Joint report by
Ms Johanna and Ms Eliane


In order to celebrate International Women's Day on the 8th of March, we organized a gathering and a walk through Jodhpur for the girls and their families. The aim of the event was to raise awareness of women’s issues in general and of the activities of Sambhali Trust in particular.

The day was a resounding success. We began at noon at the headquarters of the project in Durag Niwas Guest House, when all the girls and their family members had taken seat. All in all there were about sixty women. Two of the girls, Monica and Meera, impressed us with their moving speeches and their ability to speak in front of such a large crowd. In my speech, I tried to touch upon the positive outlook all our girls have on life and the great inspiration they have been to Johanna and me. A prominent guest speaker from Switzerland, Ms Hoffmann, rounded the series of speeches up by concluding that all women around the globe have the same right to respect and non violence, and by encouraging all of us to continue working towards this goal.

Following the speeches, we handed out pink and white balloons to all the participants, along with banners in Hindi and in English saying things like Whatever we wear and wherever we go, yes means yes and no means no. After some posing for the press we could start our walk, which led us over the Railway Raikabakh Bridge and then along High Court Road. Already when starting off, we caught much attention from passing buses, cars and motorcycles, who were all curious to know what was happening. Despite the midday heat and the exhausting walk, the girls, guests and the volunteers were clearly all proud to be taking part in the event.

As a way of concluding the march at the Nai sarak chouraha near the Clock Tower, we handed out felt tip pens and asked each participant to write her dreams on her balloons.

Then, balloons in hand, we stood in a circle with the Sambhali girls in the middle, and the girls sang a song that Payal had taught them the day before about the strength of women. At the end of the song, we all shouted “Jay ho!” and released our balloons into the sky. The act was designed to symbolize the realization of the women’s hopes and aspirations.

We then all crowded into a city bus that had spontaneously appeared on the square, and the girls sang and cheered all the way home. We ended the day by having a snack at Durag Niwas, at which point the girls and some women decided that they and we should dance. The day ended on that joyous, festive note.

After all the excitement, we all agreed that the day had gone even better than imagined. Our satisfaction was only heightened by seeing ourselves on TV that night and in three papers the next day! But most of all, the response from the participants was so positive that we realized that it was an important way of helping the girls build self-esteem and discover that, in fact, they are proud to be women.