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May I  introduce … Working Women

[notes from an interview with Anthony, who co-ordinates an empowerment project in a predominantly Muslim slum]

In the colony in the past few years we have seen that more Muslim girls are leaving the house and getting jobs—six or seven people are working distributing electricity bills house to house and other such jobs. A few years back, this would not have happened.

Originally, men in the community were rather controlling, especially when it came to fathers allowing their daughters to go outside the house.  So what brought about this change?  When families in the neighborhood met financial troubles and came to Anthony for help, he would suggest getting employment for the girls in their family.  This might have been a hard sell if the Kari project had not already built rapport with the community by finding employment for many of the young men in the area, but since Anthony’s advice had worked out well in the past, the families trusted that whatever the Kari Project was trying to do must be good for them.  The Kari Project would contact companies and set up interviews for young women in the community for electricity bill distribution, data entry jobs, and other opportunities.  The families are glad to have the extra income (7000 INR per month for distributing electricity bills, for example), and social norms in the community have slowly begun to change as more and more fathers see their neighbors’ daughters working outside the home and improving their families’ situation and open their minds to the idea of allowing their own unmarried daughters to work.  Twelve or thirteen girls from Janta Colony have been employed through the Kari project’s efforts so far.

In addition, Anthony has an all-female staff of six.  He hired men before, but it didn’t work out: “the guys looked for jobs for themselves rather than finding jobs for other residents- four or five staff members were let go because of that,” he laughs.  “Women are an important point of contact for the Kari project because they can easily go inside homes and communicate with families.”  In Anthony’s experience, female staff members are more effective and can do this more easily than male staff members.

Please pray for  …

-  Women to be valued more, and given freedom to pursue education and work

-  Safety for young women who do go out of the home for study or work (this is still a very male-dominated society, and women are regularly hassled)

-  suitable paid work for Soni, Bebi, Ruksana and Shama

Did you know …

Sunni Muslims acknowledge the first four Khalifs as the rightful successors of Mohammed.  They follow the customs and traditions of Islam and Mohammed.  This is the biggest group, perhaps 85% of all Muslims, and they predominate everywhere except Iran and Iraq.

[Servants works in a number of Islamic settings, including India and Indonesia. This month is the month of Ramadan (also known as Ramazan), the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts about 30 days. It is a month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating and drinking during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and submissiveness to God. Each day this month we will be putting reflections, stories, and information about Islam on this website to help you learn more and pray for our Muslim friends.]