Defining Empowerment

Text and Photos: Nicole Karpus and Linda Roemer

Em·pow·er·ment. Four syllables strung together to create such a powerful, beautiful sound. It is a word that has held me, captivated me, and one I’ve kept close. My fascination with this word comes from trying to deconstruct its meaning; it is a concept so powerful to explore. Because, sure, we can try and put a simple definition around it, quoting Oxford’s dictionary to start - “the process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially in controlling one’s life and claiming one’s rights...."

....But what one person must go through to become the main narrator of their life is shaped by their unique experiences and the hopes and dreams they aim to reach or even just understand. So, that's why I think hearing someone define what empowerment means to them is to often take a peak at the struggles they have overcome and everything they've fought so hard to carry.

How then do the Sambhali women and girls define this word?

On January 11th, Sambhali Trust gathered the women from our different empowerment centers to explore this very concept. A group of women from each center prepared speeches that explained what empowerment means to them and one by one got up to read what they had to say. In all, 265 students and staff gathered and together we all listened to these women. For most of them, this was the first time they ever spoke into a microphone and in front of a crowd. 

What we heard spoke loudly. 

"...When a woman decides to take her first steps toward empowerment, her family progresses, the village progresses and the entire nation. But to empower the women in India, we need to destroy the backward thinking of people that are destroying our society, like dowry and sexual harassment."
-Rekha

Rekha

"...We have to fight for ourself with complete power and self-confidence. We have to overcome our fear and fight against wrong. In this male dominating society we can get respect only when we know what we want. Girls are not meant for cooking food in the kitchen. Girls are also human beings and can also achieve high goals in life. The only requirement is to give them opportunity."
-Rubina

According to an analysis by Amnesty USA, India can be classified as the G20 country that makes it most difficult for women and girls, their circumstances being even worse than in Saudi Arabia. In fact, India is one of the fastest developing and emerging countries in the world. However, millions of people, particularly girls and women and those who live in the rural areas, do not benefit from this rise of their nation at all. The combination of being female, poor, and lower caste goes hand in hand with a systematic devaluation and the hindrance for any social and economic improvement.

Rajasthan belongs to the most conservative and patriarchal states of India. A survey published by the Times of India (2016) has revealed that just a little over 70% of Rajasthani girls in the age group of 15-17 years attend school, which is the worst in the country. This is accompanied by shockingly high numbers of child marriages and significantly low employment rates among women. Women in Rajasthan are also among those who have the lowest literacy rates, are likely to be aborted as children, have very limited access to good health care, bear the most children, and frequently face all types of violence. This does not cast a good light on the large desert state of India.  

It is when I heard about the stories of the girls living in the Sheerni Boarding Home, that was opened by Sambhali Trust in 2012, that I realized that these girls had been particularly vulnerable to facing all the challenges mentioned above, since they come from very poor and low-caste families that live in the desert villages - most of them were born in Setrawa, around 100km west of Jodhpur. 

In Jodhpur, through living in the boarding home, they are able to pursue good education up to university level and have access to high-quality health care at all times if needed – a gift that they would not be able to have back in their villages. Education can be one of the most powerful tools to enable them to avoid early marriage in the village, and eventually fulfil their potential and become an empowered woman. Living apart from the family is not easy. The girls have to rely on their friends and roommates to have a shoulder to cry on when problems arise. But they all are aware of and appreciate the benefits of living in the city instead of in the desert village. They all have a clear idea about how they want their future to look like, and thus dreams they are willing to fight for no matter what. I was curious to get to know these girls and their perspectives on a deeper level. 

Aasu

Aasu is 14 years old and was born in Setrawa. Her father arranged for three of her older sisters to get married when they were really young. After his death due to an unknown illness, all of the responsibility was in the mother’s hands. Aasu told me: “A few weeks later, a centre of Sambhali Trust was opened in my village. I learned that they teach children and women there for free. I started going to the centre every day to study there in the afternoons. I liked going to the classes. I didn’t like school that much, the teachers didn’t teach very well and didn’t pay attention to our needs. But the teachers at Sambhali Trust were really good. And they gave us biscuits every day too! Sometimes I had to stay at home to help my mother – and that’s when the teacher came to our house and told me to come to the centre every day. Sambhali has helped my family a lot - They gave my mother kitchens supplies and other gifts every time they came to our house”. That time, in 2012, Sambhali Trust opened the girls’ boarding home in Jodhpur, and the Sambhali team selected Aasu to go there to have access to a better future. “Now that I am here, I learn many good things. I get a good education, and learn about good habits. I have many friends here too - I love the other girls at the boarding home a lot. We are a big community. After school, I want to work in a government-run office or as a fashion designer – and I think my mother will be happy about that too. I remember my mother was very sad when we had so many problems, and I said to her: ‘Please, don’t be sad. I will become a good person and I will study hard to get a job, so I will be able to support our family’. My mother smiled. When I have a job and my own income, I will do something for Sambhali Trust. I want to give back to those who have given me and my family so much, and I want to support other girls who have had similar struggles”. Aasu’s biggest passion is art and sewing. She designs her own clothes and knows how to make them due to the sewing lessons. As she is drawing a woman working at a sewing machine, she writes “independent” and “brave” next to it. When I asked Aasu why she added these words to describe the woman on her painting, she explains: “The girls and women here at Sambhali Trust are empowered. Women empowerment means that a woman can decide what she wants to do in her life, and set her own rules. She can do anything for herself. To feel empowered, girls in India can go to school and study, and it is their decision to do everything they want to feel freedom”.

Her 15-year-old roommate Leela adds: "Malala Yousafzai is an example. She is a brave girl. Also Mother Teresa was a powerful woman. I know that girls can do anything, they can do any jobs. We can dream of becoming teachers, doctors, or politicians. Women are so strong - and we all are bright too. To feel empowered, we need to learn English first, and learn that we can defend ourselves. I can do everything." 

Strong words that come from a girl that has not always had an easy past. Leela’s mother died when she was very young. Her father got married again to another woman. Anytime he gets sick, he wants Leela to come back to the village to take care of him and the household. Leela stays in Jodhpur – she does not want to give up pursuing an education. Her 6-year-old sister is living in the other boarding home run by Sambhali Trust, opened two years ago and primarily housing the younger sisters of the Sheerni Boarding Home girls.

Leela

Most of the girls living at the boarding homes and many of those who go to the empowerment centres are Dalits - born into the lowest social group in the Hindu caste system. Dalits face severe discrimination and often violence from members of higher castes, making it difficult for them to ever break the cycle of poverty. Yet all girls are on their way to break down the barriers that society has built against people like them over so many years.  Their education through Sambhali Trust has led them to growing into empowered and strong-willed girls that have all the capabilities to change the social norms that had been pushing them down – and still affect millions of other Indian women and girls that carry similar stories. 

The girls at Sheerni Boarding Home express their feelings of empowerment through dance
and other creative activities.