For Shashikala, this Women’s Day was a special one as she celebrated it with her parents and brothers.
For Shashikala, this Women’s Day was a special one as she celebrated it with her parents and brothers. Despite the fact that only two weeks ago the house she grew up in came crashing down, she has a new home, thanks to an initiative by Habitat for Humanity.
The non-profit organisation works towards giving people a home. “Last year, on Women’s Day we began a programme aiming at building 150 houses for the homeless,” said Joseph Mathai, director, Habitat for Humanity.
“We chose families with single women running the homes either because of lethargy or irresponsibility on part of the men or because there was no man in the house. We have completed over 50 houses.”
This Women’s Day, volunteers from Timken spent one day in the construction of the house. “It is a women-help-women programme,” said Regina Vasudevan, head of communications for Timken in India, who says a house is the ultimate security for a woman.
Clad in red T-shirt and jeans, wearing gloves and a cap to protect herself from the sun, she may have seemed a little out of place in this tiny street in Hegde Nagar. But the determination on her face was obvious as she lifted bricks, cemented them together and laid the foundation to a house.
“Even though none of us have any experience doing this, we are enjoying ourselves. We know that this Women’s Day, instead of listening to speeches and talking about the ‘situation’ of women, we have done something that will help change things.”
Suma Ravindran another volunteer is here to help despite her belief that no third person can help a woman and if she wants to improve her life, she alone has to help herself.
“Women’s Day is only a hype created by people. Nevertheless, because of this one day we are here to help these women and even though we can’t change much, we can do something.”
According to Suma, education alone can ensure that women come up in life. She pointed to Shashikala and said, “Shashikala works with Vodafone and is better off than her mother, who cleans dishes in a hotel, only because she is educated. That is what can save us.”
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