Celebrating International Women’s Day in India

Rally of about 1800 women to celebrate International Women's Day

TORPA function with over 2000 gathered to watch women perform a drama dealing with domestic violence.

Rania women came in trucks to celebrate

Study time, Saint Teresa’s Girls High School, Haregaon

Saint Teresa’s Girls High School, Haregaon

For the first time this year Women’s Day was celebrated in the school. We felt that our girl students are the future women of the society and so, to educate them while they are still with us is better.The school years are the precious years of their life and much of the values and attitudes are imbibed while they are still young and open to learning.

On 8th March we had a special programme in the school for all the girls, and we invited their mothers to be present for the occasion. The function began with the lighting of the lamp and aarti to St. Madeleine Sophie who founded the Society to carry out the educational mission especially for the youth and women. This was followed by a welcome song by Standard 5th and introduction by a teacher on the significance of this day.

A poem on the life of great women was then presented through enactment. Std 6th girls dressed up as Rani Laxmibai, Jijabai, Savitribai Phule, Shyamchi Aai, Kiran Bedi, These four women are the role models of the four houses in the school namely- blue, green, yellow and red named after these women) came up to form the light of the lamp while other girls sat in the shape of a lamp with lighted candles while the poem was being recited by all the girls. These “great women” then lit the candles held by the whole crowd of about 550 people including students, teachers, workers and mothers. Everybody then stood up and said a pledge to uplift oneself and other women around them in the society.

After this one of the teachers read out an article on the need for women’s empowerment in the present world. The Chief speaker of the day was a young, educated and efficient housewife, Mrs. Pournima Gujjar. Her simple and down to earth sharing about the daily life of a woman was very inspiring and heart warming. She gave credit to her parents and her in-laws for empowering her,  and challenged the women in the crowd to claim their rights and dignity in society.

The whole programme, which lasted for about 2 hours, was very inspiring and challenging and touched the hearts of all those gathered. The mothers were particularly grateful to the school for enabling them to participate in the programme.

Annie Peter rscj

Study time, Saint Teresa’s Girls High School, Haregaon

Womens’ Day at Rania

Women’s Day was celebrated in Rania on 2nd March, 2007.  They came in great numbers – many on foot – walking 4-10kms in order to rejoice in this get-together. They numbered over 1800.

First the women marched in procession, shouting slogans. One could not see the beginning or the end of the line. The rally lasted for around two hours. At the end of the rally, when they reached the ground, they received a colourful welcome with music, dance and garlands. This made a deep impression on the onlookers. One could see the joy, happiness and the excitement of women and children.

The Chief Guest of the day was Mrs. Dayamani Barla. She made the women aware of their dignity, their role in the larger Society, and encouraged them to stand up for their rights. She also spoke of migration of tribal women and human trafficking.   

We also had the Bank manager of SBI Torpa who also gave an inspiring speech, encouraging the women to find their place in there family and society. Government officials of the Block were to come, but were unable to because of last minute business.

Many women of several villages performed skits depicting the problems and difficulties they face. There were also enjoyable dances and group songs.

The celebration lasted for 3 hours and all went home with happy and smiling faces, ready to walk back 4, 5, 8 to 10kms. It was a wonderful “Women’s Day”.

                                                                                    Anjali rscj

At the Centre for Women’s Development, Torpa

International Women’s Day was celebrated by the Centre for Women’s Development Torpa on 2nd and 8th March, 2007. On 2nd it was celebrated for the Rania block and on 8th it was celebrated for the Torpa block. We are grateful to Indian Overseas Bank, Purlia Road Branch, Ranchi for sponsoring both the functions.

The objectives of the programme were:

• Empowerment of Women
• To be united with women all over the world on International Women’s Day.
• Promotion of Women Leadership
• To give leaders and members of self-help groups the skills of organizing, and animating, and to develop their various hidden qualities
• To help women analyze social realities together and act accordingly
• To improve their sense of worth in the public eye.

We organized programmes which would fulfill the above mentioned objectives.  Some of these were:

Rally

In both places, there were around 1800 -2000 women for the rally.  This had a deep impact on all those who attended the programme.  Women had prepared their own banners and badges.  They were taking the leadership to call out slogans.

Cultural Programme

All the items, such as jagriti songs, Adivassi dance, street plays etc were organized by the members of self-help groups. This has enhanced their hidden qualities, leadership and also their self-worth in the public eye.  Further, the women had to organize several small meetings before coming for the big gathering. Each cluster took different responsibilities for the day. This was to teach them the skills of animation at their own level. No doubt, in and through all these, we were aiming at their own empowerment.

In-Put given by the Chief Guests

Mrs. Dayamani Barla for Rania and Mrs. Nirmala Guria for Torpa were the Chief Guests for the occasion. Both spoke on the theme “Migration and Tribal Women”. Their speeches were much appreciated by the women present. Their awareness about this issue was deepened, and this was something they were able to take back home at the end of the programme.

In Torpa, we were fortunate to have speeches from various officials. All spoke about the current schemes available for Tribal villagers, especially women. This was truly very beneficial for them. The women are now much more motivated, and all round awareness is improved. The whole programme was very enriching for all those who attended it, and indeed a success story for both areas.

Our hopes are alive as we walk along with people responding to the challenges and sharing their concerns.

N. I. Sophie rscj