Massive suffering often brings responses. Since women’s roles and status in India 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 1977 flood in Madras (Chennai), Ms. Jaya Arunachalam formed an organization to help women of the slums. Raised in a Brahmin family and educated with a master’s degree in economics, she was removed from the life of such women. Yet, she saw their misery and wanted to respond. Her initial efforts were basically relief efforts. Gradually, she found other women leaders and persuaded wealthy families to give to the relief efforts. Finally, as she realized that the women living in the slums needed to be more directly involved, she formed the Working Women’s Forum.

Ms. Jaya Arunachalam 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. 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. Arunachalam 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. Arunachalam speaks about the need of women to move “from a sense of fatalism to a sense of self-responsibility.” She chillingly describes women’s experiences from emotional abuse to the physical abuse of men pouring boiling water upon them.

Ms. Arunachalam then leads us upstairs. We are surprised to find a thirty women, ranging in age from twenty to fifty, that have 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 tells 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 has become 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 even been recognized globally. In July 2011, former US state secretary Hillary Clinton conducted a visit to the Working Women’s Forum. Although now deceased, Ms. Arunachalam has been given national and international awards for her work! Quite an honor to meet and learn about her work!