Empowerment

It is not without reason that Delhi is called the rape capital of the country. It reports the highest incidents of violence and sexual assaults against women. In addition to that, it hosts a large population of refugees and immigrants from neighbouring countries, who flee persecution in their own nations and hope to build a better life here. Unfortunately, many times they become even easier targets for abuse. In this context, we present to you the laudable efforts of the Crime Against Women Cell of the Delhi Police for imparting self-defence training to refugee women.

Ramakrishna Mission Students' Home (RMSH) in Mylapore, Chennai stands tall with its decades of contribution to the society. Read about the organization deeply rooted in the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekanenda that service to Man is service to God.

Started five years back, Educate Girls aims to get as many girls as possible into school so they can benefit from a good education, improve their lives and become an asset to their communities. And what started with just 500 schools has now spread to 4425 schools! Safeena Husain, the founder and Chief Executive Officer, tells us about it.

Old age is revered here. Granny wisdom and the art of making wicks is celebrated at Wicksdom (Grandma Wicks). It is a passion that the Wicksdom project has tapped in order to not only provide a means of survival, but also to help the aged people live a life resplendent with dignity and happiness. Read about the bright idea here.

Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat (KKPKP), a union of scrap collectors started by Dr Baba Adhav in 1993, has now become a force much larger than just a collection of waste pickers, mostly women. It serves as a platform for voicing grievances and as a medium for pushing developmental programmes to this highly marginalised segment of the society. From financial support, education and insurance facilities to intangibles like dignity of labour and quality of life, read how a collective can change lives.

Savitribai Phule may not be as famous as Mahatma Gandhi or Swami Vivekananda. But her impact on the liberation of the Indian woman has been no less spectacular or significant. One of the earliest crusaders of education for girls, and dignity for the most vulnerable sections of society - dalits, women and widows, Savitribai broke all the traditional shackles of 19th century India to herald a new age of thinking. She can be legitimately hailed as the mother of Indian Feminism. Read about her remarkable life of courage and initiative.

A Teach for India fellow, Devanik Saha, found it difficult to leave the children he was teaching as part of the program, and also to stop teaching, once it came to an end. He also had a strong urge to do something more for the community he had come to love, especially the girls, who faced the most neglect and discrimination. Thus began Unnayan, a learning hub for these kids to come to after school and supplement their education and understanding, a dire need considering the state of most government-run schools in our nation. Here, Devanik recounts his journey so far.

Women-led panchayats (village councils) in many parts of Jharkhand are proving to be a very successful model of governance, with the women leaders taking charge to address local and long-ignored issues like sustainable employment and equal pay for women, corruption in government schemes, women's property rights, irrigation and water supply, among others. Could this be an example for the rest of the country?

Govind Singh Rathore was 14 years old when he realised that in his patriarchal society widows have no status, respect or any rights! Together with his family and friends, he took steps to raise the status of Dalit women in the caste-prejudiced state of Rajasthan, and so Sambhali Trust was born in 2007. This is what they do.

Read about a remarkable organization working from villages in Tamil Nadu, and exemplifying service in its every deed. With various initiatives ranging from orphanages and a school to medical care and an old-age home, it is interesting to note how they manage the many activities, and how these complement each other and come together as one cohesive whole.