What could be worse for a girl child than to be a lowly female in India,
or to be an orphan in Ethiopia and HIV positive? A few organizations care
for these children, girls and boys, helping out child by child. I encountered
two organizations, Aarti in India and AHOPE for Children in Ethiopia,
that have given themselves to saving orphans. Please read about their incredible
work.
Indian women from poor families lead extremely difficult lives – if they
even survive. When I was in India five years ago, I was shocked at
the rampant discrimination against women. I learned, for instance,
that there are fewer women than there should be under normal circumstances
due to abandonment of girls, inattention to female children, and even abortion
of female fetuses.
Aarti is a multi-faceted program in Kadapa, India (located in Andra Pradesh,
between Chennai and Hyderabad) that takes a wide-ranging approach to female
needs. Aarti was started by Sandhya Puchalapalli who named the organization
after her niece who died in a car accident in 1992 in Massachusetts.
The organization took shape when "a young girl, Radhika, three years old,
was abandoned on the streets of Kadapa. She was a daughter of a woman
killed by her husband.; Sandhya and a few local citizens decided to
bring up the girl and a few more like her and Aarti home was born."
Aarti Home presently cares for 97 abandoned children, ages 1 to 20.
While Aarti accepts both girls and boys, 90 percent of the abandoned children
that come to the home are girls.
Sandhya knew it was not enough simply to provide a children's home.
Aarti also makes sure that girls are educated because "education is the
greatest equalizer." The Aarti school provides Montessori-style education
for the young and the Aarti Bridge School offers a program for children
who missed schooling and need to be integrated into regular schools.
Aarti also provides scholarships for young women.
Aarti has not forgotten adult women. So far, it has assisted over
2500 women with vocational training and has created self-help groups that
produce embroidered home furnshings and apparel. And, Aarti has established
a Women's Support Centre that offers health services, legal aid, and counseling
for abused women.
Aarti is the kind of organization that can make real change in India because
it is grass roots and works with the poor. While middle class Indians
move into jobs in the high tech world and call centers, the poor fall further
and further behind, and the gap between the rich and poor becomes wider.
Aarti is a grass roots effort that is supported by the local community
but also needs help from the outside. As Sandyha put it, "Saving
10 million girls is difficult, educating 41 million children is tough,
protecting 300 million women is next to impossible. Yet, Aarti home,
with your help, aims to start this tough task."
Sandyha Puchalapalli understands that the fundamental goal behind her
work is a change in social attitudes. She writes, "My dream is for
all Indian women to feel truly equal, wanted -- no child is made to feel
unwanted just because she is a girl. I would like to see a society where
every girl has enough independence to say no to dowry. I would like to
see India where the birth of a girl is celebrated, a country where girls
grow up to be confident, independent and strong women – with opportunities
to do what they please, where girls can dream and dream big."
It's a beautiful dream and Aarti, in one small Indian city, is showing
the way.
Indian women from poor families lead extremely difficult lives – if they
even survive. When I was in India five years ago, I was shocked at
the rampant discrimination against women. I learned, for instance,
that there are fewer women than there should be under normal circumstances
due to abandonment of girls, inattention to female children, and even abortion
of female fetuses.
