Female emancipation in India remains a distant dream. While India continues to grow economically and technologically on a daily basis, the true emancipation of Indian women remains a long way off. Sadly, they continue to suffer from discrimination and injustice in all stages of their life. As the old proverb goes, “you can assess the progress of the nation state by looking at the status of women”. Or, as Gandhi said, “if you educate a man, you educate the individual; if you educate a women, you educate a whole family”. As such, our centres are committed to educating and training women.
Around 15 women attend our centre on a daily basis, where they receive a basic education and participate in a series of workshops, training them in skills such as henna painting and sewing. After completing a free training course in the centre, the women will be able to find a good job or start their own business. This project was created to offer a source of income to this community of women.
In short, the women development volunteer program seeks to support women in search of healthy and sustainable lifestyles. These groups of women help to spark a debate about issues such as family health, women’s rights, access to resources, income generation and the other challenges faced by women in their day-to-day life. Volunteers have the opportunity to exchange ideas and collaborate on projects that are currently being implemented. Support can also be provided in many other ways, depending on the skills and interests of the volunteer and the requirements of the local community.
We’ve recently made changes to our women development volunteering program, combining it with the rural children volunteer program in Jaipur. This will give the volunteers the chance to work with women and children within a single volunteering program. Both projects are carried out at the same centre in the afternoons, meaning the volunteer won’t have to travel to more than one site.
NOTE: Volunteers who wish to participate on this program are recommended to prepare activities that they wish to run during the volunteering program (sewing, painting, handicrafts, dancing, etc.), as the women attend the centre to acquire skills that will help them in their future. Volunteers will have to work for 3-4 hours a day.