Facilitating a workshop on gender with participants refusing to use the word ?sex? (still considered taboo in some circles) is quite challenging. Even worse, it is hard to get across issues of gender equality, when quite a few participants openly voice that women get raped because they look for it by the way they dress.

At a recent workshop, many arguments erupted to justify why women cannot go into politics. Quite a few male participants thought this was a male domain.

?This goes beyond cultural barriers. We respect women but we do not like to see them on the campaign trail. Women are better at looking after the family.? The reasons put forward reminded one of the Stone A ge when men used to go out to hunt while women were caring for their families.

However, during a role-play one of arguments put forward by a male councillor was too much to digest. ?I hope you still remember what you told me when we were campaigning for the village elections. You asked me to hand over the microphone to you as you did not want to climb on the lorry,? the male councillor told female councillor Sharda Juggiah.

?Climbing on a lorry has nothing to do with politics and this is indeed a cheap argument,? retorted Juggiah. Indeed the male councillor chose the wrong person to squabble on not being able to climb on a lorry. This is exactly what Juggiah does in her everyday life. She wears a pair of jeans and a dress when she has to climb on a lorry or when she drives her motorbike to take vegetables to the market.

Married to a tailor at the age of 17 in the 1980s, a time when the country was in the midst of an unemployment crisis, Juggiah did not know where to turn to when her husband?s clients became rare. Not being able to count on her husband?s meagre income for a living, Juggiah decided to plant some vegetables in her back garden. ?The vegetables helped to keep the pot boiling but my family was growing and there were more mouths to feed.?

Juggiah decided to sell her surplus vegetables in front of her children?s school. ?This is something not just done by a respectable Indian woman and my parents especially my brother were very angry. My mother decided to help by being strategic instead of just offering me money. The advice was worth gold. I got a piece of crown land to plant my vegetables.?

This was the start of the long adventure and Juggiah?s love story with mother earth. But never in her wildest dream did Juggiah think that she would one day become a successful business woman helping others to start their own businesses.

From the little piece of crown land where she grew a variety of vegetables, carried them to the market on her motorbike, she now has a land on her name, a van that she drives herself and rents a lorry from time to time to carry her vegetables.

?When I have to take vegetables out from the lorry, I do it myself. If a woman can disembark vegetables from a lorry she can certainly climb a lorry to talk in a microphone in public meetings.? Juggiah told the male councillor under the thunder of applause by participants present in the council room of the District Council of Grand Port Savanne on 25th July 2008.

Juggiah may have a van now but her motorbike remains her fetiche. ?When the Minister of Agriculture heard that there was a woman going around on her motorbike in a village selling vegetables, he selected me among 25 other women to follow a course sponsored by the European Union in Greece.? Juggiah took the plane for the first time in her life. This first experience was a real eye-opener.

She was amazed when she saw a white woman toiling the soil. ?I could not believe my eyes as I always thought that this was a job for black people.? On her return from her month-long course Juggiah valued herself even more. ?There is dignity in toiling the soil as I was feeding my family, helping others and became economically independent without mentioning that I am my own boss.?

On her return from Greece, she got further training from an international consultant and this helped her even more with her production and marketing. ?Training is very important,? Juggiah said. ?This is why I have decided to impart my knowledge to other women. I am very often called upon to share my experience with other women.?

One of the reasons why Juggiah decided to go into politics is to help others. ?This is my first mandate as village councillor. When I was asked to stand as a candidate, I was not sure if I could do the job but I am very happy I did not refuse. My position both as a business woman and a councillor is helping me to train other women to start their own enterprise.?

At the end of this two day workshop male councillors joined hands with female councillors to develop a Gender Action Plan for Grand Port Savanne District Council. Mindsets were changed and male participants agreed that women too can be politicians in a proper and healthy environment.

Not only women in miniskirts get raped but those wearing saris too are sexually assaulted. Chairperson Rajkumar and Deputy Chairperson Baichoo promised to put a motion on the next Council?s agenda so that part of the Action Plan can be implemented with immediate effect.

<B> Loga VIRAHSAWMY</B>