Verdict still out....

When learning about various organizations that focus on women empowerment, the President of LEARN, spoke of herself and of the other women in her field in a way that made me think of how grateful I am to be able to be myself. She spoke on her need to look at people directly, without a veil to cover her face. She wanted to connect with people and show that women are equal to men. This experience reminded me that I am able to voice my concerns without the fear of being kicked out of my home or being the victim of violence or worse. The idea of not being able to look someone in the eyes without a veil, really made me see India in a different light. I knew of patriarchy, but for some reason hearing that, and having a mental picture of it put things into perspective. I was able to visualize what exactly goes on and what these women endure, while trying to provide for their families; at times being kicked out of their home for the night because they get home late from a meeting.

I did not know what to expect when visiting the slums and learning about UPCYKAL and LEARN. I pictured the worst conditions possible and in a way was impressed with the organization of the slums, at least where everyone was working. When we took turns visiting where the embroidery was happening, a moment that made me upset was when someone asked about the selling of the bags. Vasundhara quickly mentioned that the women making the bag took no part in the selling and would not know the pricing behind the bags. After hearing about women empowering each other, I noticed that this was still a business, and someone would always be the boss. There will always be the women making the bags, who stay in the slums, not seen, and those that are selling them, those that show their face. This made me feel like some things were contradictory and that even when empowerment is happening; there will always be some a hierarchy.

I learned that empowering women is one thing, but educating them is another. One of the women mentioned that she did not even know that what she did on a daily basis was a job. She did not know that she could ask for a certain amount of money or anything while working. Educating her on her rights goes hand in hand with empowering her and allowing her to make her own choices. I had never heard of the term social entrepreneurship. After reading articles and finding out that it is a merging of social work and the business world. I can see how this thought can affect the poor in India in a way that will teach them a new trade and allow them to make some profit for the benefit of themselves and their families. I struggle with the idea of there always being someone higher than those doing the labor. I feel there will always be a hierarchy and at times can sound contradictory with the emphasis being placed on empowerment.

Verdict is still out on lessons I have learned. While processing and finding out what I wanted to blog about, I was told by a friend that maybe I was processing or looking at things in a different way. Because I have not had an “A-HA” moment, I feel like I may be missing out in something. Maybe it will hit me when I am back home and am surrounded by enormous amounts of people that will overlook me and not smile back when I look at them. I may long to be back in India or will just jump back into the routine of daily living. At least I have enough pictures to remember what I did and experienced here to remind me.