Women taken under the wing

28 November, 2007 – The first light of day is yet to appear in Jangtsephu, a remote village in Toetso gewog of Trashiyangtse, bordering the Indian province of Tawang. In a small cottage there, 50-year old Jamyang has completed her household chores.

Accompanied by her daughter and daughter-in-law, she treks down the badly eroded slope, illuminating the track with bunch of lighted bamboo in her hand.
After almost five hours of descent, they reach the highway in Khamdang and manage to hitch a ride on a pick-up truck.

An hour later, they step down at the legendary Gom Kora, where other women from her gewog, Tongzhang, Khamdang, and Jamkhar join her.

They normally make a trip like this for festive occasions, this time they have come to Gom Kora to attend the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa women’s wing meeting.

“Only a woman can understand women better,” said Jamyang, who survived on orange and groundnut sales in Tawang. “In such a holy place, angels have come to listen to our sorrows,” she said.

The women’s wing of Druk Phuensum Tshogpa entered the east with fresh enthusiasm for women voters from rural places, whose every day life is rife with different challenges.

In an interactive meeting held on November 26, the women voters from four gewogs learned a few things about the unfolding political scenario.

Most of the women Kuensel spoke to had come from backgrounds that had no access to roads; fetching water and firewood, contributing labour, enduring farm works were daily physical challenges; in addition, abuse at home by their husbands was a reality.

“I come from a place where hardship has become a way of life. At one point of time, I’d almost given up but now, with a change of system, I’m filled with hope to find an alternative for a better life,” said Jamyang.

“I used to hear about parties and votes during farm work and at home but I always felt I’ve got nothing to do with it,” said Kunzang from Larjab, about a two-hour walk from the Trashigang-Trashiyangtse highway. “Now I realise that my single vote could free our girl children from abuse and social discrimination.”

Meanwhile, DPT women’s wing urged the more than 200 women present on the day to take active part in the political process, stressing that women have equal ability and intelligence as men. They were also asked to make use of their freedom and right to make a choice rather than depending upon their husband’s opinion.

Women were introduced to the party logo and warned of false promises and bribery. Awareness was made on social issues like physical harassment and teenage pregnancy. They were told that women, mothers, and the girl child, who would become mothers one day, should make the right decision as it would directly affect their children in future.

Meanwhile, the women’s wing stressed their trip was more than wooing voters for the party.

“We’ve come together to find a solution concerning women and whether the party wins or loses, we will continue to strive on these issues,” said the secretary of the wing, Dechen Choden. “In spite of being equally capable and intelligent, women have always been underrepresented,” she said. This was because of cultural reasons.

She said women constituted about 49 percent of voters and it could be higher with religious institutes forbidden to vote.

But for now, the wing was focusing on creating awareness on domestic problems, informing about the type of support available and means to access it.

At about 5:00 pm, climbing back on the DCM truck, provided by one of the party tshopas, Jamyang said she was assured that her daughters would have much more comfortable lives. “My only responsibility is to vote for a good party,” she said.

November 20, 2007 – The women’s tshogpa is enroute and hve begun their familiarisation trip to the East.

Please refer to the attachement for their daily programme.