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Women's Empowerment in India - Part 2

2021.09.13

This is Part Two of Women’s Empowerment in India. 

You can read Part one here. 

 

In Visakhapatnam, we were introduced to very positive and active women. When we interviewed them, we tried meta-facilitation skills to find out the truth. They were eager to talk about how much effort they made to become independent. Many of them were from the poorest families and were not educated at school. Some of them could not even read or write when they first came to Mura no Mirai. They did not know how to calculate either. They never had a bank account. They never made any decisions by themselves. They did not have confidence. However, after being involved in the activity of the NPO, they learned not only how to read, write, and calculate, but also got a job at their own community bank called VVK.

 

Those poor women got higher self-esteem little by little though an opportunity to borrow a small amount of money from the bank. They borrowed and paid back money again and again. All the small loans were used for their living expenses and their children’s education. They sent their kids to college and finally returned their debts. Their lifestyle was very simple, and they seemed not to have many possessions. However, they looked very happy. What they were proud of was not what they had, but their children’s education and their efforts for that. They showed us their passbooks which proved completion of their repayment. They seemed to gain confidence by paying back all the money they borrowed, making decisions by themselves, and becoming independent financially and psychologically. Moreover, this confidence inspired them to learn how to read, write, and calculate, and even to manage their bank by themselves. Most of them were once just customers at the bank for their microcredit, but they became indispensable workers there. They keep challenging themselves, and their bank is growing and helping more poor women.

 

What is happiness for human beings? Can people feel happy when they are able to own a lot of things? When supporting people in need, giving something might be a common idea. However, through communicating with them, these Indian women made me realize what is important in life. I will never forget their happy smiles.

 

 

 

 

 

Photo Credit: jeswinthomas@pexels.com

 

 

 

Blog Quiz

Q1. Where did the writer visit in India?

Q2. How did the Indian women use the money they borrowed?

Q3. What is important for the Indian women the writer met?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

 

 

 

 







 

 

 

 

 

 

Quiz Answers

A1. Visakhapatnam, India

A2. They used the money for living and educational expenses.

A3. Becoming independent, getting confidence, making decisions, (children’s) education

 

 

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