Gender and Technology Training Guidelines
Session 11 - Handout 1
SCENARIO FOUR
A local NGO has developed a cycle trailer (or substitute with an alternative, largish
piece of equipment ). It is fairly expensive and difficult for individuals to buy unless
they have access to credit and a regular income.
The cycle trailer was introduced in the dry zone of the country where people
experience severe shortages of water. The NGO thought that it would be culturally
unacceptable for women to use the equipment. Therefore, they did not give much
thought to how women might benefit as well as men. Several men have started
innovative income generation projects using this equipment. But there are very few
women users.
Nevertheless, there may be opportunities for using the equipment to cut down the
domestic tasks and relieving the drudgery. It could also be adapted to be more
appropriate for women to use.
In most of the households where the trailer is being used, the men are assisting the
women with household transport tasks. It is the men in these households that now
fetch the water for domestic use, whereas before the trailer was purchased that was
the responsibility of the women. The women still fetch firewood, but most often they
use the trailer as a handcart. The trailer has helped increase the amount of water
and firewood that can be collected on one trip. This has reduced the time that
women spend on these tasks.
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