A Siddi Woman Hirabai Lobi Prospered The Lives Of Many People|| A Sublime Example Of #WomenEmpowerment||

The radio turned out to be the means of education to Hiraben
which impacted the lives of thousands of illiterate villagers.

The dwelling of Sidi community in India:

    The Siddi, a race of African descent, inhabits many cities and villages in India. They are a hardworking community. Siddi people like to dance and sing. Their distinctive dance, known as DHAMAAL, and song reflect the glimpses of the culture of their native country, Africa. From about the sixth to the sixteenth century, the Arabs traded with India. They brought with them Africans as laborers (slaves) for shipping and other labor. Afterward, the British and the Portuguese also used to enslave them. Many Siddhi families settled down in India.

Hiraben Bai Ibrahim Lobi, a Sidi woman from Jamboor Village:

    This post is about the story of Hirabaiben Lobi, a Siddi woman from Jambur village in Junagadh district of Gujarat state, India, who, with her sheer intelligence, made a revolution in her own life and that of the villagers. She has presented a unique example of women empowerment and self-development to the world and remains a source of inspiration for many women.

The life-Style of the people of Jamboor Village:

    Jambur village, located about 100 km from Junagadh, is known as an African village as it is home to about 18000 Sidi people. However, most of the villagers were illiterate. So they were doing the job as labor on the farm, and some sell forest products for their leaving. The women of the community bring firewood from the forest to sell. Most of the people at Jambur village have the ruining habits of liquor and tobacco.

NOTE: Courtsey - All images from the BBC News -Gujarati YOUTUBE Channel.(See video at the end of the post)

A story of Hirabai Lobi:

    Hirabai was born and brought up in this community. At the age of 4, her mother passed away, and at the age of 14, her father also died. Like other members of their community, Hirbai also could not get a formal education. She grew up near her grandmother and implemented many things taught by her in life. These lessons from her granny impacted not just her life but the lives of the people of 19 villages.
She was a hardworking woman and was troubled by the plight of herself and her community and often thought to find a solution. When Hiraben grew up, her grandmother married her to Ibrahim Lobi. Fortunately, her husband Ibrahim Lobi was supportive. He was also a hardworking person and had no bad habits.

The ambition of Hirabai:

An example of women empowerment Hirabai Ben Lobi.

    She was trying a lot for the upliftment of her family. Father of Hirabai had a loan of one lakh rupees, for which she told to sell land, which her father had given her. Anyhow, she did not want to sell land, so she decided to face the situation.

How the radio program turned out to be a guide for Hirabai:

    Hiraben used to listen to the radio for programs about agriculture on the national channel. Incidentally, one day, on the radio, they heard about the preparation project of organic fertilizer, which needs just a portion of land. Hiraben and her husband started thinking seriously about this project.

Research and training for the dream project:

    They understood that if they implemented this project successfully on their half an acre of land, they might have enough money to pay the debt and save the land. After doing more research, after getting some training, one day, they started his work.

Starting and development of the venture:

    Initially, in the first year, they produced about 160 bags of fertilizer though not much profit. But next year, the production increased to 500 bags, and nine women had joined to help them. Gradually due to the better quality and reasonable rate of organic fertilizer, the demand increased, and their venture flourished. Hirabai got the women of the nearby 19 villages to join with her. Created 12 groups of them and started to produce the fertilizer in huge quantities. She also commenced producing other products, like neem oil, mangoes, orchids, coconuts, sugarcane, and vegetables. Need not to say the debt was over.

Now the selling of organic fertilizer touched
the figure of 7 00,000/- rupees per year.

Building of the primary school at Jambur village.

The activities of Hirabai on the social front:

    Due to Hirabai's vision, training, and hard work, she became free from debt. But Hirabai did not stop there. Since childhood, she used to feel very sad to see the plight of the people of his village. She always thinks, what she could do for the upliftment of her community. After becoming financially strong, she started such a campaign of social reform that she received many honors and awards from the country and abroad.

The list of Social welfare activities by Hirabai:

• Many villagers had habits like consuming liquors, smoking, tobacco chewing, and getting ruined health and money.
• Hiraben explained to them to get rid of such habits. As a result, they got a drastic improvement in their health and saving money.
• With due guidance of Hiraben, some Sidi people started shops, and some of them learned to tailor and started their venture.
• People were careless about the education of their kids. Hirabai encouraged them to send their kids to 'Anganwadi' (Type of school as a nursery) operated by the Government.
• Hiraben explained to the women of her community about the benefits of saving money and helped them to open savings bank accounts.
• She established an organization for the women of her and other villages and started to create a fund by collecting 10 rupees per person.
• People in her community were unaware of many schemes launched by the Government for the house, health, and education. She made them aware of that and helped them to get the benefit of it.
• Due to the illiteracy, people were dependant on the agents to apply for such scheme, for that agents were charging heavily, looting them.
• Hiraben bypassed the agents and guided people to do paperwork with the Government by themself.
• The villagers were fearful of the police officers. Hirabai told them that the police are not the alien from another planet. They are the human-like us- and are the servant of the public. The fear of the police officer had gone overcome by the villagers. They dared to go outside the village to governmental offices for their task without depending on the agents. Thus their confidence level has enhanced.
• Hiraben successfully did correspondence with Government to start primary school in the Jambur village. She got to start school.
• As a result, the standard of living of the villagers uplifted, especially of women who got freedom from gathering firewood from the jungle, and today, they have good ventilated homes with facilities like LPG gas connection under Ujjawal Gas Yojana and electricity.

The struggle of the Hirabaiben, a determined woman
brought the happiness in the lives of Siddi people!

Hirabai Ben Lobi receiving 14th IMC Ladies Wing Jankidevi Bajaj Puraskar- 2006
from Jaya Bachchan and Munira Chudasama President IMC Ladies Wing.

The list of the awards received by Hirabaiben Ibrahim Lobi:

Revolutionary social activities of Hirabaiben fetched the following awards from India and abroad.

• IMC Janakidevi Bajaj Award
• Women’s World Summit Foundation(WWSF),
• Godfrey Phillips National Bravery Awards.

A video of an interview with Hirabai Ben Ibrahim Lodi
at Jamboor Village by BBC News Channel in Gujarati.

Female Empowerment: Women Social Welfare Reformers Of Gujarat||

The-Hard-Life-Style-Of-Salt-Workers.

Serving for social welfare is a sacred act. Those who engage in such work do not expect any reward or praise. Social work requires patience and hard work. Many social workers in the country are working for the welfare of the needy people of a democratic nation. Although the list is very long here, some women social workers of Gujarat have published information for information and education. I hope you like this post.

Content

1. Strong-willed Kanchanben ignites the flame of knowledge in 123 poor children of the remote village.
2. The Women's Industrial Training Institute at Rajkot works to make many women self-reliant.
3. Social worker Minaben Desai made 25000 women self-reliant.
4. A 21-year-old female social reformer travels to the desert for the welfare of salt workers.
5. A Goanese Ocean Scientists dedicated her life to the salt workers and became more than Gujarati.
6. Video: The hard lifestyle of the salt workers.

[1]△

Strong-willed Kanchanben ignites the flame of knowledge in 123 poor children of the remote village.

Kanchanben-spreading-education-among-backward-children-at-Vadgam.

Kanchanben was born in a dilapidated colony of the Gomtipur expansion of Ahmedabad. His parents were poor. When Kanchanben was studying in class 10th, she developed a small lump near her left thigh. After a lot of investigation, she was diagnosed with bone cancer. The entire family was shocked by this bad news. She had to get admitted to the Cancer Department of the Civil Hospital, where she had to amputate her left leg and had to stay in the hospital for about 40 days. However, Kanchanben continued her studies. At the age of 23, he decided to do social service.Kanchanben was married to Vashram Makwana of Vad Gam village in Taluka (Province).Today, a girl who grew up in a mega city who has never seen a village has dedicated her life to educating the children of the backward villages. Today Kanchanben is teaching 123 children for free

[2]△

The Women's Industrial Training Institute at Rajkot works to make many women self-reliant.

Women-Industrial-Training-Institute-Rajkot-City.

   For the purpose of women being self-reliant, the training institute for women is running in Rajkot. After completing the training, women become self-employed and financially self-sufficient.

The Campaign Of Women
Self Reliance In Rajkot

About 20,000 women have so far benefited from this training. About 500 women are earning well. Women from the age of 25 to 70 can join here. An exhibition of women's work is also organized in which home decoration items, Sathiyas(Designs by colored powder on the ground or in the plate), garlands, symbols of Shubh-Labh(Goodness), salad decoration, floral decoration, etc. are displayed.

[3]△

Social worker Minaben Desai made 25000 women self-reliant.

Scope of work of Minaben Desai: Patdi village of Surendranagar.

Mrs. Minaben Desai is a resident of Patdi, a small village. The fragrance of her works has spread far and wide. She supported and guided about 25000 widows, abandoned ladies, and poor women in the surrounding villages by teaching them the handicraft arts and making them capable earn their bread. Her husband Desat and her friend Rupal Panchal also support her in this service.Mrs. Meena Desai is a brave woman. Some time ago, When she knew about the scam of marriage to young women and forced them for immoral traffic at Kharaghoda village,

Social Reformer
Minaben Desai.

she rushed there to rescue the young ladies and handed the culprits to the police.An incident that inspired Mr. Minaben Desai:A few years ago, a young woman from Patdi got married and moved to Rajasthan. There he was abused, tortured, and imprisoned. Upon learning of this, Minabe went there and released the girl.This incident disturbed her a lot, and she decided to make the only goal of life to serve such women. His task is still going well.He has received the Governor's Award, Pride of Gujarat Award, Best Entrepreneur Award.

[4]△

A 21-year-old female social reformer travels to the desert for the welfare of salt workers.

The-Dwelling-Of-The-Salt-Workers.

Riddhi Jayeshbhai Bathani is a young lady of the age of 21. She has completed an M. Sc in Microbiology subject. As her grandfather was working in salt fields in Kharaghoda, Riddhi had been aware of the salt worker (Agarya) suffering from diseases due to their adverse working environment since her childhood.The atmosphere of the salt field is very hostile. Workers have to work eight to ten hours under the sun in 45 to 48 degrees of heat in the open sky. Diseases like lung cancer, skin cancer, and in the case of women the breast cancer, irregular menstruation are common in the salt workers.Also, tobacco addiction of increases the risk of illness to the workers.

Micro Biologist,
Riddhi Bathani.

About 25 to 30% of the salt workers are the victims.Riddhi's grandfather's friend was diagnosed with cancer. So he was shifted to the Civil hospital in Ahmedabad. Seeing his condition, Riddhi, who had just completed her study, decided to start the welfare service for the salt workers.She and Mr. Harnesh Pandya, the founder of 'Agaria Hit Rakshak Manch,' started the service of salt workers jointly. They regularly visit workers' dwellings and do the check-up of the family members as a precaution to prevent the occurrence of any disease and to ensure that patients receive prompt and appropriate treatment.Riddhi wants to study further (Ph.D. in cancer), and want to save the workers from the ailments.Her prime objective is not to earn wealth but the welfare to the salt workers of Kharaghoda.

[5]△

A Goanese Ocean Scientists dedicated her life to the salt workers and became more than Gujarati.

Ocean-Scientist-Pankati-Jog.

Pankti Jog belongs to a small village Sakroda of Goa state. For many years she has been a social welfare reformer for the people deprived, exploited, and marginalized in Gujarat.After studying at the National Oceanography San Hasana, he has worked on various projects as an assistant scientist and published four international research papers.After coming to Gujarat during the 2001 Kutch earthquake, he was introduced to the voluntary organization Janpath. He then pursued a grassroots-level social service in Gujarat, despite receiving a scholarship from France for higher studies.She has since worked in various fields, including the right to information and coastal issues. Especially in Surendranagar, Kutch, Patan, and Morbi districts, about 8000 families of Agaria in the Government with the support and coordination efforts with the Government today is going to the healthy dessert. Through their efforts, Agariya children in the desert get an education, Anganwadi, and lunch on the bus.The Acharyas had to sell water in the desert for years. Finally, after continuous dialogue with the Government, use of the right to information, and hard work, the Government announced the provision of drinking water in the desert.As an NIO Scientist, Pankati Jog had to be in the ocean constantly for research. So she was missing the sea in the desert. Due to her experience with the sea, Janpath Sanstha assigned her the responsibility of Gujarat's coastal community dialogue, a collaborative effort. She traveled by Gujarat's 1163 km long coastline and interacted with the migrants to estimate their difficulties.Activists of Gir-Nagher Bachao Andolan and about 73 other organizations joined with her. After advocacy with the Government, the people of the coastal region benefited from the Sagarkhedu scheme of Government. It is worth mentioning that Pankati Jog has also worked together in the Association for Democratic Reforms (Inside). This organization is doing various studies for voter awareness.

[6]△

Video: The hard lifestyle of the salt workers.

The inspirational story of Mehroonisa: The mother of Nawazuddin Siddiqui|| Every mother is a university in her own right||

The story of a woman who never went to school; but provided higher education to her children.

हिंदी में पढ़ने के लिए यहां क्लिक करें

Mehroonisa-The mother of Navzuddin Siddiqui.

Where there is a will - there is a way:

Faced with adversities, Mehrunnisan, who was presented as an excellent social worker today, was born and grew up in the Kairana village of UP. Her father was a cleric, and he taught his daughter Urdu and the Arabic language at home. Children were never used to being sent to school in their village. But the children of Mehrunnisa's maternal uncle used to go to school. Mehrunnisa also had a desire to read, so she used to read their books with the help of her cousins. Due to this study, his confidence and spirit grew.

Her married life:

The financial condition of the family was not good. When she was 14-year-old Mehrunnisa married in a family in Budhana, 30 km away from her homeland. The monetary situation at her husband's family too was weak, and there was a big family, so there was a hard struggle life.After a year, Mehrunnisa gave birth to a son, whose name was Nawazuddin. Yes, right there, which is a big name in the Hindi film industry today. And all the credit for this success goes to his mother.

A campaign started inadvertently:

Later as time passed, Mehrunnisa gave birth to six more sons and two daughters. Due to his farming, she used to get food, but the children were not getting an education. Which, Mehrunnisa did not approve. A campaign started by her, she had no idea of ​​how big it was going to take.

Mehrunnisa learned the Hindi language from one of her friends. The children of her enrolled in the school to have a good education. She never differentiated between boys and girls.

When the domestic expenses got higher, her husband's income was short, Mehrunnisa started sewing work. Although her husband did not like to do the work of Mehrunnisa, she had to hide the sewing machine when she came home. Some women of the village started coming to her to learn sewing work. She started teaching Arabic and Urdu to some illiterate women of the village.Mehrunnisa was an expert in cooking, so many women started coming to her to learn how to cook different types of dishes.

First, they will make fun of you then they will salute you:

At first, people used to make fun of her for her social activities, but Mehrunnisa did not care for them. As the assertive result of her campaign stated to emerge, an attitude of the people changed, and those who used to make fun, criticize, their people started appreciating. Her name became famous far and wide, many women became her friends, and they formed a big group of their own. She always used to wear a burqa, but her thoughts were always progressive.

Today she is doing an excellent service of spreading education, and employment with her team, for women and children in her in-laws' village, and not only in her maternal village but in villages around.

Proud for Indians:

In 2017 BBC included Mehrunnisa's name in 100 influential women, which is a matter of pride for our country.

About his elder son Nawazuddin Siddiqui:

Well-known Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, being the eldest son, was aware of his mother's struggle and always has respected her.

When he was struggling to create his position in Bollywood in Mumbai, and whenever he got frustrated, he used to contact his mother. His mother never made any disappointing comment, never said that you waste time. He always encouraged Nawazuddin. Hearing his mother's words, he used to engage in his work with a renewed vigor. Today success is kissing the feet of Nawazuddin.All his brothers and sisters are well settled after completing their education.

Mehrunnisa's campaign will continue:

Instead of living in a comfortable house of her son in Mumbai, Mehrunnisaa has decided to live in a distant village for the welfarw and the reform in rural.

Many salutes to Mehrunnisa, a social reformer.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui thanks to his Moher Mehrunnisa

Highly-Educated-Muslim-Young-Girl-Became-Sarpanch||WomenEmpowerments||

Highly-Educated-Muslim-Young-Girl-Became-Sarpanch||WomenEmpowerments||

After completing MBBS, she became the most educated woman sarpanch at the age of 24 for the development of the village.

Recently the Uttar Pradesh election has completed. Shrimati Priyanka Gandhi from the Congress party announced some points regarding women as the 40% participation in politics. Though the party failed to win sufficient seats, women didn't vote for Congress as supposed to be. What's the reason? Education. Education enhances confidence, liberal thinking pattern, and logical thinking. A proper education system is a key to empowering any gender, whether men or women. What and how an educated (or learned by experience) woman can contribute to society, nation, and the world; is written in the following post about an MBBS female who became the province's leader.

Introduction of Shahnaaz Khan:

However, Shahnaaz Khan was born in a small village in the Mewat region in Rajsthan, but mostly she dwelled in the urban area. Shahnaaz belongs to a family of politicians and social workers. Her grandfather, Haanif Khan, had been the Sarpanch of Mewat for 55 years! Her mother, Zahida Khan, is a former MLA from the Kaman constituency in the district, while her father, Jalees Khan, was Kaman pradhan (head of block-level panchayat body).

She studied in the Medical College of the city for an MBBs course. She visits the village during summer vacation. However, she was not wholly aware of the villagers' problems yet. People at Mewat, the native of she, were so conservative that no girls were allowed to go out, and having an education was rare because most people were uneducated. As a result, the criminality in the area was higher. Shehnaz was lucky because her grandfather was the village's former Sarpanch, so as the exception, she got higher education. Whenever she visits the town, she gradually comes to know of the backwardness of her native place through her grandfather, father, and friends.

Why did Shahnaz Khan decide to participate in the Election?

She understood the necessity of social welfare activity in her native, especially for the girls.Therefore, she wants to do social service and reformation to the extent of her capacity. People advised Shahnaaz Khan to participate in the upcoming Election of Sarpanch. She understands that being a Sarpanch, she can do faster reformation. So she participated and won the Election on 5th March 2022 and became the Sarpanch of Kaman Gram Panchayat of Bharatpur District. Villagers had elected the young girl, merely 24-year-old and a medical student of Teerthanker Mahaveer Medical College and Research Center in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, as their Sarpanch.After that, she took many courageous steps.

She-Started-Reformation-For-Cleanliness-Education-Health-Electricity-Water

Her activity of reformation:

As Shahnaaz Khan herself was well educated, she knew the importance and necessity of education for all, including girls. So, inspired by the slogan of PM, Shri Narendra Modi - "Beti Padhao and Beti Bachao" - she started reformation for education and set many projects for electricity, water conservation, health, and cleanliness.

Future Plan:

She will join an internship at Civil Hospital in Gurgaon and plan to further study for a postgraduate course. She is determined to complete her study; and the reformation in the community.

"People in the Mewat area don't send their daughters to schools. I want to present my example before them to show what education can do for a woman,"

- Shahnaaz Khan.

Read more in the following links:

1. The Times Of India.
2. Hindustan Times.