By Aastha Kapoor
Let’s play a simple game and start naming all
successful women entrepreneurs we know of. Indra Nooyi, Oprah Winfrey, Mary
Kay, Olayemi Akinwumi.Done, are we? We are still not done because we also have
to look beyond these wonderful ladies in formal attires working from urban
offices. A search through the nearest village may lead you to some successful
businesses solely run by women of whom we haven’t ever heard of. Their union is
nothing but a cooperative. Women Cooperatives
are basically voluntary organizations with a clear understanding of the
responsibilities of its membership in cooperative development without any
social, racial, political or religious discrimination and are based on the
values of self-help, self-
responsibility, equality and solidarity.
What women gain out of it is more than mere
financial aid; they also learn skill development related to their area of work,
team work, managing deadlines, dealing with raw materials and outsourcing of
products, expression of thoughts, negotiating terms and resolving
intra-committee conflicts. These groups can be as small as 15-20 members and
their members are also kept open in order to popularise them in every tiny
village/town.
Their success
stories are also not restricted to a particular area, they are the same
everywhere. From the Anand dairy cooperative in India to the Agricultural
Growth Program-Agribusiness and Market Development (AGP-AMDe) in Ethiopia to the
United Nations Development Program (UNDP) supported woman cooperatives in the
war-struck Lebanon, there have been applaud able attempts from women who
resolved to choose a way out of their trepidations by engaging with action. Another
point to be noticed is that in a lot of
cases, women involved are those who have never been to school or have acquired
only the minimal of education, yet they have managed to learn something new
altogether within a framed time all this while managing their household tasks
and responsibilities too . A clear picture of how women have the potential to
make so much out of every little opportunity that comes their way makes me
ponder how different would things in the present been had all opportunities were available to all women
from all places at all times. What a blissful world would that have been!
Still, the progress is on.
It is imperative that these courageous ladies get
their due appreciation; most of them will probably never read an online blog or
know how all their efforts are source of inspiration to many others, support and
encouragement in all possible forms should keep coming in the hope that tomorrow is brighter for their daughters.
Their efforts are all worth it!
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