Poor
Women and Local Governance: Menaben Hartanbhai Thakor
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What
Menaben Hartanbhai Thakor remembers most about her childhood
are the frequent disasters. In the years of drought,
which were many, her family would migrate from their
home in the Patan district of Gujarat to Pakistan. There
her father would work as an agricultural labourer, and
her mother would tend to her nine brothers and sisters
and the family’s animals. On one occasion, Menaben’s
home caught fire and she had to rescue two of her brothers,
both of whom were feverish at the time. The village
attempted to put out the fire to no avail, and her home
was completely destroyed. On
another occasion, at the age of twelve, a ‘black’
cyclone ruined her village. Many villagers and animals
were killed, and Menaben’s home, which was no
more than hut with a metal sheet for a roof, was destroyed
yet again. |
This
pattern of disasters continued after her marriage, at the
age of sixteen, and a series of droughts constantly kept her
family away from their home in the village of Janjarsar, although
this time they migrated within the state of Gujarat.
Approximately fourteen years ago, SEWA started work in Janjarsar.
Two SEWA women came to the village and inquired if any of
the women knew craft and embroidery. Seeing that the village
was obviously very poor, they asked what livelihoods were
available to women in the village. Menaben and several other
women present on that day replied that agricultural labour
and raising nurseries were the only two options. Unbeknownst
to the SEWA women, there was no nursery in the village; Menaben
and the other women had lied. The SEWA women returned several
days later with the permission of the Gujarat Forest Department
to start a nursery in Janjarsar.
Before
the nursery could be started in Janjarsar, a water supply
needed to be found. When SEWA asked the women what options
were available, they pointed to a bore well owned by a village
farmer. SEWA approached the farmer, explaining that water
from his well was needed to help these poor women create a
better livelihood. He gave permission to use his well, and
the nursery began shortly thereafter. Not surprisingly, however,
it got off to an unsuccessful start.
It
was assumed that the women of the village had nursery experience,
and therefore needed little training. Menaben and the four
other women selected for nursery work actually knew little
about raising a nursery. They planted the saplings in soil
collected locally, which was sandy and had high levels of
salinity. Combined with the water from the bore well, which
also proved too saline, the saplings died. For four months
no progress was made. The women then decided to switch to
growing gum trees, which grew locally and were much more resilient.
When it looked as if the nursery would be successful, a stampede
of buffalo trampled the saplings. Realizing that the women
of Janjarsar needed further training, SEWA brought Menaben
and one other woman to Ahmedabad for step-by-step instruction
on raising a nursery.
Menaben’s
husband was displeased with her involvement with SEWA. The
other men of the village told him that if she left for Ahmedabad,
she would never come back. He beat here before she left for
her first SEWA training. Yet Menaben came back from her first
training in Ahmedabad convinced to remain a member of SEWA.
After seeing the district and central offices, and after talking
with many other women in the same position from all over Gujarat,
her trust in the organization grew. But her husband remained
hostile towards SEWA and the beatings continued. The other
women recounted similar stories. Menaben told the SEWA district
coordinator about the problems with her husband, and was told
to bring him to an upcoming SEWA workshop, which she did.
The number of women and the activities Menaben’s husband
saw at that workshop convinced him that SEWA was legitimate
and working for the benefit of his wife, and he dropped his
objections to her further participation and stopped beating
her.
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