Changemakers

It's been a great week at Paper Boat. We've been reminded again how important the work we are doing in supporting marginalised communities in India is. When I visited Madurai and Kovilpatti in January 2023, I was struck, as I said here, that women and girls were leading incredibly, transformative work in the 16 communities we serve. Time and again as I listened to their stories and saw the impact of their commitment to those they live amongst, I felt driven to amplify those stories for the world to hear. It is easy to feel discouraged and hopeless in a world of 24 news and instant access to the torrent of information from social media. Stories like those of these women and girls are, at least in partly, an antidote to that.

This week is great because our delivery partner in India, CEDAR India has sent us two videos as part of our new Changemaker series telling these stories. There is no more powerful hearing of a story than in the voice of the person whose story it is. I've watched these videos over and over and have been consistently amazed by the resilience, compassion and desire for change that drive both Selvi and Raji. Their stories are different but are joined by their deep sense that things can and will change and that injustices can be overcome in time.

Raji is a young woman who has been part of our programmes for the last few years. Her life is challenging for so many reasons but she is filled with hope and always seems to be smiling. She is an inspiration to us to keep going with our work. Her story is a celebration of everything we work for.

Selvi is one of our facilitators leading our projects in Keela Eral, Kovilpatti. She has been leading this work for the past four years. As her story in the video tells, she started this with, not only a lack of support but with opposition from those closest to her. Nobody close to her believed her work was worthwhile. She has gone on to see such great transformation including the opening of a community space for her Children's Hub to use that is being accessed by people of all castes within the village. This is a huge impact that cannot be underestimated.

We are so inspired by Raji and Selvi. We can learn from them. Empowering women and girls will change the world. We see this every single day in Tamil Nadu.

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