Phulwa Devi got an equal opportunity to participate in EMM’s meeting
Phulwa Devi is a widow and illiterate woman whose source of income is daily wages. She has three children, one girl and two boys. She takes care of her family by working as a labourer, living in a rural environment; she had a lot of problems working from one place to another. Being illiterate, the people of the village and society used to mistreat her, sometimes she had to face the condition of being hungry for the whole day. Being a widow, she was not getting the respect that she deserved in society. She deprived her children of education as there was neither a school nor an Anganwadi centre in her village. She had complete bondage and pressure from society because it was believed in the village that it is not auspicious to see the face of a widow early in the morning and seeing the face of a widow causes illness in the children. Even visiting and worshipping her temple was prohibited.
Then one day Ekta Mahila Manch’s village meeting was going on when someone told Phulwa Devi that they are talking about widows on hearing this, she rushed to attend the meeting. After attending a couple of meetings continuously, she narrated all her conditions and incidents to District Coordinator Shail Devi and requested to solve the problem. Shail Devi is the District Coordinator of the Arwal District of Ekta Mahila Manch Project. She spoke to Phulwa Devi and solved this problem by talking to the village head, government and officials. In this way, with continuous efforts and meetings, the widow got equal status in society and a little financial support for sending her children to school.
In this way, the constant struggle of Phulwa Devi is now reduced and she is also getting work wages due to which she is gradually becoming independent and able to take care of her family.