Empowerment of women and more - Sambhali Trust

desertrose

The Sambhali project was established less than 3 months ago yet it has brought forth the most amazing ‘fruits’ in such a short time.
The aim of the Sambhali Project is to provide a ‘safe space’ for young women (often referred to as the ‘untouchables’ in the lowest caste) to learn new skills and express themselves in a positive environment, thereby helping them to build their self esteem and fill them with hope for the future. It is a very practical project because teachers are employed to
share skills that have passed through their families for many generations, such as
embroidery, and volunteers share whatever they are able to contribute on a short/long term basis.

These 11 women, aged between 12 and 38 (mostly 17-18 yr olds), participate in English lessons, drama, art, singing and dancing. The items that are created during the workshops are sold to pay the girls a wage and purchase necessary resources, which is not only practical but relieves some of the stress that they would normally face as an oppressed ‘untouchable’ young woman.

website for Sambhali project in Jodhpur ,Rajasthan.
http://sambhali.durag-niwas.com

manreet_16

good work to start..Best of Luck

Tapestry

Looks like good effort with the right intentions behind it. Best of luck. Will consider visiting in the future.

desertrose

Khamaghani Saheb/Saheba and Mr and Mrs.Rajput.
Thanks a lot for showing your interest in the Sambhali Project, we are doing very well and almost self supporting, the little shop at the D.N.G.H is selling the produce done by women/girls of the project and it is doing very well,our first volunteer Mr.Ash from Uk is leaving on monday after 4 and half weeks teaching basic english to our project people,now we have Mr.Micheal from Australia came to us through independent volunteers website with the project for 1 month also,he has started 3 days back on the 22nd of november.the project has 11 girls now and they are Meera,Sarawati,Sandhya,Saveeta ,Saroj(1),Saroj(2),Soniya,Deep ika,Lajwanti,Pooja,Monika.
we have stopped services from our Glitter Print teacher because we were having no market in this sort of printing,instd we do sewing .so 6 days a week from 10.00am till 2.00pm we do learning and doing on the art and craft and from 2.00pm to 3.00pm we do Basic english.the project has been appreciated by other lcoal N.G.O's and Co-operatives.we see the build of self esteem in the project women/girls and it is such a pleasure when we see them dealing with the world with much more strength and power in voice.My Kiwi friend Madam Debbie has returned from thailand after renewing her visa for next 6 months to help making this project a wonderfull place for these women to be independent.we are helping our teachers to save their traditional art alive, they have sent their children to good schools and their children may not keep the art alive so our women/girls from the project will learn and keep the indian traditional skills alive.Sandhya's father came to me the other day and said to me that he is giving me a piece of metal and i as an iron smith should Mould it into a proper form.i denied that these girls were iron , they are piece of gold for me,and we r gold smith who will make beautifull jwellery out of them when some one will wear them they the person would look beautifulll, i m not sure if i can explain my thoughts here.i have a blog for the project which we will update quite frequentley with the volunteer and project monthly reports.
http://sambhali.blogspot.com
Many Thanks for visiting our homepage.
Warm regards
Rathore

windywendy

hi to all volunteers, anyone who is interested in volunteering please do so, this is an amazing project. My partner and i were there to witness the birth of this and have seen the girls progress further and further with their skills. Say hi to the girls for me and i hope all the best for the project

desertrose

-Sambhali-

Splendid Sambhali, saffron and silk.
Watching joyful wings.
Freedom blossoms like a lotus flower and hope for the future sings.
Sewing, smiling, ABC - dancing to the beat
To the music that may marry them and put them on their feet.
Friendship, skills and strength soothe their minds and pure hearts
Love lives in our plans and actions which help them to make a start.
Teachers who learn, students that teach - have sacred spaces on the concrete
floor
They wish for justice and Sambhali...providing the means and unlocking the
doors.

desertrose

United with a common vision
perfumed with Inspiration
Blessed with good Intentions
and spiritual vibration.

Seedlings with Potential
to be strong & mighty trees
are nurtured with the elements &
the kindness of the breeze.

Sweet women of this land
must grow in equality
to feel empowered by their right...
to be as free as me.

Sambhali,will you hold
a simple remedy for us?....
to unlock the gates of oppression
and rise above the dust.

2nd Poem by Miss.Gemma West for Sambhali!!!!!

desertrose

Sambhali co-operative society has been converted into a Non profit Cheritable organization as ,if you r intersted in knowing more from the Trust, please have a look at Sambhali Trust website , it has all our details, http://sambhali.durag-niwas.com , we have also applied for a new domain name www.sambhali-trust.org
Regards
Rathore.

patajhada

The Sambhali Trust in Jodhpur, Rajasthan has recently received a big amount of money from Australian Lonely Planet.
Now they can continue and expand the good and very necessary work they enthusiasticly started.
Take a look at their website. They already accomplished a lot, like education for girls, a healthcare and hygien project, and the opportunity for the girls to get a decent job because of the skills they've learned.
The project is still in need of donations and volunteers.
If you are able to spend some months in Jodhpur and are willing to help them further with your knowledge and enthusiasm then you'll be most welcome.

desertrose

To Check Out the Latest Updates on the Sambhali Trust,
visit Their blog at http://www.durag-niwas.blogspot.com/
Enjoy!

desertrose

Johne did a great job. here are some words from her before she left.















Conclusion and overall impression on the project in general. Monday the 23rd of July 07

My work in and on this project comes to its end now.

I got the chance of being part of something wonderful really. The girls are precious human beings and every time I look at them I come to realize how vulnerable they are. Because of this very reason it should be priority to be sensitive, to give love, and to push them in a supporting way instead of telling them all the time how stupid they are. They can achieve great things if people put their trust and believe in them and eventually there is enough power to be strong enough to take the next step into society, which in fact doesn’t appreciate them very much by nature. Some of them are afraid. They prefer not to take the next step. Nevertheless, they can do great things in their community as well. So the education part is not wasted by any means. They are the next generation to come. It would be a great loss in progress to miss out on them just because some of the girls have different priorities in life and don’t push for the highest educational goals possible. So another goal next to giving them the best education possible is to transport moral virtues and norms in order to make good human beings out of them. In the long run it makes them stronger as people don’t like to be cheated and in consequence put their trust and help and friendship into those characters who are good by nature, who don’t lie, who take others and their problems seriously, who help people in need. This again helps creating trust among community members in general and this way they might find the inner strength and will to go out and fight against boundaries, to fight for equal opportunities and chances.

I had to realize that there is a great gap between the girls’ abilities. Some are eager and learn fast and some see the project as a way to miss out on duties at home. It is not that easy working under these diverse conditions. Nevertheless, I think I managed the work in a quite satisfying way considering the fact, that I didn’t have real teaching experiences before – organizing class not only for one class period but on a constant level over weeks, managing to make the students follow instead of boycotting and not paying attention at all means. I didn’t say I had it easy. But for some reason I enjoyed working with those girls very much – they appreciate, they are not spoiled by modernity simply because they cannot afford it, they enjoy relationships with others as this is all they have really but because of this they seem to know how to take care of it as well. First you have to prove yourself trustworthy though. They have difficulty to open up in the beginning; it is especially difficult if outer circumstances collide with their traditions and religious beliefs. For instance, a man will always have more difficulties as a woman teaching just because of the sex. This doesn’t mean though he will not be able manage. This simply means he will have to put more effort into it, especially in the beginning of getting to know them. I am sure professionalism will win in the end though.

My only advice be yourself, be strong, go your own way, be adventurous and open-minded towards the girls and next to all the duties try to have as much fun as possible – don’t ever regret.

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desertrose

M.s.Julie allan and Mr.Philip Callow from liverpool in UK with a friend called M.S.Linda did a fund raising party for the Sambhali Trust. They raised a lot of teaching material from their schools and raised cash of 120 pounds. Today I have put this 120 pounds in education of two little girls in 1st and 3rd standard.
Their sister use to be our participant from the empowerment of harijan women project. Their Mother died in an accident leaving the 4 girls with their father and grand mother. Father got married again and got "blessed" by a baby BOY. he completely ignored the 4 girls and wanted to get rid of the burdain from his head his wife left for him. he got our participant saroj and her sister married with men older their ages. We could not do anything. We from our project tryed our best to stop this marriage but we were unable because with any legal step we would have had lost the other participants coming from the same area. We helped with money, food, jwellery etc and got Saroj and her younger sister married. Her father promised me that he will not send the girls with their husbands for another 2 years untill the youngest girl gets little older. he never full filled his promise instd sent saroj and her sister away and made the two youngest his workers. the both young girls stopped school and started looking after the house hold, the step brother and had to add their hands in family work. Saroj took promise from me that i will help her sisters go to school and help her fullfill her mothers dream to see the two younger daughters to get education. The fund raising money was handed to me today , which is sufficient for the whole year for both of their schooling.
the bride in last on the picture is Saroj and the fund raise in liverpool in the pictures
We are in serious need of volunteers to teach and participate in the project, kindly help us find a helping hand.
Regards
Rathore

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desertrose

Please visit the online news blog we maintain of the Sambhali Trust. www.durag-niwas.blogspot.com

desertrose

September-October News and a new Report on the Blog,I hope you will enjoy it.
Regards

desertrose

Wish me luck, I need it badly.
I hope you will like to read this.

Sambhali Project: Setrawa

Very exciting news: we are starting a new school! Here is an excerpt from our report we are compiling
We have a time frame of about 6 days from the initial decision to the day we run our first class so excuse the formal nature of this entry. Please keep yourself up dated with the news blog.

Aim: To establish a free school for the local children
in Setrawa Village and self sustainable art and craft program

Some major goals:
* To aid children already attending school with extra English classes. Before and after school hrs.

* To initiate schooling practices and opportunities for the children who can’t afford school.

* To create classes teaching self sustainable practices such as arts and crafts, products that can be sold to help run the project and for future independence for it’s participants.

• To demonstrate basic hygiene and etiquette practices such as washing hands, wearing long hair tied back, neat and clean clothing etc. That will help alleviate misconceptions about different castes’ cleanliness and presentation and also aid in self confidence and promote more job opportunities in the future.

• To integrate castes. Setrawa project, unlike Jodhpur Sambhali will be promoting mixed castes. This is more possible to try here because the village is small and free schooling is a unique possibility for all children regardless of their caste.

• We are looking forward to promote practices for eco-friendly livelihood. Such as recycling of old used materials, and by using household water to grow a kitchen/vegetable garden.

• Future possibilities may include improving general infrastructure and appearance of the village. For example: plantation, providing shade, drainage systems, building roads, street lights, awareness programs on health, hygiene, aids, education to help stop child marriages, equality etc… in the form of a council or community assembly group.

Observations about Setrawa
Setrawa is a small village 1 ½ hours (110KM) drive North of Jodhpur, Rajasthan. The village has a population of approximately 3000 people. There are several communities in the village, The Sarpanch is an elderly woman of the Dalit community(meghwal) she is officially the head of the village Panchayat, however she is a widow and uneducated so her eldest son assumed the position. His education level also influences the change as he had completed 5th or 6th level of schooling.
The strange thing is that a Dalit woman is elected as a leader in the community. This is allowed because the Indian government has reservations for untouchables in their system. It was an unusual circumstance when we were invited to her house, and told that if a Rajput individual was to visit that it was considered indecent to drink the water being offered. We were concerned over whether this is common practice, or only in certain areas. We were offered Chairs and she would not sit in front of us on the chair and a carpet was placed on the floor for her to sit.

The town seemed to operate quite efficiently. There were plenty of small neat little shops with all the basic requirements for living, such as a chemist, stationery supplies basic food stalls, even clothing stalls.

Other industry associated with people residing in Setrawa included farming and mining of the sandstone quarries.

The mining has also had a negative impact on the town by disrupting the soil stability in the most historical area of the village, the result being collapsed houses and dangerous waste land. The damage has increased in the last 2 decades.

There were so many children filling the streets when we arrived. It was soon established that this project would be very welcome in their village. Within minutes of suggesting our Ideas, the local leaders and respected members of the community were sweeping us around from place to place that were available for rent. We also were told around 30-50 children were already interested. This was meant to work.
The local people were very happy that the village name would be internationally recognized.

The level of education in the village is not very different here in comparison to Jodhpur (at first glance). We noticed quite a variety of levels. But this may have been because we were meeting mostly the higher caste children at this time, given our impressive introductions. One major difference is that most kids speak Marwari, so all of that good Hindi we practiced will have to be replaced by a new language!


This is a wonderful idea and a wonderful project. It is a beautiful area. The fresh country air and brighter skies are enchanting, and naturally after meeting the community this project has become more alluring then we first anticipated. Apparently this is nothing compared to the amazing star filled skies we are promised by Govind to witness at night!

Things just seemed to fall into place when we arrived on Saturday 3rd (This was both volunteers first Visit to the village). We are planning at this stage to move in to the project after Diwali celebrations 07, at this stage on the 11th November 07.

It should also be mentioned that the village holds much significance to Govinds’s family as this is the village his father grew up in. In light of the success and joys of the Sambhali project in Jodhpur he was encouraged and wanted to do something of a similar vain for his own village.

We are all very excited and are looking forward to the possibilities and challenges that lay ahead!!! Once again, please keep up to date with our developments on the blog.

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