Self Help: SELF HELP GROUP as an EFFECTIVE STRATEGY and DOABLE APPROACH to EMPOWER WOMEN in INDIA
SELF HELP GROUP AS AN EFFECTIVE STRATEGY AND DOABLE APPROACH TO EMPOWER WOMEN IN INDIA
Prof. D.Sambangi
Head, Department of Social Work, Kodaikanal Christian College, Tamil Nadu, India
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THE WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
Empowerment is a process of awareness and capacity building leading to greater participation, to greater decision making power and control and transformative action. Empowerment of women signifies harnessing women power by conscientising their tremendous potential and encouraging them to work towards attaining a dignified and satisfying way of life through confidence and competence as person with self-respect, rights and responsibilities. Empowerment as a concept was introduced at the International Women’s Conference at Nairobi in 1985. The conference defined empowerment as “A redistribution of social power and control of resources in favour of women. Empowerment is a multi-faceted process which encompasses many aspects i.e. enhancing awareness, increasing access to resources of economic, social and political etc.”1 In recent years women empowerment has become a subject of great concern for the nations all over the world especially in poor and developing countries. The impact of globalization is seen eventually on position of women in some form or other in most of the developing countries with the variation of degree. The United Nations has also strived hard in an incredible way to draw the due attention of the World Community on this issue in the past years.
(1. International Women’s Conference held at Nairobi in the year 1985)
SHG AS AN INEXORABLE WAY TO EMPOWER WOMEN-RATIONALE
One has to believe that the progress of any nation is inevitably linked with social and economical plight of women in that particular country. For concrete results, we have to assert and act with our full might and what is needed most. Empowerment by way of participation in SHG can bring enviable changes and enhancement in the living conditions of women in poor and developing nations.. Self Help Group (SHG) is a process by which a group of 10 – 20 women with common objectives are facilitated to come together voluntarily to participate in the development activities such as saving, credit and income generation thereby ensuring economic independence. The principles underlying the SHGs are financing the poorest of the poor, and achieving holistic empowerment. SHG phenomenon certainly brings group consciousness among women, sense of belonging, adequate self confidence. What she cannot achieve as an individual, can accomplish as a member of group with sufficient understanding about her own rights, privileges, roles and responsibilities as a dignified member of society in par with man. When she becomes a member of SHG, her sense of public participation, enlarged horizon of social activities, high self-esteem, self-respect and fulfillment in life expands and enhances the quality of status of women as participants, decision makers and beneficiaries in the democratic, economic social and cultural spheres of life. Thus undoubtedly SHG can be an effective instrument to empower women socially and economically by which the implication on the overall development of women is indisputably possible particularly for a country like India wherein still large segment of women population are underprivileged, illiterate, exploited and deprived of basic rights of social and economic spectrum.
The experiences of SHGs in many countries have been proving great success as an effective strategy and approach in recent years. Group-oriented efforts in the form of Micro-credit groups in different countries of Latin America, Africa and Asia are examples of current self-help efforts. The grameen groups in Bangladesh ,Local self-help development efforts – harambee (Thomas, 1985) in Kenya , Tontines or Hui with 10 to15 members involved in financial activities through cash or kind in Vietnam,self help efforts through credit unions, fishermen groups, village-based banks, irrigation groups etc (Gaonkar, 2004 ) in Indonesia , the self-help groups (SHGs) in countries like Thailand, Nepal, and Sri Lanka and India are successfully proving forms of micro-credit groups or SHGs.
THE PROBLEMS OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN INDIA
The Constitution of India guarantees equality, liberty and dignity to the women of India. The Fundamental Rights, The Directive principles of State Policy and Fundamental Duties etc virtually assure equal status to women and
Tags: Women, Strategy, Group
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Everyone needs to read it,
This is classic, but everyone needs to read it. You will learn a lot from this book.
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|Truly a rare treasure.,
This is the only book I’ve ever read that made me jealous. I’m the author of the book Self-Help Stuff That Works, published in 1999, and I’ve never come across its equal (at least in my own biased opinion) until now. Many times while reading this book I felt jealous. Tom Butler-Bowdon has done things I wish I had done. And he writes with a powerful clarity I admire.
Sometimes an author can say what another author has said, but say it clearer and better than the original author. Tom has done that in these pages. He often gets across the message of the original book with far more clarity and punch than the original ever had.
Each classic has its own chapter and each chapter is wonderfully short. There is never a dull moment. The book has a lot of nice features too: pithy quotes from the original book, a summary of the main point of each classic, and recommended books in a similar vein. At the end of each chapter is a short biography of the author. While reading this book I could feel that the author was really making sure I got my money’s worth (and he succeeded).
I have already read most of the fifty books, and it was wonderful to have the meat of those books extracted and laid bare. With Tom’s book in my possession, I can now review one of these classics quickly and easily. Repetition is vital to learning, and yet I often don’t re-read books because it is so time-consuming, even though I know I could be helped by a review of the material. Now I can review them without investing a lot of time.
Tom clearly didn’t choose these fifty books based on popularity. This is an excellent selection. The fifty classics are well-chosen and represent a balanced coverage of the field. Tom includes many of my favorite books of all time: Flow, Feeling Good, How to Win Friends, The Art of Happiness, Self-Reliance, Learned Optimism, Man’s Search For Meaning, and on and on. This book also introduced me to some material I would never have picked up off the shelf, but I’m glad I have been introduced to it. I loved the chapter on Beothius.
You could think of this book as Cliffs Notes for self-help books. Reading it would be a great way to shop for just the right book to read next.
It was great to find the Bhagavad Gita in this context (that is, as a self-help book, which is truly one of the things it is). Reading Tom’s explanation of the overall thrust of the Bhagavad Gita helped me understand it better than I ever have.
The author does not talk down to the reader, doesn’t write at a fourth grade level, and yet this is clear and easy reading. And even so, the writing is penetrating, insightful, and intelligent. If you want to learn how to change your thoughts, how to find your best direction in life and accomplish it, how to become happier, how to change your perspective, if you want to explore yourself and make a difference in the world, you’ll find more than enough juicy nuggets here to satisfy.
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|A brilliant introduction to the “literature of possibility”,
In both this volume and in 50 Success Classics, Butler-Bowdon has selected and then provided a rigorous examination of carefully selected works which have had, for decades, a profound impact on those who read them and then applied the principles which their respective authors affirm. In this instance, inspiration and guidance to transform one’s life. There are several reasons why I hold this volume in such high regard. Here are three.
First, Butler-Bowdon has assembled excerpts and focused on key points from a wide variety of works which include (with authors listed in alphabetical order, as in the book), Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, Robert Bly’s Iron John, Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers’ The Power of Myth, Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People, the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler’s The Art of Happiness, Wayne Dyer’s Real Magic, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self-Reliance, Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography, Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, Abraham Maslow’s Motivation and Personality, Thomas Moore’s Care of the Soul, Joseph Murphy’s The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, and Henry David Thoreau’s Walden. Obviously, some of this material would also be appropriate for inclusion in 50 Success Classics.
Second, I appreciate the fact that Butler-Bowdon also enables his readers to focus on specific themes of greatest interest to them by suggesting combinations of selections as follows:
The Power of Thought: Change your thoughts, change your life
Following Your Dream: Achievement and goal setting
Secrets of Happiness: Doing what you love, doing what works
The Bigger Picture: Keeping it in perspective
Soul and Mystery: Appreciating your depth
Making a Difference: Transforming yourself, transforming the world
The diversity of Butler-Bowdon’s primary sources is indeed impressive even when grouped according to a common theme.
Third and finally, he makes clever use of a number of reader-friendly devices throughout his narrative, such as “In a nutshell,” “Final comments,” and a brief bio of the author at the conclusion of each selection. I also appreciate the inclusion of brief quotations wherever they are most relevant.
In the Introduction, Butler-Bowdon observes that a self-help book “can be your best friend and champion, expressing a faith in your essential greatness and beauty that is sometimes hard to get from another person. Because of its emphasis on following your star and believing that your thoughts can remake your world, a better name for self-help writing might be the `literature of possibility.’ Many people are amazed that the self-help sections in bookstores are so huge. For the rest of us, there is no mystery. Whatever recognizes our right to dream, then shows us how to make the dream a reality, is powerful and valuable.”
What he offers is by no means a buffet of motivational “hors d’oeuvres.” On the contrary, the content selected is solid and skillfully presented within an appropriate context. I am convinced that many of those who read this book will be encouraged to read (or re-read) many of the primary sources in their entirety. If Butler-Bowdon’s efforts accomplish nothing else, that will indeed be sufficient to earn the praise I think he has earned…and justly deserves.
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|Amazing reference,
If you’ve read self-help books, and seen the true benefits that this style of literature can offer, you know that of the hundreds of pages you read in a typical book, the real value can be boiled down to a few pages on the greatest lesson offered. This book does just that over and over. It hits you with the key ideas, backs it up, and cross-references it to other books that make a similar point in different ways. Incredibly valuable if you’re interested in making sense of and categorizing the vast improvements to self, that self-help points you in the direction of.
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|The Peace We Are Seeking,
“God Wants You Happy” finds you where you are and tugs you gently back to where you need to be. For anyone who finds relief in the wrong things — be it compulsive shopping, a workaholic, alcohol, drugs, worrying, self-absorption… etc. etc. — this book guides us through a spiritual plan on how to connect self help to God’s help in six defined steps. Not preachy, but written with a warmth and conviction that leaves us convinced that God loves us unconditionally in every aspect of our lives. Father Morris helps us to open our minds and hearts to the true meaning of Sacred Scripture and Jesus’ message — “to love one another as I have loved you” aligning our will to God’s will — thus becoming open to receive the grace and profound happiness that God is waiting to give us…if we let Him.
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|From Self-Help to God-Help.,
In the book of John in the New Testament, Jesus says, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).
In a culture dominated by self-actualization, pseudo-spirituality, and chronic selfishness, Father Jonathan Morris offers a better (and more biblical) way of “being happy” than the scores of self-help books that promise readers a better life (A BETTER YOU!).
Father Morris makes a distinction between mere self-help and God-help, yet understands that they are intimately connected. He writes, “Genuine human flourishing … almost always has something to do with our good choices (positive self-help) and always has everything to do with God’s grace (God-help). Any effort to divorce one from the other is a dangerous detour into philosophical narcissism (pursuing self-help without recognition of God) or religious irrationalism (expecting God to do what he wants us to do for ourselves).”
This book is divided into two main sections: the Problem and the Solution. The problem, of course, is thinking that a person can ever be truly “happy” separated from his or her Creator. The solution is submitting oneself to his or her Creator and resting in His faithfulness, which alone can produce lasting joy. Happiness then is a by-product of a life with God, and living a life of “faith, hope and love”. Father Morris notes, “Authentic happiness is unearthed first by discovering who we are within a universe whose existence is explicable only by the existence of an eternal Creator; happiness is then cultivated as we build a relationship with that Creator, as his son or daughter dearly loved by him.” In an interview with Glenn Beck, Morris adds, “If we start thinking that, in ourselves, we can find our own happiness completely separated from a loving God and Father and Friend then I think we’re going to go down a road that is ultimately self-destructive and deceiving.”
This book is a helpful encouragement and correction for those stuck in a constant cycle of struggle/frustration/depression/self-help/struggle/frustration/depression. Father Morris, pointing to Jesus Christ, offers true Shalom, which cannot ultimately be found from within (self) but from without (in God).
Morris notes that in even dark and confusing seasons, God is not absent or unaware. There is purpose in trials and an understanding of (and trust in) God’s promises provides “happiness” in spite of a person’s current circumstances.
The Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “What is the chief end of man? Answer: “The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.” As a Reformed Baptist, I disagree with Morris’ theology at various points, yet I commend his overall thesis (and argument): God wants you happy.
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