Arunodhaya celebrates the power of women

Grippart

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posted on 12 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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CHENNAI: N Bakyalakshmi (42), a mother of two, who, six years ago, was a housewife with no exposure to the world outside her home ..

CHENNAI: N Bakyalakshmi (42), a mother of two, who, six years ago, was a housewife with no exposure to the world outside her home and family. Today, she is the leader of a women’s Self Help Group (SHG) specialising in export garment manufacturing. She also heads a ward-level federation of SHGs.“All these things would not have been possible if Arunodhaya had not helped us by conducting workshops on how to develop and manage small businesses and instil confidence in us,” says Bakyalakshmi, referring to the NGO which has been helping children and women for the past 20 years.Arunodhaya began with the mission of eradicating child labour and now covers 145 slums. In 1994, they started SHGs for mothers of child labourers to make them independent and not to rely on the income of their children.Every year in the month of March, a day-long program is conducted for them to celebrate International Women’s Day. This year, the theme was ‘Saadhanai Payanathil Pengal’ (Women on the Path to Success). A few women from 834 SHGs under Arunodhaya participated to share their success stories.But it was not just speeches – the women used traditional forms of storytelling like villupaatu and oyilaatam to depict the growth and empowerment they have experienced, which made for an interesting and lively programme.Priya, Program Coordinator, Arunodhaya, said, “Of all the SHGs, we have chosen one as the best based on their performance and growth. The National SHG from Thiruvottiyur has won this award, and a cash prize of Rs 10,000. A zonal level award and cash prize of Rs 3,000 will be given to the Kurinji SHG from Korukkupet.”Games and other competitions like running, speech and poetry writing were also conducted for the women. Cultural competitions in dance and skits were also held in the afternoon, and prizes were awarded for the best in each category.Also present were Executive Director of Arunodhaya Virgil D’Sami, Krishnamoorthy from the Union HRD Ministry, High Court lawyer Sri Lekha and Louis Sahayaraj, Zonal Coordinator of ASMAE.