Allahabad, India

Dr. Shirin David and her husband Pervez, lead a team of dedicated workers in small, needy villages around the city of Allahabad in India. One aspect of the ministry is to set local women up in small businesses; thirty-one women of whom were recently added to this scheme. Over the past year 100 women's lives have been enriched and changed through the holistic ministry of empowerment and education. The women also hear the message of the Gospel of Jesus in various programmes run throughout the year.

A couple of their stories follow.

Ruksana, a Muslim woman, says, " This centre has been a boon from God for us - without reading or writing it was a different attitude towards us in our homes. Now we are consulted by the family on various family issues." This lady now runs a grocery store from her home, having started out on the scheme selling little sundry items. Her business is now flourishing and she has been able to renovate her home with her profits, is the main family financial provider, since her husband a daily wage earner is often unable to find work or a regular basis. She has 3 children whom she is schooling.

Munni Devi is a 55 year old Hindu woman who never had an opportunity to go to a school, was married off at the age of 12 years, started motherhood at the age of 13 years and has 6 children. She has stepped out of her home for the first time and has started a small business of setting up a grocery store from home. It has been an amazing transformation in her life - she is a star performer in ‘literacy', can read, write and also has teaching talent, a speaker and directs skits. She does role plays and enjoys helping women in encouraging them to show their hidden talents.

Jamila has two daughters studying at our Neva school and her husband is a barber who does not earn much. Jamila was making "bides" - Indian cigarettes. Rolling 1000 ‘bides' would fetch as little at Rs 30 per day, around $US1, and as much as 12 - 14 hrs of work. Tobacco is a health hazard for these women. Jamila now sells vegetables and makes it a point to regularly attend the literacy/ numeracy workshops since her daughters ridiculed her that she couldn't even sign her name.

She took it as a challenge at 45 years of age to begin her school with and now is able to read and write in a small way. There are many other women who have shown changes in their attitudes/literacy skills.

Most women find no time to do any homework given, for they have a lot of household chores to complete - cooking, washing and making cow dung cakes for fuel since still most homes cook on wood and use cow dung cakes to light the fire.