Posted: 01/05/2007
Today Asha welcomed the New Zealand Minister of Trade and Defence, the Honourable Phil Goff, the New Zealand High Commissioner to India, His Excellency Graeme Waters and the Deputy High Commissioner, Heather Ward, along with 3 other guests.
The visit began at Asha's headquarters where Dr Kiran Martin showed the visitors a Powerpoint presentation covering all the aspects of Asha's work. Then, the group braved the heat and power cuts as they walked to Ekta Vihar, a nearby slum where Asha has been working for many years.
The Mahila Mandal (women's group) members were delighted to meet the visitors and to get a chance to tell them about how their lives have changed since Asha started work in the slum and began to make them aware of their rights. The guests were then introduced to Usha, president of the Bal Mandal, who impressed everyone with the extent of her knowledge and the number of activities that she and the other Bal Mandal members carry out within the community.
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Before everyone took a tour of the slum, visiting several people's homes, Mr Goff told the Ekta Vihar crowd that he'd been very impressed with the improvements that the women had managed to make to their physical environment, but also that he'd been "very impressed by your empowerment and what you have been able to do as a group". Mr Goff told the assembled women that their work within the community was inspiring and that New Zealanders are very much aware of how much women can achieve, as New Zealand was the first country ever to allow women to vote, it has a female Prime Minister, a female Chief Justice and also a female speaker in Parliament. The women applauded as Mr Goff mentioned that he had a lot of confidence in their future after hearing their stories, and after meeting a member of the area's Bal Mandal.
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Originally I was wary of Asha and not keen to get involved, but then I joined a women's group and went on to train as a Community Health Volunteer. I am able to lead others because I set an example and show how people can gain so much by being part of our work.
Shakuntala, women's group president, Mayapuri
