Changing Gender Roles
Sabi is a 37-year-old mother from the Sanischare camp. She watches over her two children, making sure they are ready for school every day. She cooks and cleans in the house while her husband goes to work in a construction site outside of the camp. In addition to her role as a mother, Sabi was elected by her neighbors to serve as their representative in the camp as a sector head, making her responsible for approximately 700 refugees. Any disputes or problems in the camp are brought to her to address. Being a woman, it is highly unlikely that Sabi would ever have been able serve in an elected post in Bhutan, where men traditionally held positions of power and prestige. There, a women’s sphere was confined to the house or laboring in the field.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) are committed to ensuring gender equality and women’s empowerment. They want to expand women’s possibilities. For example, the UNHCR ensures equal participation in camp governance by requiring that if a man serves as sector head then a woman must be deputy and vice versa. Similar examples can be found in many UNHCR and WFP initiatives and policies, which have created positive benefits in the camp community. Many refugees described to us how services sponsored by camp organizations have empowered both men and women. However, dependency on the UNHCR and WFP has also created feelings of tension and inadequacy, particularly in men, who consider it their responsibility to protect and provide for their families. We explored these gender dynamics in the camps through our interviews and observations with refugees and the staff of UN organizations operating in the camps.

A More Equal Division of Labor
Some of the young husbands and fathers we interviewed described sharing household chores and childcare responsibilities with their wives. Rajendra is a young pastor in his 20s. His daily routine includes cleaning the house with his wife. He described his wife as his partner and equal. Similarly, Jagat, a young father in his 30s who lives in Sanischare camp with his Nepali wife, cooks breakfast for his two sons and then cleans the house. After his children return from school he assumes the childcare responsibilities and watches over them. Kamala, a 19-year-old from Beldangi, proudly explained to us that in her household her parents delegate chores evenly between her and her younger brother so they both have time to study.

UNHCR and WFP
In their published 2009 Gender Policy, which can be accessed on-line and informs their programming, WFP states that they strive to “promote gender equality and the empowerment of women in addressing food and nutritional challenges.” They explain that 60 percent of chronically hungry people in the world are women and girls. Therefore, WFP is focusing on women’s roles in the family to ensure household food security. Similarly, the United Nations has enumerated their eight Millennium Goals, one of them being to “promote gender equality and empower women.” The empowerment programs and the services they offer in the Bhutanese refugee camps reflect these United Nations commitments.

Expanding Educational Opportunities
In Bhutan, the Lhotshampa (“Southerners” – a name given to the Bhutanese group who became refugees) were typically involved in agriculture, often requiring help from the entire family in the field. Barsha from Sanischare camp explained that in Bhutan she never had the chance to go to school. Her father had many cows and she and brothers and sisters were expected to help on the farm. This left little to no time for school or play.

Gita, a college-educated woman in the camp, explained that if there was a chance to go to school, the opportunity was more often open to boys and not girls. She attributes this to women being more “cruelly treated.” In a traditional culture men were allowed to pursue education. Conversely, a woman’s sphere was confined to the house and field.

Through its camp-based programs and partnerships, the UNHCR is expanding the traditional spheres for men and women. Educational opportunities are readily available to all children in the refugee camps. Parents are encouraging their children, both boys and girls, to take advantage of the opportunities for education. For example, Radha, a mother from Sanischare camp, never had the chance to go to school but wants all her children to be well educated. She has two sons, ages 17 and 12, and a daughter age 8. She reminds all of her children how extremely important their education is by sitting and reading with them when they are out of school. Accessibility to educational opportunities for all children exemplifies an example of gender equality within the camp.

Food Rations Card
WFP asserts their commitment to increased visibility and inclusion of women in that, in order to ensure household food security, there needs to be a gender balance in family dynamics. WFP addresses this through the organization of their food rations cards, on which there are two slots for head of household. Typically the first head of household is male.  By including the second slot for a female head of household the WFP acknowledges and may be subtly encouraging women’s increased decision-making power within the home.

The Bhutanese Refugee Women Forum
One way in which the UNHCR and WFP have demonstrated their commitment to gender equality is by helping sponsor the Bhutanese Refugee Women Forum (BRWF). As a camp facility it offers numerous services to the refugee community, including vocational and skills training, a library, a loan program, and social awareness activities. While their facilities are accessed by both genders and all ages, the target is to empower the most vulnerable population in the camp, categorized as: widows, families with a child or single parent head of household, the disabled, school dropouts, and victims of gender violence. The BRWF focuses much of its work on women’s empowerment and representation. On their website they tout “12,000 active and committed” refugee women members. Many of their programs are specifically designed for women and sometimes offered exclusively to women.

The loan scheme program, handled through the BRWF, is meant to increase self-reliance in vulnerable families. Applicants can apply at the BRWF for a loan to start their own business. Case studies by WFP illuminate the intended effects of the loan scheme program for each gender. One case study highlights Laxmi, the daughter of poor rural parents and one of nine children. WFP emphasizes her sense of independence as well as increased respect from her community after taking part in the training program. In the case of a disabled father aided by a BRWF program, the case study emphasizes the boosted sense of self-respect and confidence in his ability to provide for his family. Originally open to both men and women, the loan scheme program is now exclusively offered to 250 vulnerable women. When a WFP employee was asked why funding was stopped for men, he attributed it to men abusing the program and claimed that men spent their money on gambling and alcohol. But for the women who have participated in the program it has made remarkable differences in their lives.

Susmita, a refugee woman interviewed by the DukeImmerse students in 2012, explained that when she arrived in the camp, her husband became very sick and unable to work. To provide for their six children, Susmita asked to borrow money from her neighbors, but no one would help her.  She became very depressed.  Now she smiles as she describe the loan BRWF gave her to start her own business.  At first there was a “scare inside her,” a fear that she would not be able to pay back the loan. However, as business grew she became confident in her venture. She takes pride in her ability to provide for her family and support her children’s education.

Susmita’s circumstances were dire, but the BRWF equipped her with the resources to provide for her family, an obligation that traditionally falls to men. On an individual level Susmita takes pride in her independence and economic power. On a community level, once they saw her success, her neighbors are now supporting her by lending more money to grow her business. But the implications on the familial level are unclear. Men with whom we spoke in the camp expressed sentiments of inadequacy in their inability to provide a good quality of life for their families as they were expected to do in Bhutan. As Susmita becomes the breadwinner, she is shifting the gender roles within the family, which may ultimately require her and her husband to renegotiate their mutual expectations.

Vocational training at the BRWF focuses on tailoring, weaving, and thread-spooling. While open to everyone in the camp, our observations suggest it has been primarily women taking advantage of these services. Inside the shadows of a large bamboo and straw hut, a group of approximately 25 women sit in rows with sewing machines. In a neighboring hut, large looms sit with women learning how to weave traditional scarves, napkins, and tablemats. Some of the women say they hope the certification they receive from the training will help them get jobs when they resettle. Krishna, another interviewee from 2012, is one of the few men taking advantage of the vocational training. He is educated in health care administration and has worked for three years as a manager of a primary health care center. Krishna is taking part in the tailoring vocational training because he worries that when he resettles, his education in health care will be not be transferable. He feels a duty to provide for his family and hopes that learning tailoring skills will make it easier for him to find a job when he resettles.

Leisure Spaces, Roles, and Responsibilities  
Based on our interviews and observations we noted a distinction in leisure spaces according to gender. Where and when leisure takes place is dependent on expected roles and responsibilities for men and women. We observed that leisure spaces for men tend to be outside in the open whereas women’s leisure is defined within a structured setting or within the privacy of the home. Generalizing about her observations of life in the camp, Kamala explained that because men are less expected to take part in the support or care of the household, they have more free time. Women, who have less leisure time, choose to use that time productively, learning skills and acquiring new knowledge. However, this is not to say that men do no work. We observed many elderly men caring for grandchildren, collecting rations, and spooling thread outside of their homes and young men running errands and collecting rations as well. Rather, the expectations are that men doing such work will not be the norm.

Many of the married women we interviewed socialize through the Bhutanese Refugee Women Forum, the Camp Management Committee, the Children’s Forum, and Transcultural Psychosocial Organization. Radha expressed embarrassment because she is illiterate. However, when describing what she does for leisure, she expressed great joy in learning at the BRWF such things as how to keep the camp clean and how to be environmentally friendly. Kamala spends her leisure time in her hut sewing and watching television or hanging out at the Youth Friendly Center (YFC) with her friends. These organizations serve as places of leisure as well as productive spaces for women.

Many elderly men often spend their day at the Older Person Recreation Center sitting in the shade of trees or in the Center’s hut. When we asked the elderly men why they spend time at the Older Person Recreation Center, they explained that because they are unable to work, they pass their days under the shade of the tree talking about Bhutan and life. They also explained that there were no elderly women accessing this space because women tend to spend their leisure time in the home, even though they are welcome to use the Center’s space.  

When we asked Kamala what young men do for leisure, she explained that young men in the camp have a lot of free time to do as they please. She further elaborated that, unlike girls who are expected to take care of their families, boys can “go anywhere and do what [they] want.” Not until men marry are they expected to provide food and clothes for their new wife and family. As a result young single men have a lot of free time. Walking through the camps, it is common to find groups of young men outside playing caroms, a popular board game. At the Youth Friendly Center, it is almost certain that there will also be a group of young men outside playing table tennis. Many young men waiting to resettle feel as if they are in limbo with a lot of idle time to fill. This “youth idleness” sometimes leads to drug abuse and alcohol addiction, which camp organizers and refugees both believe affects young men more than young women.

Food Rations
Every two weeks, WFP distributes food rations consisting of rice, pulses, oil, salt, sugar, and “super cereal” fortified with vitamins and minerals. While these rations provide the 2,100 calories a day per person nutritional requirement, many men in the camps have expressed disappointment in food quality, variety, and nutritional value. Jagat explains that he believes his health is not as good as it could be due to poor nutrition and variety of the rations. Rajendra misses the variety in food he had back home in Bhutan, where he was able to pick oranges from his field and get milk and dairy from his cows. Here in Nepal, he laments, he must buy all of this that was once easily available on his own farm. Similarly, elderly men in the camp reminisce about Bhutan because there they could work and provide meats, fruits, vegetables, and dairy for their family. Dilli, an elderly man in his 60s, describes the difficulties of raising his children in Nepal. When WFP stopped providing vegetables in the rations, Dilli could not provide fresh produce for his family because there was insufficient space around his hut for a garden. He told us he was much happier in Bhutan because he could farm and properly feed his family.

 Working outside the camp does not seem to be a solution to men’s frustration at their inability to provide high quality food for their families. Men who work outside in the host community do so illegally and therefore have no workers’ rights. They are often paid wages far below that of Nepali citizens for the same work. Their inability to work safely and securely compounds their dislike of reliance on rations. This has the potential to manifest itself in sentiments of inadequacy, low self-worth, hopelessness, and depression.

Conclusion
WFP and UNHCR have worked hard to ensure gender equality within the camps. They have focused on empowering women because, traditionally, opportunities for women have been limited in Bhutan. In the camps today men and women are learning to renegotiate and understand gender roles and expectations. We have observed feelings of tension in men in their relationship with WFP and UNHCR. We have also observed the positive impact of vocational training and the loan scheme program on women’s lives. As a vast majority of the Bhutanese refugees will be resettled primarily in the United States within the next five years, men and women will have to again learn to renegotiate and understand gender roles within the family as they have in the camps. How will our new neighbors fare here in the United States as they settle into a new land with new opportunities and constraints?