“I met Mrs Gariyali online. Yep, it was Facebook! But, the background story is amazing.

I had been to Rwanda and seen the women’s Self Help Groups. It had such an impact on me that I enrolled in a Masters of International and Community Development with a plan to do a research project on the groups. I wanted to know IF they were really working, and if so, then WHY.

Then in 2014, when reviewing the literature around Self Help Groups, there was one recurring name — CK Gariyali. I didn’t know if it was a man or woman but read that the person was living in Tamil Nadu, India so set about trying to make contact. I wrote to NGOs, government departments and publication houses connected with her books. But try as I may, there was no progress.

Until one day, in seeming desperation, I turned to Facebook. And there she was… a brief message from me met with a brief response and, before I knew it, we had connected and I was on my way to Chennai.

That was May 2016.

Today, Mrs Gariyali leads our Indian in-country partner for the Birds Nest India project. She is an absolute wonder and I don’t use this language lightly!  She really is an amazing woman who has committed her life and talents to serving the people and women of India.

For most of her life she has served in the Indian civil service running government departments focusing on community health and development, as well as wider administration portfolios. It was during one of these periods of service that she hit upon the idea that sharing communication and gathering women were two sides of the same coin. If you brought women together to discuss issues of the community then they became the best source for disseminating the information and implementing any new approaches or systems.

In this way, she made remarkable headway in reducing the birth rate in Tamil Nadu, improving nutrition and health practices for children, increasing the enrolment and attendance of children into schooling, and creating training and business opportunities for local women.

This is the background to the Self Help Group approach making such a spectacular impact through Foxglove’s Grassroots Rwanda project. And it is wonderful to know that the Foxglove threads wind between projects bringing shared resources, knowledge and partnerships. I love it!”

— Kelley

It’s REPORT CARD time.

It’s almost the end of financial year and time to look at what has happened in the Birds Nest project over the last 12 months.

Foxglove Project has loved the opportunity to invest into the women and families of Chennai in southern India. Families of mothers or parents living on the pavement for more than 35 years. It is difficult to imagine.

And the plan is to advocate for identity papers, gain access for children to government healthcare and education, provide vocational and entrepreneur training, and offer support to gain slum accommodation and a permanent address. Then, the women can join a Self Help Group and start a micro business. Life changes for everyone.

It’s early days in the Foxglove plan but in the last year we have made small steps forward.  We have directly and indirectly supported 160 women and family members taking their first steps towards independence and self-determination whilst living on the pavement.

• 30 women completed hospitality training
• 3 high school scholarships holders ranked in top 5% in Tamil Nadu
• 8 youths completed plumbing & electrical qualification after dropping out of high school
• 14 students enrolled into local Government schools
• 7 students gained college entrance after completing high school.

Read the BIRDS NEST IMPACT REPORT 2017 to learn more about what has happened in this project.

Hope is rising. Let’s see where it can lead.

We were hot and tired from a day of travel, but as we arrived, you could see women gathering. They were walking quickly along the dusty path with the sound of the city far behind us.

For some reason, one of the starkest memories of that visit was the children playing in the field with tall electricity towers looming. There was an eery feeling as we drove through this manufactured community. One of displacement.

The women were coming together for their weekly sewing lesson. We walked through dark hallways until we found them sitting on the floor, bare foot and waiting.

Three women from Australia were sitting face to face with women in India, and we were equals.

She was learning a craft for her children; we were looking into their eyes wanting to discover story and camaraderie.

She was finding her voice in a season of transition; we were hoping to remind ourselves again after a season of in-between.

That trip to India has stayed present in my perspective, every time I think of womankind collectively.

I believe there is a sound of womanhood rising by empowering one another rather than competing. I love the work of Foxglove and the Birds Nest India project because its based on empowerment rather than handouts.

Watching the women walk to their program and find their voice collectively was a memory I cannot forget.

“And one day she discovered that she was fierce and strong, and full of fire and that not even she could hold herself back because her passion burned brighter than her fears.”  Mark Anthony

There is a collective sound of women rising, and it is in the hallways of encouragement rather than patronage. When one woman finds her voice in the developing world, she lifts her neighbour up as well. The direct result of empowering a woman in these Indian programs is an impact on families, villages and the future.

It was an absolute privilege to visit many programs throughout Chennai India. Each day when I think fondly of the women we encountered, I see a company of women smiling at their greater tomorrow.

The sound of women is rising, and beauty personified by the way we hold up each other’s arms.

Amanda Viviers

Amanda has published five books and is a presenter on radio across New Zealand and Australia. She is also the co-founder of Kinwomen; a network created to inspire women to start conversations that matter. Driven by a passion for social justice, loves supporting projects for women in developing countries. Teaching women to live creative lives, beyond the circumstances, is something she pursues daily. Wife of Charl and Mum of Maximus and Liberty, she lives a creative life, longing to see people live inspired.