Today on international Rural Women Day, we celebrate their insurmountable strength. It is a divine blessing upon CORD that we are able to render humble service unto them! CORD traces its beginning in Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda’s gratitude towards the Himalayan people, especially women.
“The people of the Himalayas, especially women, have selflessly served the wandering sadhus. This will be our repayment of Rsirin (debt) to them. I want to serve them.” said Gurudev. The Mahila Mandals are the nuclei of all CORD’s work. They are the hub from which all program components of CORD have evolved. The objective of Mahila Mandal is to empower women financially, socially, and politically and enhance their decision making capacity.
Today there are over 1095 Mahila Mandals with 28500 women members in 900 villages in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Odisha and Tamil Nadu. Mahila Mandals provide a forum for women of a particular village to voice their personal challenges, be it at an individual, domestic or social level.
The women, with village facilitators trained by CORD, work together to resolve their issues. They are a catalyst, a space where women come together, empathize with others who live with them, conduct meetings, learn to discuss and resolve issues, and develop strong roots in their communities.
They learn to lead and support each other laterally, first, within their groups before they venture out to solicit help and support from outside groups. Their engagement with CORD facilitates their self-discovery and development.