Massive suffering brings responses. Since women’s roles and status are often dismal, there are organizations which seek to rectify the situation as best as it can. One such organization is the working Women’s Forum. Because of a 1978 flood in Madras (Chennai), Ms. Jaya Arunchalam formed an organization to help women of the slums. The organizations first efforts were basically relief efforts; the second stage involved the wealthy families with a few women leaders providing relief efforts. The third stage was the actual formation of the Working Women’s Forum which consists of women living in the slums.

Ms. Jaya Arunchalam tells us about the organization and its goals. One goal is simply organizational, to have an organization run by women and for women. Another goal is to move beyond relief to training women to survive in their poverty. The organization teaches women how to start their own business such as garland making; they teach women how to apply for and use microcredit, small financial loans; they teach women about family planning. Ms. Arunchalam knows the bleak situation of many, over 290 million women and 70 million children work in India. She recognizes the need “to bring visibility” to the women’s plight

Conveying a sense of determination, Ms. Arunchalam speaks about the need of women to move “from a sense of fatalism to a sense of self-responsbility.” Women’s experiences can result in a sense of fatalism. They undergo emotional abuse to physical abuse of boiling water poured upon them.

Ms. Arunchalam then leads us upstairs. We are surprised to find a thirty women, ranging in age from twenty to fifty, that had gathered to greet us and tell us their stories. After presenting each of us with a garland, several women speak about their work and lives. One woman tell us the key to helping women in the slums: “We are women; we have problems. As a supervisor, I would begin by gathering data about the women in a particular area. I would construct a program for women in that area, usually spread by word-of-mouth and flyers. At the program, women would speak about their fears and their hopes. I wanted local women to trust their own efforts and become involved.” Another women also became an organizer of some sixty-five different individual groups. She confesses: “Growing up, I was so timid that I would cry if somebody talked to me in a loud voice. I had to learn to speak up.” She now uses that voice to train other women to speak about their situations. Another young women states: “I began by receiving a small amount of rupees to buy pencils. It may not sound like much, but I’m proud of being able to pay back the loan and make some money to help my family.”

As I write this blog, I googled Madras Working Women’s Forum. It still exists. It has expanded. It has become recognized globally. In July 2011, former US state secretary Hillary Clinton conducted a visit to the WWF. Although now deceased, Ms. Arunachalam was given national and international awards for her work!