Taking names for granted!

We take it for granted, all of us do; what’s so great about being called by ones name, we might ask?

Confined within the walls of their house after marriage women in parts of UP and India for that matter, seldom get out of the house, seldom meet any one and are seldom called by their names. Some don't even know what they have been named.

The opportunity to meet friends and acquaintances and talk to them is something most of us have grown up with. But a visit to some remote villages in the state teaches us that for many, this is but a luxury that are able to afford.

The meetings that SHGs organize on a weekly basis do more than just spread awareness and encourage women to create savings. Giving the women a platform to talk to one another at these meetings gives the women an identity and helps them gain self-confidence and self-respect. When we ask them what difference the program has made to their lives, the women proudly tell us that the SHGs have given them a platform to speak and that the meetings have taught them how to talk. Some women have also confessed that because of the SHGs they have now learnt their names!

Many of us dismiss the very basic needs of our fellow citizens and fail to realize the impact and importance that merely speaking and meeting people can make on the lives of those who have little else but hope. The meetings that RGMVP organizes with visitors from different parts of the country helps the women develop a greater sense of self-pride. It gives them the confidence and encouragement to carry forward the work of the Pariyojana and empower more and more women.

Jamwati from Bundelkhand

Jamwati came to Bundelkhand from Madhya Pradesh after her marriage. One of the only educated women in the village, she gives us a broad smile as she tells us that she is the Deputy President of her SHG.

Using the credit made available to her thrugh the SHG she proudly tells us how she was able to pay off the money lender from whom the family had borrowed money to build the pucca house behind her. “In the last three months I have already repaid half the money to bank” she tells us.

In Bundelkhand as in many areas of rural India one of the biggest challenges that the poor face is the poor knowledge of affordable credit that is available to them. While this credit is available, ignorance and tradition have forced the poor to return time and again to the local moneylenders. The incredibly high rates of interest (that are often five times that charged by the SHG) make it impossible for the poor to repay their debts. Unable to repay their debts the poor loose what little land or other possessions they have, forcing them down the debt spiral even further.

RGMVP works hard to educate the women about the resources that are available and thus helps them escape the vicious debt trap of local money lenders that have been exploiting the poor.

Above: Jamwati at the door of her 'pucca' (पुक्का) house.

Top Right: Jamwati at Swasth Sakhi (community health worker) Training.

Versha from Bundelkhand

“There is nothing in my life to be happy about” she said a minute ago but now I can see a faint smile on her face. We are sitting across from Versha the President of Abhilasha Gram Sanghatan as she tells us her story.

My mother died when I was young and my father soon became an alcoholic in his sorrow. I was brought up by my Dadi (paternal-grandmother). Soon my Nana (maternal-grandfather) took me home to stay with his family. With limited resources in the house this led to problems with my aunts and soon I was back in Lalitpur. My Dada used to support my brother, sister and me. Though shifting between my grandparents homes did cause a problem for my enrollment at school the teachers were kind and allowed me to get back to my classes.

In class 9 when I was giving my final exams I came home between papers to find some waiting to see me. I did not stay long and returned for my next paper but in the evening when I returned I found people in the locality celebrating outside my house. The next thing I new was that I was getting married. My father I remember was not in favor of the marriage because of my tender age but my grandmother was insistent, she wanted to see her grandchildren before she died. I was 15 when I got married.

After a brief stay of two months at my home post marriage I came over here to live with my husband and his family. From the moment we started living together I told my husband that we should rent a place in the city and live there so that we could educate our children. My husband worked as a security guard first in Jhansi then at Babina and then he went to Maharashtra to work as a driver. He would visit us once in 2 months or some times more often.

Some months ago he returned to live here with us and worked at the military area as a daily wage laborer. One day in August he complained of a stomach ache so I asked him to rest. When he did not get better I asked my mother in law to come over and she massaged his stomach with the leaves of the Andi tree that used to give him relief in the past but it did not work. Later in the day my father in law gave him a pain killer to ease the pain but that too did not help so the next day we took him to the block hospital. At the hospital he was given an injection and some medicine. The treatment failed and by noon he could not swallow. I too began to have similar symptoms but kept quiet since I did not want to worry him and the family. Soon he could not keep his eyes open and his speech too began to falter. When his situation deteriorated to a point that he could not breath properly we got terribly worried and took him to Jhansi.

First we took him to Kapoor Nursing Home, there the doctors asked us for two thousand rupees that we promised to pay and we admitted him. You know he had no bad habits, he did not smoke or drink, didn't chew tobacco, he didn't even eat meat! At the hospital when he began to throw-up from his mouth and nose I could not hold myself together any more and broke down. Since the doctors were not giving him proper care we took him to Kherati Hospital.
The doctors at Kherati hospital told us he was serious and put him on an intravenous drip and asked us to take him to the district hospital.

At the district hospital we waited for an hour before some one attended to him and when they did they kept asking him to confess what he had eaten. I don't know why but they suspected that he had attempted to commit suicide. They put fingers down his throat to make him throw up and all the while kept asking him to tell them what he had eaten. When he repeatedly told them that he had eaten nothing they just left him. I thought they had gone to discuss and decide what to do for him but they did not so we had no choice but to take him elsewhere. We took him to D M Mishra hospital where he was immediately admitted into emergency. Since I too was quite ill by then the doctors admitted me as a serious case. I could not see him from where I was but I new he was there. I was given an intravenous drip I remember, but then I passed out.

When I woke in the morning I was told that he was doing better but had to be shifted to another hospital. My relatives told me that we should return home, no one told me that my husband had passed away while I was sleeping. When I got home I found many of my relatives waiting at the house, I thought to myself how lucky I was to get so much concern from them because of my illness. But it was when I finally entered the house that I learnt the truth. I was then dressed as a bride and taken to the river for the ceremonies. My family had hidden the truth from me all the way from Jhansi till I got home.

At this point she wipes a few tears from her cheeks that have seen thousands others roll down in the moths that have passed since the fate-full day and then continues with her story.

The women from the Gram-Sanghathan are better than relatives you know. When they heard this news they came with food and money to help me out. Today I am four months pregnant but cant have an abortion because I am of frail health, but I already have two children so I don't know what I will do. I plan to open a shop in the village and make ends meet, I’ll take a loan from the Samhoo to do that.

Later in the evening we returned to the village to attend the meeting of the Gram Sangahtan (a village level association of SHG’s) and met Versha again. There with representatives of all the 17 SHG’s that form the association she was a changed person. With all the problems she has she vowed to lead the women in helping them solve their problems. To see some one in such dire straits smile is unthinkable but she did and it shook me to the bone.

Vinya

Vinya, is an inspiration not only to the impoverished women in Bundelkhand but to all of us at the Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Pariyojana.

Having been associated with her “Samhoo” - (Self Help Group), for over 10 months, sitting on the steps of her house Vinya recounts for us her story.

Vinya needed money to buy a goat. Historically all villagers borrow money from the village “sahukar” (money lender), thus subjecting themselves to almost a life term in debt. Since she needed the money she too had no choice at the time.

After joining her “Samhoo” Vinya was able to borrow from the local nationalized bank, with better interest rates and accommodative payment terms. With this help she was able to free herself from the clutches of the moneylender.

Vinya is now a proud owner of not one, but 12 goats! She has also managed to sell a few of them and generated profits for herself.

Today, Vinya is not only the President of Roshini Samhoo but, also of the village level association.

Like many other women benefiting themselves through Roshini Samhoo, Vinya believes that their Rs. 10 per week saving has been able to rid them of their dependence on the sahukar for financial help.

Over the next half hour, Vinya shares with us the future plans which the women in Roshini Samhoo have – to work towards developing medical facilities, in the light of the alarming rise in deaths due to pneumonia tops their list.

Overcoming Discrimination

This is a story repeated time and again whenever RGMVP touches a new village. For eons now our country has been plagued by caste discrimination but now there is hope for the future as the story of Geeta Prajapati clearly shows us.
Here is her own story.

Discrimination is strongly rooted in our society. In my opinion it is a curse on us. Several situations in life have made me hate myself for belonging to a lower cast. Discrimination bothered me right from childhood. I often felt ashamed of myself just because of my caste.

Growing up our village was like any other but the one thing that pinched me was the difference between the lower caste and upper caste that was so apparent in our world. If one of us from a lower caste visited a higher caste persons home we were never allowed to enter inside the house. At public functions we were always made to sit separately, even at marriages we had to sit separately and made to dine last sitting on the ground. This treatment always annoyed and depressed me making me anxious to get equality in society. As a child I often asked my mother why there was this difference and discrimination towards the lower castes, but my mother would censure me “Don’t high fly otherwise we will stop your schooling”.

While my mother did succeed in keeping me quiet I was not satisfied and kept
my thoughts alive within me. Some years ago I learned that the Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojna was working for women welfare in our village, a Community Resource Person from Andhra Pradesh with came to my home and explained the benefits and importance of group. She also asked me to join the group. Belonging to a lower caste, I refused to join but they convinced me to join the group when they told me group does not discriminate. Hesitant as I was I stood in a corner to watch one of their meetings. When a Community Resource Personal saw me, she took me by the hand and made sit in the circle with the other upper and lower caste women, I was afraid of my sitting along with all of them but I was surprised that none of them objected. Not only did I face no objection the women both upper caste and lower caste welcomed me with open hearts giving me great confidence.

Over time the fear and hesitation inside me was aborted and soon I started keeping accounts of group. Now I look after bank linkage in the group and deal with the bank officials. The discrimination has died, there are no upper or lower caste in our group, all are equal.
Now no one is hesitant to sit and eat with me. Often group meeting are conducted at my home. My family and I get equal treatment in the society at functions as do others who belong to the lower castes.

Now I have my own identity that is not a servant of my caste. Everyone in the village takes my advice, mainly related to bank and accounts and I try my best to help them. Today I don't have to remember that I belong to a lower caste, or worry if I am with people of a higher caste, and I cant help think that this would not have been possible without the help of our “Swayam Sahayata Samooh”. Discrimination is man made and man himself can end this evil if he should choose to.

Today Geeta is the president of her Self Help Group (SHG), the Cluster Level Association (CLA) at the village as well as the the President of the Block Level Association (BLA).