My name is George Sumon Mondol. I am 30 years of age and happily married with one boy child. I am serving Chandpur TCDC community development project as an accountant. Chandpur TCDC organizes many training events for its staff. One training that I attended recently was on “Gender and Family”.

This training has given me a new way of looking at gender and family issues. The trainer (Mrs Beulah Wood) enlightened us with her strong logic and examples from the Bible, where I found with surprise, that man and woman are given equal authority and share in a family. That’s the way God intended it to be. I was startled when I saw that God’s plan for family was not patrilineal or patriarchal or even matrilineal. We were also informed of UN declarations especially for women rights.

Two examples of how this training has changed my thinking are:

1. The community development organizers (CDO) staff of Chandpur TCDC project are mainly couples (husbands and wives) who have the same job responsibilities. But when the month ended usually the husbands used to come and collect the salary for both. It seemed very natural to me before. But now, I also give the salary directly to the wives. They seem surprised with this sudden change and very happy with this recognition and I also feel that I am doing justice.
2. Another change has occurred in my own family life. My better-half is a housewife. I was never so eager to help her in household chores. I thought this was her job only. When I returned home from the office I used to wait for her to do things for me as I felt tired. It never crossed my mind that she might also be tired having done hard work to maintain my family around the clock. So, now I try to help her in her work more than I did previously and try to give her some rest. And this change has made my family happier than before.

I know that many other people think in the way that I used to think. I want to share my new ideas and views about gender and family with them. I had many wrong ideas about marriage and family which are now gone. Now I intend to let others know what I have learnt and help to build better families, the way God planned and wants.

BANZAid Bangladesh Development Facilitator, Julian Doorey, comments:

It was a delight for BANZAid to invite Dr Beulah Wood to visit Bangladesh for one week in December 2009. Most of her time was spent giving training to 36 Chandpur TCDC project staff in Chandpur. Her topic: 'Gender Equality as a Human Right'. Bangladesh society generally has a high level of gender based discrimination and lack of opportunity for women.

Some background: Beulah, a New Zealander and Baptist(!), writes, edits and teaches at the South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Study (SAIACS) in Bangalore, India. She promotes a Biblical view on family, parenting and gender issues for Asia, often co-writing with Indian contributors to give the angles for audiences in Asia. This has become a ministry passion – the urge to see mutually respectful relations between men and women in whatever country, and empowering Christians with print and electronic resources to pass this message further into communities. Beulah regularly preaches and teaches courses, seminars and workshops for students, Christian NGOs, community workers, and church communities. Although technically an ‘ex-pat’, her depth of knowledge and experience in South-Asian gender related issues is highly regarded and utilised by a range of organisations. Her books complement her teaching.

Sumon,project accountant and writer of the above article was interviewed about what he learned from the project:

What was the significance of this course for you - what happened?

My previous thinking about family, marriage and gender has changed.

Why is this significant for you?

It is significant because it has taught me that woman is equal to man. I have learnt God’s intention for family was that man and woman shall start a new family and cling together (Genesis). This can make the world a better place ultimately, as I found with wonder during the training, that most of the social problems of the present world are the outcomes of patrilineal or patriarchal or matrilineal or matriarchal family systems.

What difference has the change made or will make for you or the community?

I now recognise women’s contribution in the family or office or in society more than before and respect them for that.

Why do you think this is important?

This is important because it helped me to understand women’s contribution to family and society.

What problems did you experience during this training seminar and how were they overcome?

The ideas and views shared by the trainer initially seemed contradictory to all my previous thinking. But eventually the logic presented by the trainer and analysis of different examples during the training helped me to see things in a new light.

What lessons did you learn?

I learnt that woman is equally important as man and should be equally recognized and given respect.

What recommendations from this would you make for other people or future development project activities?

As development workers, we need to change our perceptions about things first. There are so many things that we are doing or practicing or thinking may not be actually helpful for society or even ourselves. I will help others to understand the teaching that I received from this training with the hope that there will be more practice of justice towards women in family and society.