Day 3: Powerful groups in action

Sangham & Gold
By Noel

It's 7:15 am, and the chant of Oms reverberates through the building. The day opens with its highlight—yoga and chants led by Harvie and Reena. A 15-minute mindfulness start to what will become a day full of inspiring interactions and learning.

Breakfast follows, bringing its usual array of culinary delights. By 8:30 am, we’re ready to hop on the bus and head out from the centre. A couple of group members run slightly late, with Eddie herding them toward the bus. Another group member, after spending yesterday recuperating, insists on joining us. And so we set out, curious and excited.

Throughout the day, we meet around 50 women at different locations. They’ve organized themselves into Self Help Groups (SHGs), with 10-12 groups forming Cluster Level Associations (CLAs), which then feed into Community Managed Resource Centres (CMRCs). Mr. Murugan, MYRADA Programme Officer, had perfectly captured these three tiers of collective action in yesterday’s presentation: SHG (“I can do it”); CLAs (“We can do it”); CMRCs (“We are in control”).

The women greet us with “Vanakkam” – welcome in Tamil – offering traditional welcomes with flowers and tikka at every stop. Their cheerfulness and confidence shine through, matched by their unwavering faith in their SHGs. These groups have become vehicles of transformation for their lives and families. Each visit reveals new insights but, more importantly, provides inspiration for our own groups back in Scotland.

A particular highlight emerges: MYRADA’s Children’s Groups. We meet one group, and the impact is powerful. These children and young people, aged 11 to 16, showcase remarkable achievements. Instead of complaints about their 20-kilometer journey to school, they express joy at the opportunity for education.

There’s still so much to process, so much to discover. Yet one message from today stands crystal clear. When we asked a group of women what message they had for our Scottish groups, one woman smiled, touched her gold necklace, and said: “Sangham (Tamil word for collective strength) is more precious than our gold.”

Powerful Groups in Action
By Caity

If you asked any of the eight participants what we were most excited for on our trip, the top answer would certainly be “meeting the women”! Well… today was the day. We set out at around 8am and had a whirlwind tour of four Self Help Groups in the Indian countryside. The groups represented all three tiers of the MYRADA model of social, economic, and political development: Self Help Groups, Federations, and Community Managed Resource Centres (CMRCs). The roles of the three tiers are as follows: Self Help Groups focus on their own well-being and development, Federations focus on community-level change, and CMRCs work on larger transformational efforts.

First, we heard a presentation by a local Self Help Group. The women described how their group savings scheme had transformed their lives by providing capital for new businesses, quality of life upgrades (such as an air conditioner for the sweltering summers), and even sending their children to university.

Next, we visited women who formed the second tier of the MYRADA model—a Federation. From these women, we learned about the social change they were able to make in their communities through their work in the Federation. Some women described championing the schooling of girls, which is now the norm where they live.

Finally, we met with women who served at the Community Managed Resource Centre for their area. These women spoke of some amazing educational initiatives, including helping to spread information during the early days of the Covid pandemic and during the vaccine rollout. The women in the Federation were able to disseminate findings from the scientific community on how Covid spread and how to avoid transmission.

The work that these women did for their communities in their spare time, and the care and passion they have for the work, is so amazing to see. And it’s definitely something to bring back to Scotland!

The spirit of collective strength and transformation is evident in every encounter we have here.