“The education and empowerment of women throughout the world cannot fail to result in a more caring, tolerant, just and peaceful life for all.”
– Aung San Suu Kyi
Professor Shyamala Varadarajan (Shyamala Ji) life’s mission is to empower women to assert their rights without sacrificing family harmony. For example, Shyamala Ji encouraged Mehrunissa to collect her Mehar (bride money) for its intended purpose of personal financial security. She also supported 13 year old Rajia to convince her family to continue Rajia’s education instead of compelling her to marry. Now Rajia teaches and tailors to support not only herself but also her family.
A professor of botany, Shyamala Ji’s journey to promote gender equality began in 1982 when she moved from Chennai to Bijapur to join her husband, a professor in engineering. Shyamala Ji was struck by the gender imbalance she encountered in Bijapur. In 1983, Shyamala Ji and some friends organized camps to educate women about their legal, educational and property rights, and to counsel women on domestic violence related issues. As more and more people came forward to ask for information, Shyamala Ji created informal community-based response groups in each of the villages. These community-based response groups formed the foundation of Spurthi Mahila Mandal (“SMM”). SMM slowly expanded to offer other services such as health check-ups, livelihoods training, and educational opportunities.
Today, SMM operates with nine full-time and nine part-time staff members. SMM reaches more than 70 villages with 90 community-based response groups. SMM has linked its community-based response groups to government organizations, influential individuals and private institutions for livelihood, education, and health services. These response groups also help implement and monitor projects within the villages. Many response group members take part in educational monitoring boards, debate issues in the Gram Sabhas (village government), and proactively solve problems.
SMM has formed more than 130 self-help groups to assist with the economic empowerment of local women. The organization has also identified women with the motivation to start a business and linked them to government institutions and banks for training and seed money. SMM has also helped women obtain raw materials to run businesses and market their products. SMM has supported more than 60 businesses established by women, such as tailoring, embroidery, screen printing, chips making, telephone booth operation, ironing shop, and patty shops. The self-help groups also run group enterprises such as textile shops, readymade garment shops, and children’s clothing shops. Takkae village in the Bijapur area has a readymade garment making center with 18 women earning their livelihoods and 38 women in training. SMM both runs and does the marketing for the center.
More recently SMM has also begun to focus on adolescent girls empowerment – emphasizing health and education. The school dropout rate for girls in Bijapur spikes between the ages of 13 and 17. SMM sees adolescence as a transformative age for girls where proper guidance is necessary for healthy and positive mental development. SMM runs camps in 20 village schools to provide information and counseling on reproductive health, hygiene, and HIV/AIDS. SMM also mobilizes local resources via its community-based response groups to provide additional support for teenage girls.
Need for Project:
SMM has six members on staff dedicated to adolescent programs. SMM conducts informational camps in schools to provide information and counsel girls on reproductive health, hygiene and HIV/AIDS. Through its community-based response groups, SMM has mobilized local human resources such as teachers, lawyers, doctors and elders to build trust and help girls gain confidence to speak more openly about their health issues.
The response to SMM information camps at schools has been very enthusiastic. More girls now object to early marriages; the drop-out rate between classes eight and ten has significantly decreased. To date, SMM has reached approximately 20 villages. SMM would like to expand its efforts to reach adolescent age girls in all 70 villages where it has established community-based response groups.
As an August 2010 Indicorps Fellow, you will strengthen SMM’s adolescent girls’ health and self-esteem building programs. Initially, you will visit schools and build relationships with girls between the ages of 13-17. You will gather information about their experiences and what issues affect them at home, school, and in the community.
Next, you will raise awareness about reproductive health issues in the schools. You will also reach out to school dropouts and prepare similar presentations for them. Your trainings should include issues ranging from personal hygiene and sanitation, to the dangers of HIV/AIDS and human trafficking. You will organize clubs for girls to encourage them to learn about various adolescent issues, partake in recreational activities, and build self-confidence.
In the next phase of the project, you will focus on providing education and employment activities for adolescent girls. You will create trainings, counseling sessions, group discussions and meetings to foster economic activities. You will mobilize resources from the local government and private institutions to support your efforts.
In the last phase of the project, you will obtain feedback from different members of the community and recommend improvements to the program. You will assess the overall effectiveness of the program and develop an action plan to ensure sustainability. You will also identify and train interested community members to continue the efforts after the Fellowship ends.
Target Community:
Your target community will be adolescent girls between the ages of 13 and 17. Many have dropped out of school. Teaching as a career is very popular among girls who can continue their education. In this region, girls generally do not work outside the home before marriage. However, after marriage, some girls work or develop small businesses to bring extra income for the family.
Objectives:
• To create a supportive environment for adolescent girls to learn about issues relevant to them
• To provide basic health counseling to adolescent girls
• To build self-esteem in adolescent girls
• To provide opportunities for leadership, dialogue, and income-generation to adolescent girls
Challenges:
• Encouraging girls to voice their thoughts/opinions, especially on sensitive matters
• Providing necessary structures and training for leadership and sustainability
Team-Based Model:
Each project is designed as a three-way partnership between you, Indicorps, and a partner organization. Each grassroots partner organization – in this case SMM – will be hosting two to four Fellows. Consequently, the August 2010 Fellowship will have both an individual and a team component.
As a team of Indicorps Fellows, your focus is to empower women through awareness on health, education and rights. Team members will focus on different areas including promoting adolescent health and building self-reliant groups.
You will live with a family in the village of Ukkali. Simple vegetarian food will be provided by the family. You will do your own laundry and chores and will be expected to assist with family responsibilities. The nearest major town of Bijapur is 30km from the village. Buses and jeeps run for Bijapur from 6am to 6pm. International calling is available in the village. Internet facilities are not available in the village, but can be accessed at the SMM Bijapur office. For local transportation, you may ride a bicycle and/or travel tandem on staff motorcycles when available.
The language spoken at SMM is Kannada. For this project, a basic knowledge of Kannada is required. If you do not have basic knowledge of Kannada, you can still apply if you can commit to learning the language before the start of your Fellowship year.
Due to the sensitivity of the topic, female applicants are preferred.
Please explain the qualifications that make you a strong candidate for this project - be sure to elaborate on any experiences working with adolescent girls.
2.
Families in your community are refusing to send their daughters to the weekly meetings you have organized for adolescent girls. The families in this community believe that household responsibilities should come first. How will you respond to their concerns and convince them of the benefits of your program?
3.
What is the importance of self-confidence in young girls? How will you create a safe space for the girls in your community to grow and be themselves?
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