El marco legislativo en torno a la accesibilidad aplicada al patrimonio

Kriti’s story comes from an interview that I conducted with a woman who was undertaking PhD research through NZAID’s development scholarship programme. Her story has many parallels with Amal’s. They both started off as scientists, and they both struggled to establish themselves in male-dominated professions that required them to challenge cultural restrictions on women’s ability to travel and work outside the office. Like Amal, Kriti talks about the excitement associated with the early opportunities her career gave her to travel and mix with different communities. She credits her PhD research with giving her the chance to devote an extended period of time to learning about socio-cultural life in one of these communities. It is this opportunity, she relays, that has provided her with much needed insights into the types of dynamics that underpin the change-making processes within a community. Like Amal, and Jom in Chapter Seven, her research experience has also given her an enthusiasm for translating this new understanding of culture and community into positive changes in her participants’ lives. She talks at length about her own efforts to find ways to enable her participants to benefit from her research.

Finally, Kriti also talks about the personal difficulties she has had attempting to marry her own expectations of career advancement with expectations that she would start a family. An earlier attempt to complete a PhD faltered when she was unable to negotiate time off to care for her new baby. She is philosophical about the opportunities that may be associated with having to start over, a little older, and with a little more of the clarity of purpose and critical impulse associated with maturity.

Beginnings

I have to begin from my childhood. We have ten years schooling,

and during that time, actually, my parents they did not care that I should study hard, so I would just study and play.

But at the end of my schooling, I got the highest mark in the school, and my parents thought, oh, she can do well,

so, then they paid attention to me. After that they always encouraged me,

both of my parents, my mother and father. So I studied science,

and I got a scholarship to go overseas to study for a Bachelor of Science. Then when I came back I worked in the remote hills in a research centre. It was very remote, actually.

It takes about sixteen hours in the bus,

and then you have to walk about one hour into the hills. And at that time, I was the only woman officer.

There were a few women technicians at the lower levels, but only one woman officer.

I had to go out with this team of people from different disciplines. We went together to the farm areas, and talked with the farmers. and then, we would sit down together,

and jointly plan what we should do.

And that was really a challenge for me, you know. I had to be very positive,

because of the society. Like, when you go to a village, it’s not that you get the good room. It’s not like that.

You have to stay in whatever place the village people offer you. I was just learning at that time, and that was my first job, but, that was a golden experience for me,

because I got to go to the hilly areas, and work with the rural people. I learnt a lot, because I had that opportunity to observe.

And, then, after one year, I got another scholarship to study overseas for a Masters degree.

I did my research on gender roles.

And it was really very, very interesting, because that kind of research had not been done before, so that was really interesting for me.

And because there had not been much research done on this before, they used my research as reference material at the university.

And that was really motivating, encouraging.

But, actually I was never satisfied with what I was doing. I wanted to do much more.

I wanted to go up.

But sometimes the culture will question you if you want to do this. It’s not only about education, you know, you have your own life. You have to marry.

It was not my parents who were saying that, but my female friends and my other relatives. My parents, they never said those things to me.

My father actually said, ‘you are just like my son, so you can do whatever you like. So if you want to wait to do further study, you can do that, but I feel that you should do a PhD.’

He encouraged me. But he passed away. So, I had to get married, I got married.

But I also applied for this scholarship to do a PhD. I got the scholarship.

And I went away for one year to study some courses, and then I came back for my field research.

Research and pregnancy

I was doing field research and I became pregnant.

For about six months, I was pregnant, but I was still going to collect material for my field research.

And my supervisor he came to the field area, and he was happy at that time, and he went back, and I was still continuing my field research.

Then I made a request for some leave, for about five months,

because when I gave birth, I would need to take a rest,

and I couldn’t bring my child back with me, and take care of him.

So I requested that, but he said no, he couldn’t give me that. So that was the end.

If you can’t give me some leave, then I can’t finish it. I can’t leave my child here and come there and study. I felt very unhappy at that time.

It was not only my case.

After, I came to hear from some of my friends that there were two other ladies, they also left like me, in the same way.

Two other ladies, and the same supervisor.

It was ten years ago, so maybe the situation is different now.

But, you know, I am very positive, because, I thought, maybe God did a very good thing for me.

At that time, he said, ‘No, this is not the time for you. You shouldn’t do it’. And now I have a lot more experience,

and, when you have experience and knowledge, you are more excited to do something.

So, maybe, if I had finished it at that time, I would not have learnt so much. I am more critical now.

I go into detail more.

Second time around

So, then, I worked on a number of different projects, before I came to New Zealand. And, at that time, I was applying for scholarships because I thought I should get a PhD, so I could go up to a higher level in my organisation.

Because, in my country there are not many women who are highly educated and who are in management positions.

There are more women in education, teaching jobs, but in this kind of development field, it’s technical, you know, and there are not many.

And I feel like we need more women.

And I thought that if I go higher up, I felt, maybe, I could promote the issues of women. It’s not easy, because most of the people at management level, they are men, so you always have to go to them.

It’s a patriarchal society, so men want to be on top.

They don’t want to be dominated, or led by women. So, in that kind of environment, it’s really difficult to be in a leadership position.

I always have to try my best.

So, I felt one way was to get a higher degree.

That would be one way, they would feel that, ‘oh, she has done a PhD’, and that is just one criteria they might use to make themselves feel that

I could move up to management level.

So, before I came here I was working with farmers.

And at that time, actually, there were lots of people who were poor, who only have a small piece of land, or they don’t have land. So, I was worried, how can we help them?

I used to put that question to my team members, in the office. So, I thought maybe I should do research in that area.

And it’s been interesting,

particularly, the social and cultural issues, and how they can really influence institutions.

Okay, the government has put some policies and laws in place, but when you go to the area, they have not been implemented properly.

They implement something different.

There are different rules there than these government rules. They have their own rules.

It is so much influenced by their society, their cultural norms, their customs, and that has not been considered in the literature.

When I was doing participatory discussions with women in one settlement, I was very surprised;

one five year old boy was there, he was accompanying his mother,

and he asked his mother whether, ah, ‘mummy, can I go and play with the children in that house?’

The same house where we were doing the discussion. I was so surprised,

even from that young age,

they were so conscious that they are lower caste,

and whether they were allowed to go to the house, to another house. So, you see?

Inferiority is there from a very young age. I was also from that same community,

so I have my own observations from my childhood, but it was a surprise that,

even after so many years, it was still like that, you know.