By 3.30 pm on 8th December 2015, twenty women gathered in the Conference hall of YWCA, Delhi. Sr. Rita SCN led the august gathering into prayer and asked for God’s blessings upon the first programme of ICWM, Delhi unit. Sr. Veronica Monteiro BS welcomed one and all for this short yet meaningful meeting to mark the day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. She said that it is the first meeting of Christian women under the wings of ICWM, a common platform to synergize all energies of persons and organizations together for the cause women and for their betterment.
Sr. Shalini PBVM who was present at the time of ICWM’s birth in NBCLC Bangalore gave an introduction about ICWM- its vision, mission, goal and objectives. She expressed her joy of seeing quite a good number of women coming together with a short notice. Mrs Sushma of YWCA working for urban slums development shared her thoughts and experiences of working with women who live with lots of violence in their families. Mrs Sudha shared her personal experience of violence, how she managed and now as a member of Panchayat how she helps other women experiencing violence at the hands of their husbands and other family members. Mrs Neera Arora of YWCA working for the rural development shared her views and thoughts on violence and how it crushes women down.
Sr. Shalini PBVM moderated the following session. She suggested that we all sit in a circle to see each other and feel comfortable. She asked each one to give a short introduction of one’s name and area of engagement. Then Shalini invited the group to share their experiences of violence or stories of violence they are familiar with and quite many of them shared their experiences of violence and how they counter violence. Finally there was a brain storming session during which some suggestions came up with regard to the future plan and activity of ICWM in Delhi.
They are as follows:
· SHGs for women
· To work jointly at the UN Millennium Goals
· Collection of data of each NGOs and Organizations in view of networking
· Join together for any programmes for the cause of women where ever it happens
· Advocacy and lobbying for policy changes for the betterment of women.
· It was also suggested that we need to involve men too in our meetings so that we can create awareness in them. This would bring about attitudinal changes in men towards women.
We decided to meet as and when there is need for coming together since all are busy in their own areas of work. Many of the members present suggested that we can have membership fee Rs 100/-instead of 50 since it is too small an amount.
Shashi Obeid the general secretary of YWCA thanked the members present for the meeting. The meeting came to a close with a concluding prayer by Rita Agarwal. She invoked God’s blessings upon ICWM and its future plans.
Veronica Monteiro BS
Team Leader
ICWM- Delhi
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