Faith Put into Action
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Fr Shantharaj T, Director of CIRW with tailoring students |
Our world is facing a myriad of global concerns. The Covid-19 has left no sector untouched and unharmed. We have been witnessing a number of human tragedies, such as swelling refugee crisis, escalating levels of poverty and most importantly unprecedented economic crisis, the joblessness and the list can go on. With all this gloomy atmosphere around us, we can also observe people working tirelessly to sustain their livelihood through hard and innovative ways.
The Centre for Integral Rural Welfare (CIRW) of Anekal Mission in the Karnataka Jesuit Province is actively involved in and around Anekal taluka of Karnataka to empower and conscientize the poor, with a special emphasis on women and Dalits. Through various programs and plans, the CIRW works to improve standard of life, promote self-dignity, raise socio-political awareness about people’s basic human rights, mobilize and unite to fight for their rights, educate and demand various Governmental benefits. The primary aim is to help people to become agents of social change. The Tailoring Centre in this regard has many success stories to tell.
The Tailoring Centre is one of such initiatives of the Mission to enable women to improve their standard of life and live in self-dignity. It strives to enable them to grow in self-esteem and self-confidence. In other words, the commitment is to support them to be masters and architects of their own destiny.
Fr Shantharaj T., director of the CIRW is furthering this mission of empowering women through his leadership. We first listen to him as he unfolds the story of faith into action.
Sch Anush: Congratulations Fr Shantharaj for your able leadership for the Centre for Integral Rural Welfare (CIRW). COVID -19 has been a great challenge for you to keep the work going. You have passed through some challenges and there are many more ahead. To put into words, what are some of the challenges you faced in your Social apostolate during this time of crisis.
Fr Shantharaj T: Covid-19, the deadly pandemic has affected every spheres of our society. As you have aptly presumed, we too faced ample challenges to keep our project running. We have five tailoring centers through the help of some generous benefactors. Among these five centres, four of them are situated in the remote villages. When the nationwide un-expected and abrupt lockdown was announced, the smooth-running tailoring programme came to a standstill. The poor women who sought to pick up the skill and aspiring to join the garments factories around this area were forced to stay at home. Their dreams were shattered. Due to lack of public transportation, some poor women who were commuting from the distance places could not attend the classes and even the tailoring teachers could not reach the remote villages. However, the daring women continued to reach the centers for tailoring classes soon after the lockdown was removed through one or the other means. It shows their determination to pick up the tailoring skill for their daily sustenance and these courageous women urge us to go an extra mile ahead with them amidst the pandemic.
Sch Anush: One of the important tasks of our Social Work Centers is to empower women and children. How did you find this task effective during Covid-19?
Fr Shantharaj T: The primary motto of the CIRW is the integral welfare of the whole society through the education of the economically backward children and empowering women through Self Help Groups and conscientizing them through various awareness programmes. We have Dalit Hostels for boys and girls and several children have benefited from the value-based education imparted in these ‘second homes.’ Apart from these two hostels in the town, we also have 15 study centers in the villages with a tutor in each of them to help the children in their education and also to save their pocket money for a greater purpose. Currently, the weekly savings of the children have resumed and earnestly waiting for the reopening of the school. Due to Covid-19, we have closed all these study centers and the hostels, as a result, the poor children are deprived of their daily free tuitions. However, the women Self Help Groups (SHG) and the Village Small Savings (VSS) are a great boon for the poor women to run their families amidst the pandemic. The constant awareness about the pandemic and the precautions to live with the virus by the CIRW staff have helped the villagers to face the deadly virus courageously.
Sch Anush: Have you been able to materialize the ideals proposed in the Vision and Mission of the Centre during this pandemic?
Fr Shantharaj T: The vision and mission of the centre is: “Rooted in the values of the Kingdom of God and Indian Constitution as enshrined by the Father of our Nation, we journey with the marginalized and the oppressed people towards demanding full respect for their dignity and liberation from every bondage.”
Our mission is to be an active partner of every Dalit woman, man, youth, girl, and boy to ensure that they enjoy fullness of life, which necessarily involves full respect for their dignity and fundamental human rights as its integral dimension. We are committed to walk with the poor and accompany them in their struggle for their integral development and empowerment. Our commitment is to empower them to be true agents of socio-economic, cultural and political transformation, to enable them to grow in self-esteem and in self-confidence to fight for their own rights. In other words, our commitment is to support them to be masters and architects of their own destiny. In concrete terms it is to demand for decent housing, basic health and hygiene facilities, good and quality education, proper opportunities to capacity building and nutrition, and active participation in the decision-making processes. Even amidst the pandemic we have not compromised these ideals. With the help of some generous souls, we could reach out to 7000 families by distributing dry rations kits (worth Rs.1000 each) to the poor villagers and migrants from both North India and North Karnataka. In these difficult times, the poor have realized that they belong to a bigger family called CIRW.
Sch Anush: In your Social Apostolates what are the new ways you foresee in putting our faith into action in post-Covid time?
Fr Shantharaj T: In the post-Covid time, CIRW aims at empowering women, mostly from Dalit and backward communities, who have been economically exploited, socially marginalized, and culturally subjugated. With the objective and purpose of addressing the painful and exploitative conditions of our target women in and around Anekal Taluka our Centre is giving tailoring skills by starting Tailoring units. In the near future our primary objective is to provide an opportunity to the poorly educated and unskilled rural women to acquire skills to become economically independent and socially recognized as a person with equal dignity. Apart from these tailoring classes, we also provide them with some more job-oriented courses. Computer, basic English course, textiles etc create more job opportunities to the unemployed men and women and to make them self-reliant and liberated them from all the clutches of society.
Action that Bore Fruit
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| Mrs Khursid at her work |
women and girls, at greater risk of exploitation and gender-based violence. At this point Mrs Khurshid, is a beacon of hope in her family. Having learnt tailoring at CIRW, she supports her family financially in this COVID situation. Let us listen to her
Sch Anush: Please introduce yourself and what is daily working life like for you right now?
Mrs Khurshid: I am Kurshid, born and brought up in a poor Muslim family. My parents cannot work as they are ill. I always thought of working in a Garment Factory. However, after much enquiry with workers there, I realized that working in such places will not help me with much income. Being a Muslim and moreover a woman, I could never think of going out of my house. Looking at my family misery I decided to fetch some income to the family. I was then introduced to CIRW. I learnt tailoring there and decided to live my life independently.
Sch Anush: Tell us your life in CIRW and thereafter.
Mrs Khurshid: I have seen lot of difficulties in my family. I had a desire to learn tailoring. I always thought of being self-sufficient. I dreamt of being happy as a woman who can be of a great help to the family and in society. Having learnt tailoring I was able to be what I always desired. Today as I look back at my life I feel proud of going through those hard ways of learning at CIRW and practicing thereafter. I have grown a lot in self-confidence and now fear no one in my society. I can speak for my rights and of others.
Sch Anush: Women can live in self-dignity by learning various skills. What are the contributions of CIRW you find in this line?
Mrs Khurshid: At CIRW it was not merely a matter of learning tailoring skill. We were taught to face society and challenges of our life as women. I learnt public speaking, singing and organizing events together with the tailoring. These skills are so necessary for me now as I teach tailoring here in the village. Now I am so happy and contended in my life because of CIRW. During the lockdown I realized that through tailoring I can support and sustain my family. Many thanks to Fathers who made me to stand on my feet at any adverse situation.
Kudos to CIRW
The mission and vison of CIRW is to be a partner of everyone who comes in contact to ensure that they enjoy fullness of life, which necessarily involves full respect for their dignity and fundamental human rights. The Centre is committed to walk with the poor and especially the women and children in their struggle for their integral development and empowerment and thus put faith into action in this most uncertain time of ours.
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