Reproductive Health for 500 Dalit Women in Nepal

Saraswati, 25, is a remarkable Dalit woman. Despite the low levels of Dalits completing even high school she has managed to not only finish high school, but also earn her Bachelors. Even more, she is now working on her Masters in Sociology in order to “get a job in the social sector and help women who are deprived from so many opportunities.” She boldly asserts, “I want to be the medium for these women to get their opportunities.” EDWON is proud to champion such women and to say that Saraswati is one of our Fieldworkers.

As the Fieldworker for Baglung, Saraswati helped to organize the Baglung Reproductive Health Workshop in May and make sure it ran smoothly. Not only that, EDWON also invited her to attend the Workshop due to her status as an important community member who could pass on the knowledge she gained to the five Baglung Women’s Groups.

This month EDWON caught up with Saraswati to hear more about her experiences of the Baglung Workshop and how she has used the knowledge she gained to help herself and her community.

First of all, Saraswati reports that the Workshop atmosphere was very encouraging for the women who might not have shared their experiences otherwise “because of shame.” Furthermore, from the Workshop she learned many vital lessons on topics ranging from breast cancer to child marriage.

However, one simple but important takeaway for Saraswati was how critical it is to ask women to go to the health worker when they are experiencing any kind of medical problem—in rural regions of Nepal people don’t assume that a medical professional could help them so the Workshop stresses the importance of seeking out a health worker when in need. Clearly the women heard the importance of that message as Saraswati attests to. Now she reports, “I help the women in the community by advising them to go to the health worker when they are suffering from all different kinds of health problems.”

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