came about 40 minutes late.  Then on to the WCS office to get the whiteboard and a couple more people, then back on the road to face the traffic again. At one point I remember texting Nathan saying we were 2 hours late for a 4 hours training meeting.

After getting off the main road, we went down continually narrower and narrower roads until we arrived at the small shrine in Balaju where the women were all waiting very patiently, books and pens poised for the training to commence.   First there were several speeches and introductions, and then a blessing ceremony with tikka (red powder this time with rice in it) placed on our foreheads, and a wreath of marigolds placed about each of our necks. Then some candle lighting and more clapping and I think a couple more introductions and then we were underway.

 

The training had a 20 question pre-quiz, which they had completed that morning, a post quiz will also be done on the last day.  The women were given the options to know their scores privately, anonymously or have their scores read out loud in front of the group.  In true spirit of camaraderie and sisterhood, they opted to have everyone’s score read out loud because they were all in it together.   Interestingly, the scores seemed to have the usual bell curve that any university class would have, a few really low, a bunch in the middle, and a few superstars.

During the training we were hoping of course to do the interview questionnaire with the women, but I also felt it was important to stay for the duration of the 4 days so we can see what they are learning, how, and what kind of interaction happens as far as what the women are seeking to learn and so forth.

After the first bunch of speeches, one WCS staff got up to have people identify their biggest challenges in growing vegetables.  Potato burn, bad seed, clumping spinach… the list went on until some murmuring happened in the group and one lady, seemingly the leader called out “We want to be paid better for all the hard work we do!”  This was received with what I would call, minimal response.

I read an article in the Kathmandu Post the other day which basically said the traders or wholesalers are colluding on price fixing. In fact, they would meet, and set the prices for the eastern part of the country, including Kathmandu.  I have been tracking prices on the marketing board website and I noticed that sometimes the retail price would go up and up and the wholesale price (that the farmer gets) would remain static.   This is a big issue to wrap your head around, because it would appear that no matter how hard the women work to learn new skills and feel more confident in their decisions, if the wall they hit is price fixing they will never really change or improve anything.

During some of the speeches I noticed one young woman yawning a bit and shortly thereafter an older woman carried in a baby for her to breastfeed. It was a momentary reminder to me of what the women had to do just to be sitting on that mat waiting to learn things that could potentially change their lives.  I hope I can hear more from some of the staff as to their opinion on how they can get not just ‘better prices’ but what should be considered ‘more fair’ prices for the products farmers grow.

A nice open air setting for 4 days of Advanced Seasonal and Off Season Vegetable Farming training.