Community Leaders and Agents of Change
Since its founding, SEWA has relied on a decentralized model to bring together women workers and address their needs. The cornerstones of this decentralized model are grassroots leaders called Aagewans.The term aagewan is derived from Gujarati, and is a portmanteau of the phrase “aage aane waali ben” (the sister who came forward), and essentially describes women who volunteer to represent and lead their communities. A leader among their peers, aagewans share the same precarious conditions as the women they represent. These women however take on the mantle of leadership and self-select into positions of responsibility for their communities, stepping forward to carry on the work that their communities need, and become advocates and grassroots champions for the women around them, and by extension the entire community.
Our Approach
- Leadership Training: Identifying women who will become leaders is critical to the work SEWA does. Community organisers and mobilisers work within communities to identify women with leadership qualities unique to their economic situations, and actively invest in helping these women become agents of change within their communities. Aagewans are encouraged to build bridges and networks within their local contexts, and lead their communities.
- Capacity Building: SEWA builds the capacity of leaders through continuous training and handholding support.
Ongoing programs
Research
Last Mile Model
How can communities become more participatory in their own governance and thereby bridge the gap between the State and market on one hand and vulnerable populations on the other?
Community Health In the Time of Corona
The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown had given way to an acute sense of uncertainty and vulnerability; especially amongst informal sector workers. Informal sector workers in both urban and rural communities lack job security and social security and this had worsened due to the lockdown with many workers losing their jobs.
Case Studies
Sangitaben, Aagewan
The last week of June saw more and more migrant workers return to their villages from red zone cities. They were all assigned to quarantine centres for 14 days. Many wouldn’t abide, and were found roaming in their villages.
Mubarakpur and Danapur’s Fight Against COVID-19
The community members of Mubarakpur and Danapur communicated their distress and anxieties of having to die of starvation if food supplies did not reach them any sooner. Understanding the emergency of the situation, SEWA aagewans redirected their efforts and channelled in supplies from the government and distributed it among community members by the ward councillor.
Tackling Domestic Abuse
The concerns arising through the lockdown are endless; displacement, hunger, lack of shelter and distress with employment being the most paramount. With everyone held up indoors, there has been a significant rise of domestic violence cases reported across the country. One of SEWA’s community members, Manju Ben reported the same in one of the meetings. She was being abused by her husband and sister-in-law.
A Mask in Need
SEWA members in Misir Gonda, Kanke, in Ranchi, are domestic workers. Most of them were unable to go to work during the lockdown. In the grips of the financial crisis, when even food essentials became hard to come by, masks were a luxury that couldn’t be afforded.