Reading

My name is Raniben. I live in the village of Par in Banskantha District. I am about 27 years old. I am an agricultural laborer.

I work in the landlord's fields from 7 in the morning until 1 and from 3 to 7 in the evening. He pays me 20 Rupees a day.

I also must do all his domestic work. After I am finished with every job the landlord requires, I collect water and firewood, do my housework, and take care of my children. I also try to do embroidery work and sell it to the local traders to earn a few more rupees. My husband is also an agricultural laborer. He gets 40 rupees a day and also collects my wages. Sometimes he uses them to buy liquor. Then he beats me. My husband's family used to own ¼ hectare or land, but they had to mortgage it to the landlord to pay for a sister's dowry. My father also had to borrow money for my wedding when I was 12 years old. I have given birth 9 times and have 5 daughters who are still alive. My husband's family demands I have more children until I have son. I have many coughs, and stomach and women's sicknesses. Neither I nor my daughter have ever been to a Doctor. My landlord and my husband will beat us if we take time from work. I was allowed to take my baby son to the free government health center. The Doctor asked us for money. We couldn't afford to pay him and my son died.

I have never been to school. I can not read or write; can not understand numbers or money, and; can not tell how much the rice, oil, and sugar weigh. My husband says I am cheated.

I tried to send my daughters to school, but they had to leave in the 3rd standard. Manaliben, my eldest daughter, will be twelve soon, and we must have more money for her dowry. However we have work only in the planting and harvesting seasons, so we are forced to migrate in the summer to work in the brick kilns. My 6-year-old daughter was not strong enough to carry so many bricks on her head. She had an accident and also died. Since there have been more and more disasters, like drought, cyclones, and epidemics, it has become more and more difficult to survive. My husband and in-laws are very upset so they beat me more often. I requested my mother take me and my children back, but my father refused.

Now I am responsible to earn more to feed my daughters so the embroidery work is even more important.

The lives of my family hang by the thread that I embroider.

Sermon

Thank you. I am honored to talk with you about the Unitarian Universalist Holdeen India Program, UU–HIP. This program is one of the Unitarian Universalist’s most exciting and effective initiatives and, even more, truly demonstrates UU values and strengths in action.

Before I discuss UU-HIP’s vision, work, and achievements, I’d like to say a few words more about the forces that dominate Raniben’s and other poor women’s lives. Though almost anything you say about India is true–and not true– India truly is a society both hierarchical and divided in multiple ways– by caste, gender, class, religion, ethnicity, language, education, and more. Poor, low caste, illiterate, women like Raniben are at the bottom of all the social hierarchies. Man is more valuable and superior to a women; therefore he controls all aspects of her public and private life, all decisions, all social behavior, and all resources. So, when a child is born, it is customary to rejoice and give sweets if it is a son and mourn if it is a daughter. Midwives may receive twice as much if they deliver a boy, for example 1 kilo of rice for a boy and ½ kilo for a girl; 1000 rupees for a boy, 500 for a girl. When a girl marries, the blessing is "May You Be The Mother of a Hundred Sons." And all wives must move to their husband’s village which means all women are outsiders in their communities– isolated, vulnerable with no support system; therefore the women are totally dependent on and exploited by their husband’s family. Since the woman is inferior, she must be submissive and has no freedom, no resources, no security, no control over her life, her work, or even her own body. For example the husband’s family decides when the couple has intercourse. She has no voice, no power, and no hope to bring about change. If she is a dalit or untouchable, she has even more burdens. She and her family can not cross the dividing line separating their part of the village from the upper castes; can not enter the same temples as the rest of the village; can not enter many government centers, schools or health clinics, and; most important, can not get water, the most precious substance in drought prone areas, from the same wells as the higher castes. If she is a Muslim, she and her family are in danger of becoming victims of the ever-increasing number of "communal", that is, religious, riots like the ones that happened after partition or have been going on in Gujarat for the last 4 months. Gandhi taught (as you heard in the prayer) that all these diverse groups are one, and that everyone is entitled to be free and self-reliant, for which he was murdered by a fundamentalist Hindu extremist. The Hindu Nationalists, now in power at the Center as well as in Gujarat State, preach instead, divisiveness, hatred, persecution, and violence.

So how do you promote the worth and dignity of hundreds of millions of Ranibens and their families, and create and sustain change in this complex and difficult context? Now the Indian government, World Bank, UN, and voluntary agencies have designed thousand of development projects supposedly to help the poor. However, they implement them with people who have some land or assets or marketable skills on which to build, or with those who have the power and money to demand them. The very poorest usually are not aware of the programs, have no access to them or are unable to use them. For example, under the "don’t give a person a fish but teach him how to fish" theory, development organizations may not give the poor food but instead train them how to make their land more productive. But how does it benefit the poorest to teach them improved methods to fish or farm if they have no ponds or lands in which to do so?

UUHIP believes that the basic cause of pervasive, persistent poverty, castism, racism and patriarchy is the unequal distribution of power and resources in all spheres: the family, community, workplace, government, and religion. We also believe that, in order to challenge these systemic and structural inequalities, it is essential for the most excluded and oppressed to increase their collective organized strength so they can come to the bargaining table as equals. Therefore we search for and invest in leaders and groups who work to empower– change the power of the most disadvantaged – women, dalits, tribals, minorities (i.e. Muslims) especially child, migrant, landless, and bonded laborers (slaves).

We enter into long term partnerships with the kinds of organizations that are democratically governed: whose members manage, own, and control their own programs, resources, and institutions; who promote women’s real power and decision making, and; who take on risky, controversial, and difficult issues. Sound like UUs? I believe all our partners are UUs though some don’t know it. Their–and our–aims are the same: to promote people’s awareness and understanding of the multiple and complex causes of their problems; to increase their confidence, their leadership, management, other capacities, and their organized strength so that they can: address their problems; can gain access to and control over resources; increase their income, assets and opportunities; advocate on their own behalf; demand their rights and their share of development, and; influence laws, policies, and the allocation of resources in favor of the poor.

After we agree to work together, UUHIP’s aim is to be as responsive and flexible as possible to what partners identify as their needs. We support whatever our partners require (funds, training, information, advocacy, institutional linkages); to strengthen their organizations, networks, and movements, and; to further their agenda. We promote groups collaborative and mutually reinforcing activities, and to increase their power and have more impact on policies. Since the transfer of power and the process of social changes is slow, subtle, complex and risky and takes a long time, we UUs must be with our partners over the long term and continue our support as long as they continue to learn and expand in numbers, geographic areas or influence (UUHIP has been increasingly well recognized by a variety of donors, activists, students, journalists, etc. interested in women’s issues, human rights, and social justice.)

I’d like to give a few brief examples of what our partners have accomplished. In 1988 we started working with Martin Macwan, a 28 year old Dalit, who had seen 4 of his colleagues murdered for organizing dalits. He had no money and no job but did have leadership qualities, ideas, and commitment. We gave him $3000 to start his own organization, which he called Navsarjan, and for 7 years UUHIP was his only supporter. During that time, we developed an Advocacy Fellows program in the US to strengthen Indian grassroots leaders’ advocacy skills and strategies which we got Ford Foundation to fund. We brought Martin to this program and linked him with US based Human Rights groups. Over the years we also supported many other dalit groups who came together to form the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights in order to pressure the GOI to change and implement laws to benefit Dalits.

Now, 14 years later, Martin works in 2000 villages; Human Rights Watch featured Martin and his work in their book about Dalits called Broken People; 60 Minutes Christiane Amanpour aired a 20 minute segment on dalits; I asked Bill Schulz and John Buehrens to nominate Martin for the 2000 RFK Human Rights Award and he won! He was elected the Convener of the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR). They were very visible at the World Conference Against Racism in Durban. During the earthquake in Gujarat, Navsarjan ensured that relief benefited Dalits who usually are excluded from such aid. In March, Martin helped form the Citizens Initiative of 2 dozen local NGOs to fight communalism – the religious riots – now taking place in Gujarat.

Now donor agencies are fighting each other to give him grants and I joke that we will apply to him for funds.

Vivek and Vidyut Pandit have devoted their lives to releasing and rehabilitating bonded laborers–aka slaves–and to organizing tribals to fight for their rights, e.g. land, forest, minimum wages. They have forced the Government of Maharashtra for the first time to provide schools for migrant and child laborers. They have also challenged criminal gangs and corrupt politicians who exploit and cheat the tribal peoples. We nominated Vivek and Vidyut for Britain’s Annual Anti-Slavery Society Award, and they also won. Since he and his union have remarkably succeeded in changing power relationships, they have been beaten and jailed. Last week Vivek’s opponents offered 600,000 rupees (about $12,500) to anyone who kills him.

And last, what of Raniben? She became a member of the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), came to the U.S., and got her picture on the front page of the Washington Post! Seriously, in 1972 Elaben Bhatt started organizing poor women working as home-based workers, street vendors, agricultural laborers, domestic servants, etc. For her courage and commitment, she was thrown out of the male dominated Labor Union, which didn’t believe in – or was threatened by – organizing women. Elaben and SEWA’s principles are both Gandhian and similar to UUs. (In fact Ela’s sister and family emigrated to Canada where they are active members of the Hamilton Church.)

First, SEWA believes in promoting unity and organizes women around their identity only as poor women workers, not as Muslims, dalits, etc. though 40% of their members are dalits and 40% Muslims. Second, they believe poor women’s multiple and varied needs must all be met to bring about sustainable changes in their lives. So they have developed an integrated, comprehensive holistic approach which promotes both "struggle" and "development". SEWA is a trade union, which increases its members’ knowledge and organized strength so they can struggle for their rights. As a result they have forced employers to increase their wages and provide better working conditions, and forced the government to change laws and policies in their favor and to provide resources and services like housing, water, and sanitation to the poorest. SEWA believes women’s most essential needs are secure livelihoods and assets in their own name. Therefore they have developed over 100 different cooperatives, each led, owned, controlled, and managed by SEWA members. They established their own SEWA Bank which keeps them out of the clutches of the money lender, and; SEWA Academy which provides training in their own professions like agriculture, embroidery, child care as well as in leadership, management, and organizing. And SEWA has initiated its own "social security" insurance scheme which women pay for out of their own income. They have established health, child care, housing, and marketing cooperatives where barefoot SEWA doctors, teachers, and lawyers provide services to poor women.

Since UUHIP started working with SEWA in 1984, their membership has grown from 10,000 to over 400,000. Most important SEWA members feel they are sisters and help each other in crises. A few quotes from SEWA members about the last few months of riots.

Kapilaben:

What can I tell you? I have seen terrible scenes – everything in front of my eyes. I have seen mobs of 400 to 500 men stalking the city with guns and swords, raping, killing, burning, and looting. I have seen one man’s hands cut off, a pregnant woman’s stomach ripped open…I have also seen the police actively participating in all of this. I have seen the dead and injured lying on the road with no first aid. All we could hear were cries for help and smoke billowing in the sky. By four o’clock in the evening, it was as if the sun had also hid its face in shame. It was dark and overcast, with fear and smoke hanging in the air. It was truly a dark day; the sun had set for us.

Ranbai Raumaben:

As soon as we could obtain curfew passes – about three days after the violence, we began to visit the violence-torn areas. It was clear that the poorest of families were the worst affected. Our members had suffered unimaginable losses. They had lost family members, their home and all they had ever owned. Years of labour to build a roof over their heads and savings had been reduced to rubble. Livelihoods had been destroyed. We heard stories of barbarity and cruelty that defied belief. Children had witnessed wanton killings of their family members and neighbors.

Shahnazben, a Muslim woman:

If I had not met you sisters, I don’t know what I would have done. I was completely without hope. I had no desire to live. Look how the mobs have destroyed by home. But when I saw you, I knew that my SEWA family as with me it brought back the will to survive.

And Raniben. She has become a SEWA leader as well as a skilled craftswoman. She gets minimum wages which she keeps herself. She is sending all her children to school. Her women’s groups will not permit any family abuse and have brought cases against the landlords for violence against women and dalits. The family continues to struggle to redeem their mortgaged land. When they do it will be registered in Raniben’s name. And Raniben feels confident, strong and powerful. When Mrs. Clinton visited SEWA she asked what was the most important change SEWA had made in their lives. Raniben said,

I used to be afraid and now I am not afraid of anyone – my husband, father-in-law, landlord, police, bureaucrats.

I love happy endings but we still have to help create them for the millions of Ranibens who are still oppressed. I thank you, UUs, for making it possible for us to do this work.

I’d like to close the sermon by singing one verse of "We Shall Overcome" in Hindi.

Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church
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