Many women died in childbirth, leading to high rates of maternal mortality. Indicators for children's health showed high incidents of prolonged morbidity and mortality from diarrhea, pneumonia and other infectious diseases.
Most women depended on the male members of their households to escort them to health centers, whether the centers were private or were operated by the government or GK. Also, women rarely had any cash, which further restricted their ability to use medical services.
The oppression women face in a conservative, rural society and the increasing trend toward divorce, abandonment and non-support by husbands, meant that more and more women were helpless, with no family resources, no work and no non-familial institution to turn to for help.
Gonoshasthaya Kendra determined to create opportunities for women to learn to read, write and do mathematical calculations, and to earn an income. That is why although GK began as a clinical health program, it added income-generation and education activities for women as broader approach to fostering women's health.
One Woman's Story
One case point was a woman living in the village of Gazir Chat, near the Savar GK campus. Let us call her Monoara. The male members of Monoara's family harvested rice from their fields and then expected the women members of the family to thresh and process the rice grains. Processing rice grains involves long hours of hot work, often in the hot sum. Monoara could not take part in the women's work because she suffered from excessive bleeding following the use of contraceptive pills. Because she could not work, she had become a financial liability for her husband's poor family and the family members demanded that she return to her father's home. (Married women traditionally leave their father's home and move into the home of their husband's family.) However, Monoara knew that by returning to her father's home, she would ruin the marriage prospects of her younger sisters. Her father would have less money to pay for their dowries. Also, the families of prospective husbands would wonder whether she was at fault for the failure of her marriage and suspect that the younger sisters might not be good wives.
Fearing that she had no other viable option, Monoara attempted to kill herself by swallowing pesticides. She was brought to the GK health center in an unconscious state and despite the best efforts of GK staff, she passed away.
Monoara is a fictional name, but this story is based on the real events of one woman's life. Many women have suffered similar fates when their families or their husbands' families treated as a financial drain because she was not earning an income.
Gonoshasthaya Kendra believes that as women become more economically self-reliant, they will gain respect and increase the economic and social security of their lives. GK ‘s Nari Kendra provides basic education and training in both traditional jobs, such as sewing, and non-traditional occupations, such as welding, carpentry and boiler operation. GK believes that men and women should receive equal pay for equal work. Among Nari Kendra workers, 90% are female. Among the paramedics, 80% are female.
Specific objectives of Nari Kendra: |
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To break the traditional domestic role of women.
To create equal employment opportunities for women in a male- dominated society.
To develop women's leadership and management capacity.
To provide training in marketable skills.
To establish an example of what women can do if opportunities are created for them.
To build social awareness of women's fundamental rights.
