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Ishwari Training poor rural women ways to earn a living is one of hundreds of ways in which Medical Mission Sisters around the world try to be a healing presence to others today. For the past 18 years, Sister Rosalia Medeira has been involved with a program for the development and welfare of rural women in Phulgaon, Maharashtra, India. She says, “Our project, Ishwari, (Institute for the Service of Handicraft and Women’s Awareness of Rural Initiative), is based on the assumption that a woman is a ‘powerhouse’ and can very well depend on her inner potential to take care of herself economically, socially, and psychologically.” Ishwari includes a nine-month training program for students from mainly financially constrained families. The women learn theory and practice in embroidery and tailoring, arts and crafts, baking and making preserves, health and health education. They also learn the basics of computers and other growth-promoting activities, such as self awareness, social awareness, spoken English, singing and dancing. Sister Rosalia reflects,“All together we make a grand community of individuals with different educational, social and religious backgrounds, helping each other to learn and grow as individuals and as a community.” Income-generating activities go hand-in-hand with the training programs. The arts and crafts unit produces various types of greeting cards, embroidery, tailored items and handicrafts. The students also make baked goods, jams, pickles, snacks and sauces, along with vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals for small groups. Items the women have made are sold at a roadside tea stall.
Mini-training programs are given in faraway villages by women from Ishwari, and health education programs for the students and village health workers are conducted by Medical Mission Sisters and visiting experts. Herbal remedies are also produced to generate income. Sister Rosalia explains, “Our main goal here is to teach our women how to use the free, rich, raw material growing in our garden, in the fields and on the banks of the river, in order to prevent and cure many diseases prevalent in our area…it is also part of our goal to enable our women to be in touch with the wisdom and love present in nature.”
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