Holistic Devlopment Of Illterate Women

In a world where women have been seen traditionally as someone's wife, mother, daughter, or sister, why would a woman choose to follow a spiritual path? Perhaps because, deep inside every woman has a longing to “be” someone in her own right—fully aware of herself, confident and in control. When we talk of spiritual power, we are in fact referring to the original power of the self to be whole and independent—free from the web of domination and suppression, free from the need to exist for someone else's sake. For the last two thousand years or more, women have not fully utilised their spiritual power. Instead, aspects of the “feminine” have taken mainly symbolic forms from the Virgin Mary to the vestal virgins, from Earth Goddesses to the Shakti Devis. On the one hand, women have been put on pedestals and worshipped on account of their purity or femininity. At the same time, they have been excluded from religious practices and barred, even until now, from entering some places of worship. Elevated or chastised, exonerated or condemned, the main problem facing women is that they have never been treated as equal to men—either as spiritual leaders or spiritual seekers. This lack of equality finds its roots not only in sociological and cultural systems, but more particularly within levels of consciousness upon which spirituality and attitudes are ultimately based. Women as Spiritual Leaders Women become spiritual leaders when they themselves acknowledge they have the capacity and necessary attributes to play such a role. The change of consciousness needed is to move away from unworthy feelings and attitudes and to see the greatness contained within the self. Feminine qualities such as love, tolerance, compassion, understanding and humility are qualities of leadership. They are also needed for spiritual progress, for without them it would be impossible to come close to God and attain self realization. Every human being possesses those qualities but women are more easily and naturally able to tap them, for feelings of love and devotion are often more natural to women, combined with a profound sense of discipline and order. A true leader leads through example. Women know how to serve and how to give. Often the notion of service or of putting others in front has been seen as a sign of weakness or lack of power. Quite the opposite is true. The ability to bow before others, with true humility, is the sign of the greatness of a soul who has conquered ego. However this quality of giving to others must also be balanced with qualities of courage, determination, clear thinking and self respect. Too often, women have a tendency to give to others and neglect their own spiritual needs. It is one of the major reasons women find themselves depleted and lacking in spiritual power. The foundation for assuming spiritual leadership is thus a change of consciousness. Overcoming the huge physical, religious and sociological barriers which have prevented women becoming spiritual leaders can only be done through the development of self respect. The quality of self-respect comes from the knowledge and experience of the eternal self which is beyond social, cultural or physical identity. The eternal self or soul is pure, peaceful and complete with divine and spiritual HOLISTIC DEVELOPMENT OF ILLITERATE WOMAN OF HINJILCUT PAGE 4 qualities. When women touch this inner, eternal core, they gain the courage to play the part they are capable of. Spiritual power is an expression of the inherent qualities of the spirit and has nothing to do with gender or physical limitations. Feelings of domination or suppression occur when there is the awareness of superiority or inferiority. Feelings of equality, however, manifest when there is the consciousness of spirit or soul. These feelings and attitudes can be expressed in actions with positive results. Women are still a long way from enjoying positions of spiritual leadership, and society still doesn't fully concur with the notion that women make good spiritual leaders. Yet, society won’t necessarily change until someone, whether an individual or a group of individuals, breaks the tradition and sets a new role model. This, in part, was the thinking behind the work of Brahma Baba, founder of the BrahmaKumaris World Spiritual University. Empowering means enabling people especially women to acquire and possess power resources in order for them to make decisions on their own or resist decisions that are made by others which affect them. Participation and control over resources are considered as the critical indicators in the process of empowerment. Disadvantaged women especially in rural areas possess least proportions of resources and as a result they are powerless and dependent on the powerful. Historically, credit access and terms have discriminated against women (Manimekalai,1999) due to various reasons such as inability to provide collateral, small-sized loans, high transaction costs for banks formalities. Microfinance through women Self-Help Groups is a significant medium of poverty alleviation and empowerment of women. SHGs formed by women in different places have proved that they could indeed bring about a change in the mindset of the very conservative and tradition-bound illiterate women in rural areas. The concept of group formation is the best strategy to enlighten women and provide necessary mental courage for self-employment. Grouping of women has increased their awareness and reduced the chances of exploitation by middlemen. Empowerment of women is necessary for sustainable development. Empowerment is increasing the capacity of women to develop self-reliance in order to identify their problems. It emphasises solidarity and collective action. Groups or communities act together in order to gain access to policies and decision-making arenas where their quality of life is determined. Development is a process of Empowerment. Women’s empowerment could be briefly explained as the process of improving the human capital of women for effective participation in all aspects of development of a nation. This will make women become makers of development and history, not just receivers or objects of it. Women need not be just objects or beneficiaries of development but the development process of a nation needs the equal participation of women as well. Given that women form over 50% of the world population, their capacity building is crucial for holistic development. Women’s empowerment could also be said to comprise building their capacity or making the best of the lives of women for governance and socio-economic advancement. It is obvious that access to literacy or education, information or knowledge resources, natural or material resources, productive skills and capital facilitates the empowerment of women. It could also be observed that culture, tradition, formed opinions and perceptions all combine to define a marginalized status for women in society. Efforts will therefore have to be made to transform the patriarchal society through conscientization and awareness creation. In this process traditions, structures, institutions and ideologies that have contributed to the discrimination and subordination of women will have to be challenged. Some of these traditions and structures include the extended family, the caste system, ethnicity, religion, the media, the law, policies, and top-down development approaches as against bottom-up or participatory approaches among others. The first level, welfare, addresses the basic needs of women. This approach does not recognize or attempt to solve the underlying structural causes which necessitate provision of welfare services. At this point women are merely passive beneficiaries of welfare benefits. It is obvious that such an approach promotes dependence on the provider. Access, the second level, involves equality of access to resources, such as education, opportunities, land and credit. This is essential for women to make meaningful progress. The path to empowerment is initiated when women recognize their lack of access to resources as a barrier to their growth and overall well-being and take action to address it. Conscientization is a crucial point in the empowerment framework. For women to take appropriate action to close gender gaps or gender inequalities there must be recognition that their problems stem from inherent structural and institutional discrimination. They must also recognize the role they can often play in reinforcing the system that restricts their growth. Participation is the point when women are taking decisions alongside men to ensure equity and fairness. To reach this level, however, mobilization is necessary. By organizing themselves and working collectively, women will be empowered to gain increased representation, which will lead to increased empowerment and ultimately greater control. This level reinforces the mainstreaming approach which proposes that the concerns of both men and women be recognized and integrated into all plans, policies, programmes, goals, objectives, activities, and monitoring and evaluation indicators. This implies that in all interventions, implications for women and men should be assessed in all areas at all levels. Another implication also is that though there might be the need for special programmes to bridge existing gaps, this should be for a period of time in a project’s life cycle in order to avoid creating another imbalance. In the framework, control is presented as the ultimate level of equity and empowerment. At this stage women are able to make decisions over their lives and the lives of their children, and play an active role in society and the development process. Further, the contributions of women are fully recognized and rewarded as such. “no matter how we run away from it, the foremost agent of empowerment is education: education is the only passport to liberation, to political and financial empowerment. Education contributes to sustainable development. It brings about a positive change in our lifestyles. It has the benefit of increasing earnings, improving health and raising productivity.”