For Engracia

Women we admire. Women like Engracia López, one of the WLP’s most respected benefactors. Her story is the story of so many women from around the globe: widowed young, she raised her family through her own effort.

This determined, hardworking woman knows what it takes to survive very hard times. That is why she understands the women of Gulabgarh, their eagerness to become literate and in the process, to prosper and progress, to feel respected and appreciated, to achieve dignity.

Engracia is a wonderful woman who relishes the different roles she has fulfilled throughout her life: mother, worker, friend, neighbor. At the age of 82, she continues to learn and to be an active participant in society.

All of us can learn from women like Engracia. That is why the WLP wishes to share her story with a group of women who are just now beginning to understand the importance of their own education, personal growth and pro-active participation in society.

Thank you, Engracia, for all your help and for trusting in the Women’s Literacy Project of Gulabgarh.

Every woman has a story to tell, each and every one of them has wisdom to share.

A personal note of thanks

We recently met with Fernando Ojea, one of our sponsors in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, to honor him with the traditional khata or hada (silk scarf) in thanks for his generous contribution to our project. We also took the opportunity to keep him up to date on the progress of the WLP Gulabgarh.

Being able to count on people like Fernando shows that the WLP is not only raising awareness of its mission among the population of Gulabgarh, Paddar, but also generating involvement among citizens from outside the community and even the country.

Our supporters understand just how important it is that we pull together to help resolve this global issue which so greatly affects India, one of the world's biggest and most important emerging economies. There can be no development without literacy, no growth without the participation of a country's citizens regardless of their gender, no hope without women's personal development.

For the WLP, our benefactors are not anonymous. It is true that our project is growing and our sponsors are still relatively few, which perhaps makes it easier for us to keep track of those who have contributed to our success stories as well as to fostering the project's continuity. However, even as the number of WLP supporters increases, we aim to acknowledge the effort of each individual in furthering this education initiative, whether that means holding a personal meeting or reaching out to them through our blog and Facebook page.

Thank you Fernando, for your commitment, for believing in the Women's Literacy Project of Gulabgarh and for trusting in our effort.

Making growth inclusive in an emerging economy

Here's a very interesting and inspiring interview with Chanda Kochhar, managing director and CEO of ICICI, India's largest private bank.

According to Ms. Kochhar, there is a greater consciousness towards gender neutrality in the emerging economies such as India, where increased growth opportunities mean new growth opportunities for the women of these countries.

It is also interesting to learn how certain aspects of traditional culture,  such as the joint family system, can coexist with development and even contribute to helping men and women work together and build understanding between them.

Imagine how much more can be achieved in a 100% literate country!

Our new page on the IWD website

The WLP has created it's own page on the website dedicated to the International Women's Day 2012. This news story may have taken a bit too long to appear on our blog, but as the WLP's struggle for women's literacy is not limited to March 8th, we thought today was as good a day as any to share it with you. You can visit our page here:  http://www.internationalwomensday.com/womensliteracy

And we're sure you'll enjoy viewing the slideshow created by Thomson Reuters to mark the occasion of the 2012 IWD. It's packed with images of extraordinary, ordinary women from across the globe.

WLP bylaws

The project members are now working--and just about finished--on the WLP bylaws. As part of its mission, the organization aims to develop activities and design special actions to uplift, encourage and motivate the illiterate women of the most remote and underdeveloped areas of Paddar.

In order to achieve its goals, the WLP will focus on shifting the attitude of the community of Paddar from a heightened awareness of the crucial issue of women’s literacy, towards a commitment to help eradicate female illiteracy and finally towards assuming a more pro-active role in this effort. 

Encouraging lifelong learning among the illiterate female population of Paddar is another key issue that the WLP will address.

In the future, the project will further strive to empower the women of this rural area and reduce gender inequality through digital literacy. The WLP firmly believes that by equipping these women with the skills needed to become digitally literate, the society aspires to help bridge the great digital divide that exists between rural and urban India.

UN spotlights the empowering effect of boosting women's literacy

The video is from 2010. Unfortunately, women's literacy continues to be a crucial, unsolved issue in 2012.

Giving meaning to consumerism

A group of women from Gulabgarh—among them students of the W.L.P., accompanied by the project chairman—have set up a stand to exhibit their handcrafted designs at a 10-day-long craft fair in Jaipur, organized by the Rajasthan Rural Non-Farm Development Agency in association with the Indian Council for Cultural relations (ICCR). Craftsmen and craftswomen from 18 different Indian states signed up to participate in the event held at Jawahar Kala Kendra.

A growing awareness of the value of their traditions, culture and know-how are what led these women to set up a stand at the Jaipur fair. Back in their village, selling their hand knitted socks and other crafts will also help them to complement the family budget.

We hope that the W.L.P. has contributed in some way to the women’s appreciation of what they are able to design and create and in increasing their entrepreneurship and sense of worth.

The Gulabgarh group’s participation in the fair also demonstrates what initiatives such as the “comercio justo” (fair market) and others have shown: that it is possible to reconcile solidarity with consumption.