The passion and enthusiasm shown by the attendees was infectious, especially as Janet had them turning nursery rhymes into hard news stories and other adventurous activities! It was surprising to see that despite in many cases significant education and experience and being able to recite the theory, the women found it challenging to apply some of the principles being taught. This is a problem reflective of the education system in Nepal, where the method of teaching does not place any focus on comprehension or application but rather only on memorising facts.
The position of women in journalism is indicative of the wider situation for women in Nepal in that they are not given the same opportunities and pay as men and often struggle to be recognized as experienced, credible journalists. The women journalists we have spoken with tend to want to report on issues close to them such as children and social matters and these are things that desperately need wider coverage to raise awareness in Nepal. We will be continuing to work with WWJ to develop more expansive programs to help up skill these wonderful, inspiring women so they can help increase awareness of the issues facing women in Nepal.
Thank you so much to Janet for stepping outside her comfort zone and running this program. It was a great success and we hope to be able to continue to run more of these types of programs with her in the future.
We must give a big ‘thank you’ to Equal Access here as well. They are an NGO (non-government organisation) working in Nepal, as well as other countries, to provide greater access to information and education through community based radio programs. Equal Access provided the use of their conference room and in-house catering facilities for the 2 day course and this was a fantastic help.
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