The Helpline squad of SHEROES team has been on move as part of its outreach programme. The experience for them has not only been enriching but eye-opening too.
They like calling themselves RAM (Raba, Avani & Monica) As kickass they are and their work is, today we are not here to talk about them.
We are focussing on the dreams and aspirations of these young women from SEWA. Mind you these young girls do not come from a well-endowed and educated family. They do expect #MoreFromLife but their “more” is a lot different than ours.
The trio of RAM carried out this small exercise wherein they distributed these dreams slips and asked the girls to pen down their top three dreams/aspirations.
Monica says, it did take a decent amount of prodding from their side to make them think and acknowledge the fact that they can and do have dreams. Dreams which can be fulfilled if they put their head into it.
The dreams ranged from becoming a teacher, a doctor or opening a beauty parlour, learning how to sew, which all translated to earning lots of money. Some were adamant on landing a government job whereas one of them described freedom in life as one of the prime concerns.
Not just that, some of these slips, even had love marriage as one of their aspirations. Travelling across the country, having a decent job, working throughout their lives, earning a livelihood for themselves and living with freedom and dignity. That’s all these young women wanted from life.
They really didn’t think of world domination or a C executive post in a corporate firm. But, does that devalue their wants from life?
For a woman like me or you, penning down love marriage as a dream, might seem a “desperate” move, or superficial. But presumably, that might be their only shot for a better life.
Interestingly, when these slips were distributed among the SHEROES team members, many were fascinated by the simple asks of these young women.
One of our teammates, pointed out “Well, we aren’t much different from these girls you know.” Okay I thought to myself, she’s onto something.
“What do we need, a good job, a loving partner and a comfortable life. What more does a girl ask for?”
After mulling over her observation it struck me, she was right. The aspirations were pretty much same in nature. A chance at life to #MakingItWork. A chance to be happy and have a good life.
Their struggles are different than mine. But that doesn’t mean their dreams carry no weightage. They are equally important and heed must be paid to them too.
SHEROES outreach programme is exactly trying to do that. We are getting onboard women from far off areas and connecting them with our ecosystem to grow and nurture their dreams or may be acquire new ones in the process. We are happy to be part of your growth story.
You can also check out how SHEROES Met Gen Next .