For women, by women | Feature

KONG YEN LIN

It's Sunday afternoon and inside a small green room of Tell-In cyber café in Pokhara, a quiet energy is pulsating away. Durga Bhandari, the editor of Kaski Sandesh, a weekly women's newspaper, scratches furiously away on a notepad, her attention rapt. A younger freelance reporter is busy proofreading the copies. At quarter past six, two sisters, a bank cashier and a social worker, arrived from work to help in the paper's production.

On Monday morning, the paper goes to print and gets distributed to newsstands and about 1,500 households. Established about one and half years ago by seven founding members, Kaski Sandesh is a deceptively simple newspaper, but all of its six pages are packed with information ranging from hard-hitting local news, opinions and columns, health and beauty tips, financial and legal advice for women, international news, and gender issues.

Apart from the editor, the rest of the team have other day jobs. Participation is voluntary, with members themselves forking out money to pay for the printing and distribution costs. The biggest obstacle besides financial difficulties, as Durga identifies for most female journalists, is marriage. "Most married women leave their careers to be full-time housewives. Many of their husbands are also not supportive of them working," she says.

But she was an exception. A teacher from Jhapa, she pursued journalism professionally in Pokhara after getting married 13 years ago. Motherhood was also no barrier. While working in various print, radio and TV media, she carried her six-month-old daughter to the field as there was no-one to look after her.

"Thankfully my husband is very supportive and understanding, probably because he is also a newspaper editor," Durga says. Also the president of Sancharika Samuha, a women journalists group in Western Nepal, she was recently awarded a women's empowerment mention from the Ministry of Children and Women welfare on World Women's Day this year.

Other part-timers on the team like Mina Gurung waited for decades before pursuing their passion for journalism. The 43-year-old is the owner of three beauty parlours (two in Pokhara and one in Kathmandu), Lions Club member, treasurer of the Gurung Reporters' Club and founder of the Ex-Gurkha's Women Association.

Formerly a news presenter with the British Forces Broadcasting Services 29 years ago in Hong Kong, while her husband served in the British army, she left the career after her growing businesses and motherhood demanded more time. The energetic lady is now working on publishing a book titled Prapti, featuring success stories of women in Nepal.

"I've always been interested in journalism but I couldn't give it time when I was younger," says the mother of three, " Finally, I can concentrate on my dream of reading and writing." She expresses that women journalists have to balance work with family, be bold enough to work with men and most importantly, struggle. The key, she says, is not to lose hope.

Besides being driven by a common passion for news reporting, most women on the team feel that most media houses lack a proper environment for female journalists. Teasing from male colleagues, discrimination and harassment are some of the problems. "There should be company policies ensuring safety and respect for women reporters," says Durga, "as we are equally competent and shouldn't be treated as second-class workers."

The newspaper is currently being distributed across 1,500 homes in Pokhara among 4,000 individuals. And the team is setting their sights on bigger goals. "It's been our dream to get more women journalists on board and possibly expand to multiple platforms like an all-women's FM or TV station," says Durga, with a glimmer in her eyes.

Each copy of Kaski Sandesh is available at Rs 5 per copy at newsstands in Kaski. Annual subscription is priced at Rs 360. Log on to www.977nepal.com/kaskisandesh for the online version.