Educate a Woman, Create a Nation

“If you educate a man, you educate a person, but if you educate a woman, you educate a family and benefit an entire community”, was said by the sociologist Robert MacIver. How right he was in saying so, was quite evident in the Self-Help session of the Second Annual Karma-Yoga Convention at the Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai. The event saw the participation of over 70 women from 21 different villages located around Great Lakes Institute of Management, located in the Kanchipuram district of Tamil Nadu.

All the women present, on an average, had an experience of over 10 years of being a part of a  self-help group. Some of them had even managed to raise their families from the shackles of poverty by making intelligent investments over the years, with funding provided by the government for these self-help groups. Some, on the other hand, had reached the epitome of self-less community work by guiding the process of construction of over 100 toilets in their village–a herculean task for which they were given an award by the state government. Everyone present was in awe of the ladies representing the village Echur as they had fought against a liquor shop in their village by reporting the problem to the collector. Further, they had collected funds to improve the roads and clean the temples which were in a delapidated state.

The experiences in the above mentioned paragraph are only a few of the many that were shared during the Convention and they only give a glimpse of what every single woman present there had achieved over the years and what they are capable of achieving. ‘Empowering’ the women of our society has been a social struggle over the centuries. However, whenever they have got the opportunity, women have always proved their mettle. The ladies present in this session being the best example of the same.

To further motivate them and make them aware of their worth, the session was steered by Mr. Amutha Mathiyazhagan, a corporate trainer, success coach and motivational speaker, with a career spanning over a decade. He showed them many inspirational videos to emphasize the importance of self-worth, the importance of respect so as to gain trust and so on. Team-work, co-ordination, networking, dissemination of information et al were highlighted as some of the necessities for the success of a self-help group. However, undoubtedly, one of the most important things that he highlighted was the fact that we can all turn our weaknesses into strengths. Even the denial of one of the most basic necessities, of formal education, can be used to our advantage if we put our heart to it. This thought of his was applauded by all and was well appreciated.

“Dream Big, Aspire for more” was the mantra given by him to each one present there, and he concluded the session by again stressing how important it was for them to realize their worth.

This was just a small step taken up by the Karma-Yoga Project to bring all the women from different villages together on the same platform to acknowledge the work they had done for the society and to further encourage them to do more, with an unsaid promise of being there for them. Not to support them, but to walk beside them. Not to help them, but to take their help in building a better society, and gradually a better nation.

– Ritesh Pandey