Empowered women

I received the most perfect timing e-mail from my friend Lacey, who I actually met when I was in India the first time four years ago. Her e-mail was about how she is in Vietnam and just drank the water and is hoping she didn’t get sick from it. Then she started to reminisce about how sick we both got together in India before. She ended the email by saying, “I hope you don’t get sick in India this time around”. I about died laughing and all I could think of is if she could have only seen me the past few days with my “Delhi belly” in full effect. Well, with the worst of the Indian sickness hopefully behind me and a determination to not miss anymore of India, I adventured out with the group after being completely down for two days.

We spent the day with the organization SNEHA. We split into groups to go into the slum of Dharavi to see firsthand the work of SNEHA. I choose to go with the domestic violence group because it intrigued me that an organization like SNEHA had even begun to tackle an issue like domestic violence with the huge gender inequalities in India. Just like in every country, domestic violence in India is not just limited to the poor or uneducated. The abuse stems from a multitude of underlying issues like substance abuse, childhood abuse, and a belief that women are the inferior sex. We met with ten women who have become the “peer educators” on domestic abuse in Dharavi. I was humbled by their dedication and passion towards helping women in domestic violence situations and educating them on the importance of speak out against abuse. In public health, we love the term “popular opinion leader”, which refers to the liaison between an organization and the community it is trying to serve. This person acts as a leader in their community and engages those individuals who otherwise may have been hard to reach by an outside influence. Sitting in a circle with these incredible women ranging from early twenties to later fifties, I realized that I was witnessing firsthand what true popular opinion leaders look like. They are people just as involved as the organization itself and want a voice in their own community. India has been such a whirlwind journey that I forget to step back and look at what amazing opportunities I have been given to see public health functioning in the field.

I think one of the most important things about traveling is having your preconceived notions about a country challenged. With gender inequality vastly ingrained within the Indian culture, I assumed that female equality in homes wasn’t a focus area in India. I feel happily embarrassed that I was wrong. Even in the poorest slum in Mumbai there are champions for women’s empowerment and women that have stood up against questions from their own families in order to participate in SNEHA’s programs. One woman smiled and said she told her family, “it’s the right thing to do and brings good karma”. The women in this group may not have years of formal education but are very wise on issues affecting their community. People, myself included at times, do not give these women the credit they deserve in being knowledgeable about solutions that could benefit their community. I had a chance to ask the group what they thought were the greatest problems affecting the slums. A lack, or none for that matter, of sanitary toilets and a high unemployment rate were the two biggest issues the women raised their voices about. I had two thoughts come into my mind: 1) It is always amazing how no matter where people are in the world some issues, like unemployment concerns, are universal; and, 2) How incredibly unfair it is that something as simple as having a toilet is a major concern in India. The things we are able to take for granted in developed countries will never cease to amaze me.