In the pursuit of individual goals and milestones, more often than not people forget that it is not them alone but a cohesive team that will eventually be critical towards reaching the larger goal. The story below demonstrates how with the aid of a simple act of information sharing, a team can achieve its targets more quickly and efficiently.

A team of about 35 employees had come together for a team building event. They were a young, bright and enthusiastic team. However, one big problem this team had was they wouldn’t share information or solutions with each other. The leader felt they were too focused on self and not enough on team.

So she started off with a fun team activity that would allow her to teach the importance of each team member working together and sharing more. She brought the team into the cafeteria. All of the tables and chairs had been stacked and put away. Placed around the room were fun decorations and hundreds of different colored balloons.

Everyone was excited, but not sure what it was all about.

In the center of the room was a big box of balloons that had not been blown up yet. The team leader asked each person to pick a balloon, blow it up and write their name on it. But they were instructed to be careful because the balloon could pop! A few balloons did indeed pop and those members of the team were given another chance, but were told that if the balloon popped again they were out of the game.

About 30 team members were able to get their name on a balloon without it popping. Those 30 were asked to leave their balloons and exit the room. They were told they had qualified for the second round. Five minutes later the leader brought the team back into the room and announced that their next challenge was to find the balloon they had left behind with their name on it among the hundreds of other balloons scattered in the large cafeteria. She warned them however to be very careful and not to pop any of the balloons. If they did, they would be disqualified.

While being very careful, but also trying to go as quickly as they could, each team member looked for the balloon with their name. After 15 minutes not one single person was able to find their balloon. The team was told that the second round of the game was over and they were moving onto the third round. In this next round the leader told the team members to find any balloon in the room with a name on it and give it to the person whose name was on it.

Within a couple of minutes every member of the team had their balloon with their own name on it. The team leader made the following point: “We are much more efficient when we are willing to share with each other. And we are better problem solvers when we are working together, not individually.”

Often members of teams create obstacles that get in the way of teamwork by solely focusing on their own pursuits and goals. They hoard information, avoid collaboration and distance themselves. It is bad for the team and it is bad for that individual. Every member of a team should ask themselves on a regular basis what they are doing for the team and can do for the team.

Is honesty another form of integrity? Small acts of honesty reaffirm faith in the integrity of mankind.

Once a lady, attended a craft fair in rural Minnesota. She kept coming back to the weaving booth, very taken with a particular blue pattern. So she decided to buy a table runner and four place mats. When she got home and unpacked her bag, she found that the weaver had included a card with care instructions. She also found that she had mistakenly put five place mats into the bag. She was glad to have it but felt bad that the weaver had not been paid for this piece of work. So she found the address of the weaver on the care instructions card and sent her a note with a cheque for the price of one place mat. When the lady received her bank statement a few days later she found that the cheque had been returned with a big ‘Thank You’ printed on the back. 🙂

Is integrity a virtue meant only for adults? The story below showcases the integrity of an ordinary student who stood up and challenged the malpractices within a system.

Ghana has made big efforts to improve access to primary education. Primary school fees were abolished in 2005, substantially boosting enrolment rates and literacy levels among young Ghanaians. The relatively steep cost of higher education, however, remains an obstacle to equal opportunities. A case brought to Transparency International (TI) Ghana showed that some students at a polytechnic were being put at even greater disadvantage.

It was alleged by one of the students named Kofi that students had been asked by lecturers to pay a supplementary charge for class hand-outs. As a “reward” they were reportedly promised an additional 20 per cent in their end of year grade. Many poorer students could simply not afford the cost, and they were faced with competing on an unequal basis with their better-off counterparts.

TI Ghana petitioned the authorities to address the issue. The school board conducted an internal investigation, and the accused staff members confessed. The school then resolved to make all school materials available for free or at affordable prices. TI Ghana hopes that Kofi’s case would promote similar changes throughout Ghana, where extorting students is believed to be widespread.

How difficult is it to overcome the temptation to win, especially when you are at an advantageous position? The story below highlights how a sportsman decided that his integrity was more important than winning any match.

A while back, there was a story about Reuben Gonzolas, who was in the final match of his first professional racquetball tournament. He was playing the perennial champion for his first shot at a victory on the pro circuit. At match point in the fifth and final game, Gonzolas made a super “kill shot” into the front corner to win the tournament. The referee called it good, and one of the linemen confirmed the shot was a winner.

But after a moment’s hesitation, Gonzolas turned and declared that his shot had skipped into the wall, hitting the floor first. As a result, the serve went to his opponent, who went on to win the match. Reuben Gonzolas walked off the court; everyone was stunned. The next issue of a leading racquetball magazine featured Gonzolas on its cover. The lead editorial searched and questioned for an explanation for the first ever occurrence on the professional racquetball circuit.

Who could ever imagine it in any sport or endeavor? Here was a player with everything officially in his favor, with victory in his grasp, who disqualifies himself at match point and loses. When asked why he did it, Gonzolas replied, “It was the only thing I could do to maintain my integrity.

Is integrity showcased only through actions? The story below demonstrates how important it is to speak words that convey the same sentiment.

Abe Lincoln made the great speech of his famous senatorial campaign at Springfield, Illinois. The convention before which he spoke consisted of a thousand delegates together with the crowd that had gathered with them.

His speech was carefully prepared. Every sentence was guarded and emphatic. It has since become famous as “The Divided House” speech.

Before entering the hall where it was to be delivered, he stepped into the office of his law- partner, Mr. Herndon, and, locking the door, so that their interview might be private, took his manuscript from his pocket, and read one of the opening sentences: “I believe this government cannot endure permanently, half slave and half free.”

Mr. Herndon remarked that the sentiment was true, but suggested that it might not be good policy to utter it at that time.

Mr. Lincoln replied with great firmness: “No matter about the policy. It is true, and the nation is entitled to it. The proposition has been true for six thousand years, and I will deliver it as it is written.”

Being honest and upfront even in difficult situations might seem unachievable. However, the long term benefits of maintaining one’s integrity in the face of adversity will always outweigh the cons.

Once there was an emperor in the Far East who was growing old and knew it was coming time to choose his successor. Instead of choosing one of his aides or one of his own children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young people in the kingdom and said, “It has come time for me to step down and to choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one of you.” The emperor continued. “I am going to give each one of you a seed today. It is a very special seed. I want you to go home, plant the seed, water it and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring to me, and the one I choose will be the next emperor of the kingdom!”

There was one boy named Ling who was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his mother the whole story. She helped him get a pot and some planting soil, and he planted the seed and watered it carefully. Every day he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Ling kept going home and checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing.

By now others were talking about their plants but Ling didn’t have a plant, and he felt like a failure. Six months went by, still nothing in Ling’s pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Ling didn’t say anything to his friends, however. He just kept waiting for his seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their plants to the emperor for inspection. Ling told his mother that he wasn’t going to take an empty pot. But she encouraged him to go, and to take his pot, and to be honest about what happened. Ling felt sick to his stomach, but he knew his mother was right. He took his empty pot to the palace.

When Ling arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by all the other youths. They were beautiful, in all shapes and sizes. Ling put his empty pot on the floor and many of the other kinds laughed at him. A few felt sorry for him and just said, “Hey nice try.” When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Ling just tried to hide in the back. “My, what great plants, trees and flowers you have grown,” said the emperor. “Today, one of you will be appointed the next emperor!”

All of a sudden, the emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front. Ling was terrified. “The emperor knows I’m a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!”

When Ling got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. “My name is Ling,” he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him. The emperor asked everyone to quiet down. He looked at Ling, and then announced to the crowd, “Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!” Ling couldn’t believe it. Ling couldn’t even grow his seed. How could he be the new emperor?

Then the emperor said, “One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds which would not grow. All of you, except Ling, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Ling was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new emperor!”

What is the path you chose when faced with a question of ethics? Do you walk the path that leads to integrity of thought and action?

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon in Oklahoma City. My friend and proud father Bobby Lewis was taking his two little boys to play miniature golf. He walked up to the fellow at the ticket counter and said, “How much is it to get in?”

The young man replied, “$3.00 for you and $3.00 for any kid who is older than six. We let them in free if they are six or younger. How old are they?”Bobby replied, “The lawyer’s three and the doctor is seven, so I guess I owe you $6.00.”

The man at the ticket counter said, “Hey, Mister, did you just win the lottery or something? You could have saved yourself three bucks. You could have told me that the older one was six; I wouldn’t have known the difference.” Bobby replied, “Yes, that may be true, but the kids would have known the difference.”

As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Who you are speaks so loudly I can’t hear what you’re saying.” In challenging times when ethics are more important than ever before, make sure you set a good example for everyone you work and live with.

Is integrity towards use of official resources always pursued? What about when no one is watching, are we equally conscientious then?

Once, a Chinese traveller came to meet Kautilya (Chanakya). It was dusk and darkness had just started to set in. When the traveller entered Chanakya’s room, he saw that Chanakya was busy writing some important papers under the lighting of an oil lamp. Chanakya smilingly welcomed his guest and asked him to sit. He then quickly completed the work that he was doing.

On completing his writing work, he extinguished the oil lamp under which he was writing and lit another lamp. The Chinese traveller was surprised to see this. And asked Chanakya, “Is this a custom in India, when a guest arrives at your house? I mean, extinguishing one lamp and lighting the other?” Chanakya replied, “No my dear friend. There is no such custom. Actually, when you entered, I was working. It was an official work, pertaining to my empire, my nation.

The oil filled in that lamp has been bought from the money from the National treasury. Now, I am talking to you. This is a personal and friendly conversation, not related to my nation; so I cannot use that lamp now, as it will lead to wastage of the money of the national treasury. Hence, I extinguished that lamp and lit this other lamp, since the oil in this lamp has been bought from my personal money.”

This small incident exemplifies the high moral standards understood and followed even in ancient times by thought leaders like Chanakya. An excellent example of integrity of thought and action followed in all aspects of life.

A top 4 global auditing and consultancy firm initiated a Women’s Leadership Series, that includes a number of programs and workshops which are designed to provide university students and new professionals with tools to help them build leadership skills.

The Women’s Leadership Programme is unique in addressing the whole person and their potential to progress. Not only do those on the programme receive mentoring and coaching, the programme addresses conscious and subconscious issues of confidence, self promotion, and political savvy in the context of senior level progression.

It attempts to work with all associates of the firm to ensure they are open minded to diverse talent, aware of the benefit to business of diversity and finally have clarity on what actions to take to ensure diversity is integral to our business.

The consultancy has set targets at each grade and level within the organization to provide both direction and aspiration as to where they want to get to by 2018. Working back from those targets, they ensure that the diverse talent is sponsored by senior influential individuals whose role it is to support the candidate through promotion to partnership. They have also recently published a target for female partners in their Annual Report.

How impactful are the initiatives taken by organizations to empower women employee? An American multinational clothing and accessories retailer working across global locations initiated a Personal Advancement & Career Enhancement program to positively impact female garment workers. It seeked to provide foundational skills and support that will help these women through life skills education and technical training, advance in the workplace and in their personal lives. Did it have the desired impact?

Globally the garment industry is one of the largest employers of low-skilled female workers. Despite their large numbers in the workforce, relatively few female line workers advance to positions of supervisors and managers, as they have few opportunities to enhance their managerial and life skills that would enable their professional and personal growth.

In response to this need, a top Garment Brand initiated the Personal Advancement & Career Enhancement – life learning program. Research, design and development began in late 2005 and a pilot program was launched in 2007. The program has since expanded to Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Jordan, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. An innovative factory-based program, the main focus is to positively impact female garment workers (FGWs) by providing them with foundational skills and support that will help them advance in the workplace and in their personal lives, through life skills education and technical training.

The P.A.C.E. curriculum covers a variety of topics related to life skills that are crucial to the growth and development of the FGW. Each module is designed to enhance specific competencies and to help participants understand concepts in a holistic way. Currently the program covers up to 8 modules of learning: (1) Communication; (2) Problem Solving and Decision Making; (3) Time and Stress Management; (4) Water, Sanitation & Hygiene; (5) Execution Excellence; (6) General and Reproductive Health; (7) Financial Literacy; and (8) Legal Literacy and Social Entitlements.

The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), headquartered in Washington, D.C., conducted evaluations across multiple geographies to determine whether the program is achieving the desired outcomes and impacts (both social and business).

The P.A.C.E. program is unique in that it is a women’s advancement program that is delivered in the workplace. While the program seeks to create a change in women’s personal lives (Personal Advancement), it also seeks to positively influence their work lives (Career Enhancement). Thus, the evaluation carves out social and business outcome indicators as defined below.

SOCIAL IMPACT

The social impact looks at two key outcomes:

– Self-efficacy: A person’s belief in her ability to produce the desired results through her own actions.

– Self-esteem: Awareness of being competent to cope with the basic challenges of life, and feeling worthy of happiness.

BUSINESS IMPACT

The business impact looks at the following outcomes:

– Work efficacy: Ability to demonstrate aptitude, take initiative, and meet work-related deadlines resulting in increased productivity and improved quality of products.

– Influence on the workplace: Deeper understanding and improved professional relationship with co-workers, and ability to communicate problems effectively as well as garner support for oneself and one’s peers.

The short-term outcomes of the program, such as higher self and work efficacy, improved communication, a better, more collegial workplace environment, higher self-esteem, improved knowledge of health, and improved financial efficacy, have been evaluated in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

So many of us really do want to touch the lives of those less fortunate. When it comes down to brass tacks, do we really persevere and see the end result? Here is the story of an organization that spent time, effort and money on running an initiative that made a difference. Through the 10,000 Women initiative, the charitable foundation of a leading global investment banking and investment management firm fosters shared economic growth, by providing 10,000 under-served women around the world with business and management education. The story showcases how through sustained efforts of providing management education and mentoring to women entrepreneurs a ripple effect is felt on GDP growth across geographies.

The 10,000 Women initiative was launched in 2008 by a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm, providing 10,000 women from across 56 countries with business and management education, mentoring and networking.

10,000 Women has supported women from countries as diverse as Liberia, Egypt, Brazil, India and China through a network of 100 academic and nonprofit partners. More than 30 of the world’s leading business schools have participated in the program. The initiative is founded on research conducted by the investment firm – Womenomics and Women Hold up Half the Sky – the World Bank and others which suggests that such an investment can have a significant impact on GDP growth.

10,000 Women graduates report immediate and sustained business growth. Eighteen months after completing the program, nearly 70% of surveyed graduates have increased their revenue and nearly 60% have added new jobs. On average, graduates doubled the size of their workforces and revenues increased nearly fivefold. An independent assessment by the International Center for Research on Women found that graduates attributed changes in their businesses performance and increased confidence to the business and management education and support they received through the program. 10,000 Women has demonstrated that investing in women creates a virtuous cycle, as women use their income and skills to support their families and communities. Nine out of ten participants pay it forward by mentoring and teaching business skills to other women.

10,000 Women and IFC are bringing together their resources and expertise to launch the first-ever global finance facility dedicated exclusively to women-owned SMEs, deepening 10,000 Women’s commitment to women entrepreneurs. The Investment Firms Foundation, IFC, and other investors will contribute up to $600 million to create The Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility, which will enable approximately 100,000 women entrepreneurs to access capital.

The Facility will be managed by IFC, the leading investment manager of global development finance vehicles, with a network of nearly 1,000 bank clients around the world. The Foundation will provide a $32 million anchor investment in order to catalyze capital from commercial investors and bilateral donors. The Facility will extend lines of credit and share risk with local banks in emerging markets enabling them to on-lend to women-owned SMEs.

In order to spur innovative approaches to lending to women entrepreneurs, The Foundation will provide an $18 million anchor donation to fund capacity building support for banks and women borrowers. Capacity building support will address the barriers to banks deploying capital and women entrepreneurs accessing it.

10,000 Women is committed to expanding business and management education to reach new high-potential women entrepreneurs around the world. Along with the capital this partnership will catalyze, women entrepreneurs will in turn have a much greater chance of reaching their full potential.

When we design a CSR initiative, what are the objectives we seek to achieve? A corporate social responsibility program that made a difference. The efforts of an Indian Sewing Machine manufacturing company to create a viable source of livelihood for women across India by setting up Sewing Schools is chronicled in the story below. This corporate initiative works towards women empowerment by making village women become entrepreneurs who are taught sewing and stitching within the precincts of their homes.

An Indian Sewing Machine manufacturing company aims to work with the women in the villages and believes that helping women develop their inherent latent potentialities would bring about a holistic development for the society at large. In the last three years the company through a Sewing School Program has reached out to remote villages across the country. This is a community based initiative with the aim of empowering village women to become entrepreneurs and teach sewing and stitching within the precincts of their homes. This programme is necessarily “inclusive” in character, thereby implying that the programme is implemented for the economically poor irrespective of caste, class, religion or creed.

As on February 2015, in partnership with 48 NGO partners there are 10,185 Silai Schools being run across India. The company has trained (in stitching, tailoring and repairing of machines) all village women, provided them a sewing machine, a syllabus and a Silai School signage and encouraged them to teach other community women the art of stitching and sewing. The trainings have been conducted in their vernacular language with the syllabus available in the same language. More than 36,000 learners have completed their course from Silai Schools and nearly 8000 learners continue to get sewing skills training every day from these schools.

The schools are making a marked difference in the lives of the women. The women, on an average have started earning Rs. 3000/- per month, with the highest earning going up to Rs.18,000/- per month. This earning, though small, at the moment is working as a catalyst in building the self-confidence of women and raising her status within and outside the family. This financial income and increased self-worth is facilitating in creation of empowered change agents in the villages of India.

The positive results from the Silai Schools in the villages have created a lot enthusiasm amongst the people in the adjoining Silai School villages too. There is an increased demand from the community about starting Silai Schools in the nearby villages and hence the concept of starting the Satellite Silai Schools (SSS) have been started from Aug 2014. Under the SSS model, Silai Schools would be started by any women knowing sewing and stitching (preferably a learner from the existing Silai School) in the neighbouring village. She would then start teaching others or doing job work. By March 2015, the company plans to start about 6,000 SSS across the country. Hence, by this period they aim to have covered 9,000 villages in all the states of India.

The company also recently launched the Silai School Programme in Bhutan in association with Tarayana Foundation.

All of us do not get equal opportunities, but do those of us that have been blessed with “more”, move out of our comfort zone to spread the good fortune.This is the story of a company that changed their policies to truly make a difference. A Sri Lankan apparel manufacturing company with over 90% women employees initiated a “Go Beyond Program”. The aim was to create an atmosphere where women could learn skills like financial management, computer literacy and hence not only empower but recognize the contribution of women in the workplace and beyond.

A Sri Lankan based company specializing in the production of intimate apparel and sportswear goods initiated the “Go Beyond Program” in 2003. The program, targeted at women, provides career development, life skills education and recognition for female garment workers. Prior to the initiative, the company plants provided meals, banking services, skills building classes and transportation to their garment workers, however, the extent and funding of each program was at each plant manager’s discretion.

With the “Go Beyond Program”, a company- wide framework was established to standardize and evaluate employee programs at each individual plant based on internally identified best practices. The program identified a four-point framework of empowerment and development based on career advancement, work-life balance, rewarding excellence and community activation. Specific classes included: awareness on domestic violence, stress management, balancing multiple roles of a woman, dressmaking, financial management and computer literacy.

During the initial roll-out of the program and based on an impact measurement framework that was developed in July 2004, the company plants implemented 290 programs in the four thematic areas and reached the average worker 3.7 times in the first year. Since its rollout, the program has been extended to India and Vietnam.

As 90% of its employees are women the company became aware of the need to be supportive of women who commit to developing themselves and reward those who achieved excellence. The ‘Women Go Beyond’ programme seeks empower women at plants and communities by recognizing their contributions to society and rewarding excellence in academics, sports, commerce and arts thus eliminating the perceived image that all apparel is manufactured in sweat shop conditions worldwide with rampant child labor & non compliance with human rights & acceptable labour conditions.

The program concentrated on promoting knowledge, awareness, leadership skills, attitudinal changes, the ability to balance work and personal life etc and encompassed the following main areas; Women Go Beyond Framework Training for career development for employees – e. g. Training in English language Training in Information Technology Training in Financial Management – personal & professional Soft skills – Presentation, Time management, Leadership Skills Supporting work-life balance initiatives– e. g Assisting in the creation of crèche facilities Encouraging team sports at MAS Beauty culture training/dress sense/grooming & patchwork Special programs for pregnant employees. Conducting programs on Health & Hygiene – Reproductive health, 5S, HIV & STD Awareness, Nutrition, Domestic Violence Rewarding excellence of women at the plants – e.g. Awards based on performance at plant/regional/national/ international level in areas of arts. Each plant chooses & rewards women who reflect the Go Beyond definition of an “Empowered Woman” annually – thereby creating role models for others to emulate from.

Contributions can be made to gender sensitization in so many different ways. Are we sensitive enough to see how we can do our bit? This is the story of a large software company that decided they would ensure gender equality through a project called the Gender Equity Image. The aim was to ensure ethical standards be set in respect of all marketing and promotional material vis-à-vis women imagery. And year on year targets were set on improving scores on the same.

A United States based software company, implemented the Gender Equity Image Project to promote gender equality within the company. The goal of the program was to work toward the ongoing improvement of gender representation and the reduction of the use of stereotyping imagery wherever possible. The project strived to ensure ethical marketing standards by respecting the dignity of women in all sales, promotional, and advertising materials.

In 2012 the Corporate Marketing team conducted a benchmark audit to evaluate how gender was represented through imagery in the organization. They reviewed for not only presence of gender based imagery but also gender split and position of power. It was discovered that overall the company relied heavily on the use of non-gender logo based imagery, however, where gender based imagery existed they had an opportunity to improve.

One of the pieces of the improvement plan was to initiate an annual audit of gender representation in various forms of our marketing communications. The audit used an Excel spreadsheet to track a range of image categories and their gender statistics (male only, female only, mix of gender, position of power).

Further, in order to promote the Gender Equity Image Project; the company added language to both the Corporate Editorial Style Guide and Visual Guidelines to educate the marketing and sales organization as well as the agencies they work with to embrace all aspects of diversity, including gender.

The Symantec Gender Equity Image Project used straightforward and easy-to-understand metrics. Several members of the marketing team evaluated over 300 images across several categories in an effort to understand how gender is represented in the corporate imagery. The initial results were presented to all of the teams with various control areas. Each team committed to a 5 percent improvement in the overall representation of gender in the first year, based on the results of the annual audit.

The project was formalized in 2013. The goal of the project was to increase the percentage of imagery that is considered a positive representation of gender roles. After completing the first gender representation audit, the company worked with its marketing agencies and key stakeholders to set a target of 5% improvement in scores over the first year. They also used the lessons from this project to update the Visual Guidelines and our Corporate Editorial Style Guide in order to educate all groups involved with marketing and sales on the company’s commitment to positive gender representation.

All of us recognize the importance of gender diversity &women empowerment. The question that needs to be asked is: what are we doing to promote it? The beautiful Chanderi fabric which had for centuries been worn by royalty found itself to be no longer a favoured textile. The situation made worse by middlemen and traders who garnered a master share of earnings left the poor weaver with next to nothing. A private-public initiative helped women weavers to not only reinvent designs and styles but helped them to become entrepreneurs in command of their own future.

For centuries Chanderi, situated in the Ashok Nagar district of India’s largest state has been the hotbed for weaving. Chanderi textiles were patronized initially by the Mughals and later by the Scindias.

In this town of 30,000 people, about one third of the population is from the weaving community, which includes both Hindus and Muslims. But the weaving community began facing trouble when the market for their traditional product — Chanderi sarees — started declining. Also as most of the weavers were contractual workers, they had no control over the production process and falling capacity utilization.

Resultantly, their earning capacity began to suffer as the master weavers and traders cornered all the benefits and gave them nominal incomes. This is when the 30 odd women weavers got together to form ‘Bunkar Vikas Sanstha’ under the aegis of United Nations Industrial Development Programme. Since the time of its inception this Sanstha has already sold goods worth Rs 8.3 million even as they continue to get more orders.

Owing to this business, BVS was able to give 10 to 15 per cent extra wages to their weavers and even the profits were distributed amongst them. “The programme was started as an experiment if the development of this artisan cluster could alleviate poverty. However it has not only generated income but also empowered women to take their decisions. Empower the weavers not only through income generation but also empower them to take their own decision.”

Under BVS, the women shelved the existing weaver-master weaver, weaver-trader and weaver-retailer relationship and created new production relationships where they themselves became entrepreneurs and managed everything. “After the formation of our Sanstha, we source our own raw material and even market it and take all decisions on our own,” says Muzaffar Jahan, another member of BVS.

The project also facilitated an interaction between these women weavers and some designers from National Institute of Technology and National Institute of Design who shared their experiences with the rural women and “helped” them to improvise their designs.

In addition to this, they also struck business deals with Fab India, known as one of the biggest handloom and handicraft-marketing organization in urban India. “Fab India gave us tips on how to modify our products so that they suit the interests of Europe and other Western countries. They give us bulk orders for various products, right from dressing material to cushion covers. They are our biggest market. Fab India’s subsidiary company has an office in Chanderi that procures materials from us,” says Batti Bai, another weaver.

Today BVS, comprising 30 women has an executive committee of 19 members that take all major decisions regarding business. “We are glad that we have rid ourselves of the traders and retailers now. We share the profits that the Sanstha earns. Earlier our skills were almost wasted as these middle-men would mint all the money. Also, we were short of work and we had a low income. We couldn’t save any money. But now we have expanded our markets, are getting regular work and have a better income. Things have changed,” says Muzaffar.

In traditional Indian villages it is usually taboo for women to move out of their homes without being accompanied by men folk. This story tells us about women who went beyond the confines of their homes and villages to bring electricity via solar energy to light up their lives in more ways than one.

On the edge of Rajasthan where shifting sand dunes mark the border between India and Pakistan, four villages have had their dark nights lit up by incandescent bulbs running on renewable solar energy. The villages, which are a series of homesteads scattered across an undulating dessert landscape of the western Indian state of Rajasthan, have never been connected to the power grid. The lights they now have are part of the Government of India and United Nations Development Programme project ‘Renewable Energy for Rural Livelihoods’ that trained and engaged village women as “Barefoot Solar Engineers” for generating renewable solar energy.

Four young women – one from each village – have assembled these lights from scratch and are paid to maintain and repair them. It took a leap of faith and a great deal of persuasion for the families to allow the four women to be trained to serve their own communities. The Social Work and Research Centre (SWRC) which implemented the programme in Barmer district of Rajasthan, runs a residential training programme for women from selected villages at its campus in the Ajmer district of Rajasthan.

It was unthinkable for the four families to have their daughters leave home let alone go and live among strangers. The four women have attended school only up to class five or eight. None of the four had ever lived away from their families or travelled much further than a neighbouring village, and never without a male escort. Three of them, Sajani, Saleemati and Chano are married. Like all married women in their communities they wear veils. The fourth, Bhagwati, is engaged to be married. “No one in the village has ever done anything like this, people said that boys should get the training, and then we were told that the project would only train girls. It took people a long time to accept this,” says Bhagwati.

“In the evening we would leave the village with an agreement that the girl could go; in the morning we would return to find that they had changed their mind,” a project officer working with the SWRC recalls.

After much persuasion, Bhagwati, Sajani, Saleemati and Chano spent two months at SWRC’s campus in Tilonia and a month of field training. Following this they assembled each of the lights and lanterns installed in their villages and oversaw their installation. Now, they undertake regular checks in the village, respond to complaints, repair faulty lights and maintain the batteries that power them.

SWRC has also set up a workshop at its centre in Dhanau in the same bloc. Repairs that cannot be done in the village are brought to workshop. The four women travel on the irregular buses that connect their villages to Dhanau when their work demands. They spend a day, or if the work necessitates, a few days at the centre each time.

In the villages there are many still bemused that young women who until a few months ago were like any other – cleaning the yard, fetching water, helping with the cooking – are now called “engineers”. But, they would rather have lights irrespective of who is maintaining them. Each family with a light contributes to a village fund from which their woman “Barefoot Solar Engineer” is paid a salary ranging from Rs.1,000 to Rs.1,350 a month. And the villages are full of little girls, who trail their barefoot engineer and watch in awe as she fiddles with wires and fuses, hoping they too will someday be engineers.

In rural areas, where traditionally men are sole bread-earners, what does a woman do when tragedy strikes and she is left alone to fend for herself and her family. This is a story of one such woman Chandrakala and countless others like her who with some state assistance started a profitable vermi-compost initiative. Hope you enjoy the read.

Chandrakala’s husband was electrocuted. Her brother-in-law, the sole bread-winner in the family, committed suicide. The events were enough to shatter her. Instead, Chandrakala scripted a success story — one which most women in the tiny village of Bewal are trying to emulate.

As president of a self-help group (SHG), Baba Anantpuri, Chandrakala, in her individual capacity, has manufactured and sold vermi-compost worth Rs 60,000 in one year. Her SHG, on the whole, has sold vermi-compost worth Rs 1.27 lakh within 15 months.

The SHG, comprising 20 women, is part of 33 such groups which have been constituted in select villages of Jatusana division under the Haryana Community Forestry Project (HCFP). ‘‘This project has not only made us financially independent but has also given us the confidence to do things on our own,’’ Chandrakala says.

This is how it all happened. ‘‘As part of the project, our SHG was provided training to make vermi-compost. We were given a grant of Rs 2,500 by the Forest Department to buy earthworms and start making compost,’’ Chandrakala says. Since then, her group has sold 200 quintals of vermi-compost to clients ranging from the Forest Department to zamindars. ‘‘Last year, the sale of worms itself fetched Rs 24,000,’’ she says. As far as leftover is concerned, she says, “We can use it in our fields as it would greatly cut our costs for buying urea.’’

Chandrakala is not alone. Ask Santosh from the same village and she will tell you how her SHG, Bawalia, started making soap on a small scale and earned handsome rewards. Or meet Vinod Devi, who leads a SHG called Mukteshwari, in village Bhurthala. ‘‘We identified duree-galicha-making as our income-generating activity and can already see the difference it has made to our lives,’’ she says. ‘‘As a result of this project, a feeling of cooperation has emerged,’’ says Ranjit Singh of Bewal. ‘‘Now, cutting across caste and gender, everybody participates in the decision-making process,’’ he adds.

Such is your nature – You can feel any amount of sadness and unhappiness, but the fact remains that you can never become unhappy.