Reflection On My Visit to Agra and the UHRC Women’s Groups: Saswathi Natta

Hello everyone,

I am currently a 4^th year undergrad student at Princeton University and this past summer, I was in Delhi at a Human Rights internship. In addition to my internship, I had the good fortune of being connected to Siddharth Agarwala and being able to see some of the work that he and the UHRC has done. I want to share some of my thoughts and later reflections on my visit to the Women’s groups in Agra.

My visit to Agra started with a quick trip to the Taj Mahal very early in the morning. It was beautiful, surrounded by a light mist from the early morning dew and sun beams. I walked around it in awe and appreciated it’s beauty along with all the other tourists snapping pictures and trying to capture an image of it’s magnificence to take home.

Leaving the Taj, I continued my visit to a very different part of Agra. A part that few see, or even know of when they visit the Agra that revolves around the Taj Mahal. Our driver, who had worked with UHRC before, knew his way into what I would call a slum area where there was a group of children waiting for us. They were like any other group of kids, bright eyed and curious about the newcomers. They were of all ages, from toddlers that were barely walking to college age students.  They showed us what they had been learning from UHRC about personal hygiene and displayed a map of their little neighborhood. I doubt that there exists any other map of the twists and turns and small one room homes of their neighborhood. It contained dots that represented households where a child had been vaccinated, visually displaying the progress that UHRC has made in the area. Then all the kids gathered around and told us what they wanted to be when they grew up. 

                  

Some wanted to be Teachers and Police officers to help other kids learn and catch thieves, others wanted to be Doctors and Engineers, get graduate degrees and make a difference in the world. Then there were those who were a bit shy about sharing and some had dropped out of school to help around the house. Some of the smallest kids stood up and recited the alphabets and poems. Some sang songs, and some brought out a little box that they called the DJ. It was a homemade wooden box with colorful lights that one of the littlest girls stood on and danced for us, like a Disco Dance floor.  Another boy had made a cardboard doll house and put in his own electric wiring that allowed for a fan and a little light bulb within the house to light up images of Ganesh. They were such smart kids and so friendly! One of us went out on the spot and got a bunch of samosas and little things like pencils to hand out before we left. Just as I was leaving, one of the older girls came to me and said that she was an engineering college student and asked for my email address. We’ve emailed a bit since and I sent her the pictures we took there.  Hopefully I can meet those kids again and see how they have grown and I hope that they reach their goals.

From there we went to one of the local Women’s groups. There were 7 women and an UHRC representative who talked about the main tasks that they perform for the community. The women were very organized and had a fund that they collected to loan out to women who needed medical help during pregnancies or to fulfill various other needs in the community, very similar to microfinance. The group also had a map of their neighborhood marking which homes had pregnant women and who was getting health care. These women were empowered, and organized and knew that they were making a positive impact in their neighborhood as leaders of the community. What struck me most about this gathering was that one of the women’s husbands was present at home, but he took a back seat. He just watched the women at work and didn’t interfere more than to place a fan in front of the group for their comfort. As we left this group we shook hands with all the women and just as we were about to get back in the car, the husband that had been present came and also shook my hand before sending us off to the next group.

If the first two groups were heartwarming and full of potential, this next group of women was even more inspirational. They were the women’s federation for the area, with representatives from each of the smaller women’s groups. They welcomed us with a song and a drum beat and showed us some of the main issues that they focus on. These included Health care, environmental awareness, microfinance in the community, and children’s education in addition to other issues. This was the group that would go and give police complaints, or argue against unfair treatment toward the community. This was the group that once ganged up on a medical professional who was taking advantage of women in the community under the cover of being a doctor. This was a group of women who used to be simple housewives, but who had learned to be independent and strong. Some even talk of how they defied their husbands and in-laws to attend these meetings because they wanted to have a real impact on the community. They also shared some of the failures, of how they raised funds for a child’s medical bills but ended up losing the child, but they learned from each experience. I have never seen such a sense of purpose and determination in a group. They were determined to better themselves and their community with little to no outside help. As a goodbye, the women sang us a song about their determination and of how they would break any lock that would hold them back from coming to these meetings and creating an impact. They danced and laughed and sang with a sense of freedom that I have not seen in many people living in such poverty. They really convinced me that with women empowered like this, they can face anything as a community and fight for their rights and make the right choices for their community.

My final view of the Taj came from the other side of the river and its beauty was just as magnificent as it had been that morning, but this time, for me, it was overshadowed by everything else I had see in Agra. Those women and children that I had met, who had so much strength and compassion and hope.  If the Taj is one of humanity’s greatest works, then these small grass roots organizations like the women’s federation that the UHRC helped create are yet another symbol of humanity’s achievement. If this model could be replicated around the world, it has the potential to empower many people and allow them to provide for themselves and their communities. Issues of education and poverty and sanitation could be addressed from the bottom up.

The work that the UHRC is doing is absolutely amazing. I hope to see more of it and contribute my part to spreading this kind of community empowerment as I go through my career.

Saswathi Natta

4th Year Undergraduate Student at Princeton University, 

Visited UHRC Agra Program in July 2012