Today is a day, where all around the world people are celebrating women. Celebrating women of all shapes, all sizes, all cultures, and all backgrounds on how resilient and strong they are. We at Hands 4 Zero Poverty (H4ZP) swork with girls and women that exemplify being strong and resilient. So, we are taking today to highlight some of the most recent examples of this.
In one of our most recent activities, we celebrated the 10 women caretakers who work at a local orphanage. These women work around the clock in providing a loving and safe environment for children who have never had that before. These kids have been abandoned and left, some simply because they look different, others because they are girls themselves when only a boy was wanted, and for other reasons that are unknown. But these women have no reservations when it comes to giving these strangers everything that they need. So, while I said these women are no doubt strong, they also have an amazing gift of being comforting and loving too. Because of all that they do, we wanted to be able to do something for them. We donated 10 boxes of diapers, and 60 packages of dried milk to help with the babies in their care. For the caretakes themselves, we gave them a 1 month supply of food for their families. This included rice, oil, flour, tea, and sugar. Accompanied with a chocolate cake, which was then shared with the older kids, so everyone could celebrate them.
Women have played, and will continue to play, a key factor in civilization.
In India it is really important to always celebrate the little things. Anytime something good happens, no matter how small or how big, it should be celebrated with a box of sweets. Always, a box of sweets is given. And this time was no different. So, to end the celebration and give them a little piece of goodness when they give so much, we gave the caretakers all a box of sweets, too.
I talked about the strong women who we already have. But this day is also for the little girls who are growing up to be those strong women too. This is what started the scholarship program for a girl named Sneha. It was created by a female who recognized the disadvantages that girls face with their education in India, and by being persistent and using her own voice to get this program going. Sneha was the perfect person for this program and the one who made us so so glad it was created in the first place. Sneha was unable to go to school for an entire year. When she finally was able to go back, because of this scholarship, she should have gone back to the year she left off. But that would put her a year behind where others were at her age. However, that did not happen. She proved that she was capable of continuing on with where everyone else her age was. Not only that, but she excelled with top grades. Then Covid happened and the schools in India closed. Online school was not an option for most in India, because of the lack of accessibility to computers and the internet. But obstacles do not stop people who really want something. During Covid, Sneha’s mom went everyday to her school so that Sneha would have the school work to continue on with her education. Everyday throughout Covid this happened. Her grades stayed up and she continued to work hard, despite all the continued obstacles. Happy to say now though, schools have reopened and she is one very happy girl to be able to go back to in person learning. She is the future for women. She is little, but strong, determined, a dreamer and a go getter. One that H4ZP is so so proud to stand behind to lift up and support.
Our work at H4ZP means a lot to us and we love being able to do what we do. But it would not be possible without some amazing women helping us along the way and letting us be a part of their story. Today, we are so amazed and honored to be able to highlight some of their stories to show the world how great the women we know really are.
International Women's Day
“‘We need women who are so strong they can be gentle, so educated they can be humble, so fierce they can be compassionate, so passionate they can be rational, and so disciplined they can be free.”
H4ZP commitment to support women’s rights