Anna Ferrer, president of the Vicente Ferrer Foundation, has spent 50 years working to improve the living conditions of Indian society and in recent years she has worked conscientiously to defend women's rights.
“ Start doing what is necessary, then what is possible to do and suddenly you will be doing the impossible (Saint Francis of Assisi)”, these were the words that inspired her husband to create this project and that Anna affirms are real. Believe in a better world because you've seen it with your own eyes, it's just about working together. And you, do you dare to do your bit?
In a society like India where women lack rights, what are the main problems they face?
Women are second-class citizens , the man is the king of the house, of the community, he is the one in power. Their role comes down to being at home and producing children, preferably children. I am going to explain an anecdote that reflects very well his situation before and now. Once when we started this project, I came to a village and asked a family how many children they had. They answered me only the number of male children. It turns out that as soon as a girl is born she already belongs to the family of her future husband, so her parents do not recognize her as their own daughter and as a consequence they do not invest in her because they think: “ We have few resources, why should we spend money in her health, in her education or in feeding her? "
Nowadays when I ask the same question they answer me: “Anna, we have two boys - a pause - and a girl”. You have to wait until there is a break, but they have improved a lot, they admit that they have a daughter.
What has the Vicente Ferrer Foundation done to change this situation?
We have worked a lot economically and socially for women to progress, we have talked a lot about equality between men and women and about the dignity of life, since during the first years I could not even speak to them directly about their development, she should do it with their husbands. We have also worked so that women create their own businesses and have their own income, because what they earn working in the fields as day laborers they have to give to their husbands. The properties are owned by the men: the land, the house, money in the bank, whatever, but they have their small business.
In addition to economic benefits, do these small businesses bring you something else?
Yes, their social situation in the village has improved. A common business is to have a cow and sell milk. Once I asked a woman about how she was doing, thinking that she would explain to me how much she earned, the price of milk …, and what she answered was that the high caste went to her business a. This shows a small progress , since some time ago she herself had gone to a glass of milk for her son to a high caste family and they did not want to sell it because they said that only with her eyes she could spoil it.
We think that a business would have economic results and yet they have social results, results that are important to them.
How are women responding to your ideas? And the men?
Fine, but the key has been to get men to trust us. As I said before, at first we couldn't speak to women directly, it took almost 10 years to work with the whole family until the men started to trust us and let us free to work and organize all the women.
The important thing was that we did not start by talking to them about freedom , but about simple things like hygiene, family health, the importance of education …, and so today we can talk, both with men and women, about equality and any topic because they trust us.
Do they receive training on equality issues?
Yes, we and the Government have spent years trying to inform women of their rights , of the laws they have in their favor in this regard. However, until just under six years ago we had not realized that it is also very important to talk to men about gender equality, which is why today we organize awareness workshops for young men , boys in high school and men 20-25-30 years. I have more faith in young people, both women and men, to see a change in the future.
The Foundation also works against gender violence. Do you have the necessary resources to face this task?
No, that's why we train our staff. Gender-based violence in India is brutal , because it affects even six and seven year old girls, and to deal with this problem social workers, psychologists … are needed, so we select men and women from the people who work with us who be willing to work on this and then we will organize trainings inviting foreign experts. Finally, we sent this group to different courses on counseling women victims of gender violence .
The training lasts a year or two, it is a very long and slow process but as Vicente said: "We are nomads, we are not going anywhere". And this is a system that works very well, because in the end you get the people here to become good professionals.
And finally, you who know first-hand what poverty is, what advice would you give to our capitalist society?
What must be shared, because it is incredible to see everything that can be done in India with a small contribution, how many people can get out of such extreme poverty. Vicente said that the basis of all religion is to help others, whether in our own home, a neighbor, in India or in Spain. I see how you can be happy with less material things, chatting with everyone, without everything we think we need. If everyone does something, it is impossible that there is not a better world.
There are many achievements that the Vicente Ferrer Foundation has achieved thanks to the contributions of people like you. From € 21 per month you can also be part of this project. With this small amount you will be sponsoring a child, contributing to their development and that of their community.
And if you still don't know what to give your child this Christmas, how about giving them values? #ELHIPERREGALO is a box where you will find information about the sponsored child and everything you need to get in touch with him / her. Don't forget that little gestures turn into great works.
