Bangladesh - Belgium

Citizens’ Voice and Accountability Evaluation – Bangladesh Country Case Study
Table 2. Most significant change analysis, conducted by focus group of CMC
members, 10 th December 2007 (8 women), Rishi Para in Kiddipur village (A
Hindu village of cobbler occupational caste)
What has been the most significant change in the past ten years?
• Our children didn’t go to school before. Now they are getting an education.
• The CMC has a new experience of working together
• We have changed as a result of our CMC membership. We feel happy to be involved
and we have much more confidence
• People from other villages used to call us by derogatory names (“rishi”) but now we
feel that they treat us with more respect 60
• We see education for our children as the key to removing our problems and giving
them a better future with more opportunities
• Teacher: I see more responsibility on the part of these women beyond their role in the
CMC, e.g. mediating conflict within the Para and visiting parents’ houses to get them
to send their children to school 61
• The houses in this community are now better built and the community is now neat
and clean. People have TVs and now can save money. These improvements are due
to NGO activity, including ROSC, BRAC micro credit activity and an Education centre
for Adults.
60 This Hindu low caste community feels pressured and degraded in some instances by some
surrounding Muslim communities.
61 The ROSC school teacher in this village is actually a village resident which is a great
advantage and “almost unique” in ROSC.
97