February 16, 2015: Access To Knowledge Is Power

 

Access to knowledge is power. An easy thing to say but a difficult concept to grasp when we in North America live with a device attached to us at all times. We have the power to learn and to explore the world at our fingertips and we often forget how powerful that is – until you understand and experience life without technology.

Our group had the opportunity to take part in a panchayat (meeting) of all the regional leading women in the Railmagra Block.  These women meet to discuss social issues and present the grievances and challenges faced by the women of their respective communities. During the meeting, we had the opportunity to exchange questions and discuss the differences in our daily lives and cultures. We touched on household economics, education, gender, and even marriage. The contrasts in our lives are stark, and our knowledge of each others’ lives is minimal, but we all want the same thing – a better future for our families and our communities.

It was in this meeting that I truly began to understand the value technology will bring to this community. These women had little knowledge of life outside their village and thus found it hard to imagine life outside the roles and responsibilities defined by their communities. Technology provides a vehicle to access knowledge, to explore places and people far from home, and a space to craft a better future.

We often hear the phrase, “knowledge is power”, but I would like to revise that to, “Access to knowledge is power”. After we left the meeting, I was able to use my phone, connect to the internet, Google all the issues we discussed and learn why they exist – a luxury not available to these local women and their families. Technology provides me the power to access knowledge from anywhere about any topic.

As a result of this project, women and children will have access to exponentially more information and technical skill development than they can even imagine. The speeds and feeds, the network design, the software, is not what matters. What’s important is providing a vehicle for knowledge and power that puts the ability to learn literally at their fingertips.  Technology will provide a vehicle from them to explore the world.

Brittany Pepper
DWC/Softchoice Volunteer Participant
India. February 16, 2015.

May 16th: Women's help line & police station in Rajsamand

Today we had a day off work to visit the Jatan office in a different village called Rajsamand. We learned about a women's help line that Jatan runs for all of India. Women can call at any time of day for anything, whether they need help or have questions or want resources.

The team sitting in on a women's meeting in Rajsamand.

We visited the Rajsamand police station and got a tour. In the police station, there are two women counsellors trained to specifically deal with family conflict in cases of dowry arguments, and they were brought there because of Jatan.

In some rural village,s a women's family must give a dowry in the form of money, animals and possessions to the man she is marrying. If the woman is from a poor family, it is difficult for them to find a husband who is willing to accept a small dowry, and so there is conflict around this issue.

Later in the afternoon we visited the beautiful Rajsamand lake. It was the perfect end to a day off work.

Vita Sackville-Hii
DWC U30 Team Leader
Rajsamand, India: May 2014