A word from Nileema Mishra
| C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S |
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| Jonathan De la Cruz |
Nileema Mishra, 39, this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Emergent Leadership has a lot to say about dole outs. The Indian activist who has been involved in helping the poor and the marginalized in the village of Bahadarpur in her native Indian state of Maharashtra has long advised that they should not depend on government dole outs to get out of their miserable conditions. From her early teens she had been at the forefront of that movement urging the “poorest of the poor” to “trust themselves, come together and should not quit,” and, more importantly, work hard and persistently to move out of their situation and be self-sufficient.
Well, 11 years after establishing her NGO called Bhagini Nivedita Gramin Vigyan (Sister Nivedita Rural Science Center) in Bahadarpur she has proven the potency of that maxim: Work, not dole out, is the key to survival and success. The center is not only a teaching institution instilling the necessary skills and values to the marginalized, but it has become an organizing one getting people to work together and explore avenues for self-help and productive endeavors.... MORE
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110902com5.html
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