Vocational Training
Marginalisation of women in economic backward sectors is a saddening but well-established fact. Loss of dignity, however, is far worse than being poor. Women are abused at will by family members, neighbours and society at large. Human rights are a pipe-dream for them. Having no choice but to accept their dreary circumstances, their lives are reduced to mere existence.
How can they be liberated? Economic independence is key.
We operate a vocational training program in a small village in Orissa. At its current level, our program trains 40 women each year to sew at no cost to them. We give them a sewing machine at the end of the program so that they can immediately start reaping the benefits of the program.
When they first start attending the vocational program, it is usually only about getting a financial livelihood. However, as the training progresses, they start enjoying the opportunity to get out of their houses and come to a place where they can make friends with people who share their interests. This is a place where they feel accepted, surrounded by people who value them - an unfamiliar, but refreshing difference in their lives. Our staff often double up as counsellors and confidants too. The women at the center are carefully guided as they negotiate their way from insignificance to respectability and acceptance.
With economic emancipation, came the other benefits – significance, acceptance, respect and approval – all culminating in a fulfilling restoration of human dignity.
