"Voicing my opinion has been a journey for me. As a young girl I was always told to be quiet and to listen to people even when they were wrong. I am not the same person anymore."

Anita Sakpal

EMBROIDERY ARTISAN AT EKTA COOPERATIVE

The MarketPlace development model embodies the idea of leadership in action, as every woman is given the opportunity to lead a program or activity at some time. Anita, for example, has been an Armaan Club Leader for 4 years. "I am actively involved in suggesting activities and getting all the children and their mothers involved," she explains. She meets every month with the Leaders from the other cooperatives to discuss and decide on different activities for the upcoming terms, including special events such as holidays, picnics and camps.

She gives the social worker, Suvarna, the children's test results and participates in discussions with her and the mothers about what future or additional work would benefit each child. "I also run the reading program where we take books from the main office in Santa Cruz and distribute them to the children in the cooperative." It is a lot of work and requires Anita to manage her time well and learn to communicate effectively and with empathy. This program clearly makes a difference for the children, and also for the women who help to organize and run it.

Anita reveals, "Voicing my opinion has been a journey for me. As a young girl I was always told to be quiet and to listen to people even when they were wrong. I am not the same person anymore." Her experience as a Leader has given her insight into her relationship with her son, Ganesh. "I used to push him to study more and that led to a lot of shouting and crying. The social worker told me that, as a parent, I need to understand what he likes and dislikes. I realized he liked drawing, but I did not think drawing was important." Working with the Armaan Club programs, she came to see learning and growth in a different way. "I now see how much Ganesh enjoys drawing and that it makes him happy. As a mother and Armaan Club Leader I now truly believe that children should be given opportunities for overall development which is more than just studying at school."

Ekta Mahila Mandal Cooperative is a relatively new group of 11 women which went through some growing pains getting established. Women dropped out and others joined, disrupting the training programs. But in the end the artisans' spirit and determination prevailed as they were eager to own their own enterprise providing stable work in their area. Ekta means "Unity" as this mixture of women from different regions and cultures have chosen to stress their common goals. Many are young mothers who have great hopes for their children and are optimistic about the future. They are enthusiastic about learning new things about production, each other's culture, and the world. They chose three terms to describe their group identity: Teamwork, Unity, and Fun!