All my life I have had the deepest desire to travel to India and work on a project that would empower the lives of women. I am so grateful to the Centre for Social Research for giving me the opportunity to not only work within such an interesting sector, but to be given the chance to see, with my own eyes, the current reality of what happens at the grass root level.

I embarked on a journey to the villages of Varanasi on Monday 15th to Thursday 19th August 2004 to determine for myself the current situation of the Non-Formal Education (NFE) system, and work in developing links with Australian schools. This was my first opportunity to see a grass-root village and gain an understanding of the every day life of the people.

Whilst visiting several of the villages I was given the chance to speak with many members of the community. Everyone was so warm and welcoming, and I was able to gain an understanding into their lives. Simply by walking through the village the effects of CSR’s initiatives are very obvious, with the Women’s Self Help Groups making Bindis, selling flowers or caring for the goats. I saw first hand the tangible results of the project and how the lives of many women and girls are impacted through empowerment.

A significant subject that I was confronted by was that of Marriage. Marriage is an important social institution in India, at first this was very difficult for me to overcome, it seems such a revolving circle of life for a female. When a girl reaches the age of 12 – 15 years she becomes engaged, then at the age of 18 she moves in with her husband, has children and the entire cycle begins again. Such as a 14-year-old girl from the Paterwan Village, her teachers told us that she has just passed her Class 5 exams and is the smartest in her school. When asked what she is going to do with her life, she replied that she doesn’t want to do anything; she must marry her husband and be a wife. By empowering women and girls CSR is in effect giving females choices. These village women are being taught about health, the importance of education, reproduction, income generating activities, and general awareness of their rights.

CSR is making a difference in so many peoples lives, not only in the lives of the little girls that go to the NFE schools, but the attitude of the entire family and community is consequently affected. I believe in this project, and could see very clearly the wonderful affects of empowerment and the confidence building in the hearts of each of the girls that attended the NFE schools.

I am so grateful to CSR for giving me this opportunity to visit the grass roots and see for myself the current reality. I especially want to thank Dr. Kumari for permitting me to see the Varanasi project, I think it is an important part of an internship to experience all that CSR offers. I would also like to thank Murari for all his help whilst in the field, I owe the success of my trip to him as he took me under his wing and opened the doors into a world I had only read about.