WORDS AND IMAGES BY CATHERINE BAIN
EDITED BY NINA KONJINI
In the heart of rural Rajasthan, in a desert village called Setrawa, girls and women grapple with daily challenges of survival and profound loss. With increasing rates of femicide in India—a woman or girl killed every 11 minutes by a partner or family member (source) and as one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change, women like Guddi, 23, stand as beacons of hope and empowerment for others like her.
Portrait of Guddi. Image by Catherine Bain.
My first meeting with Guddi, while attending Photographers Without Borders’s Storytelling School India, took place in the middle of one of the village streets where she ran from her house and greeted our group. Guddi enthusiastically shared her journey with me, recounting her impressive 12 years of education at the Sambhali Empowerment Centre with a sense of pride.
Founded in 2007 by Govind Singh Rathore, Sambhali Trust is an Indian-run non-profit organization based in Jodhpur. The organization aims to empower local women, children and marginalized people through educational programs. They offer vocational training, a domestic violence emergency helpline, legal support and counselling along with other services including school workshops on prevention of sexual abuse.
Govind Singh Rathore and the women of Sambhali Trust. Image by Catherine Bain.
Sambhali Trust currently runs 10 empowerment centres, all with similar models. In the mornings, the empowerment centre is for women from the community who sign a contract to attend for one year and during this time they will learn sewing, gain a primary education—focused on learning English, reading, writing and math skills—attend workshops on legal rights, health and the environment, find support for a variety of challenges they may be facing at home, including domestic violence and also practice some physical exercise that includes dancing and self-defense practices.
“I saw that the mothers had given up on their lives, they thought that they were just supposed to look after the home and bear children but after attending the empowerment centres, their life started improving.”
Image by Catherine Bain.
Upon graduating, women have financial independence from their husband and his family by receiving the gift of a sewing machine and the raw materials to make their own living. They can also access micro-financing opportunities to start a variety of small business enterprises—a more accessible route to loans than banks offer. Successful graduates of the program even return to Sambhali to offer micro-financing loans to other women.
During the afternoons, the Empowerment Centre undergoes a small transformation into a school, catering primarily to girls like Guddi who would otherwise lack access to education. It also welcomes boys already enrolled in local schools seeking to expand their studies or receive homework assistance. The children undergo instruction in both Hindi and English, progressing through beginner, intermediate and advanced classes.
The decision to include boys in the learning environment alongside girls underscores the Sambhali Trust's commitment to fostering enduring societal changes at the grassroots level within the community. The deliberate integration of boys and girls in shared educational spaces is a strategic move aimed at gradually reshaping attitudes. As boys learn alongside girls as equals, a subtle yet significant shift in perspectives begins to take root, contributing to the long-term societal transformations envisioned by the Sambhali Trust.
Govind’s deep understanding of the struggles facing girls like Guddi helped him create workable solutions for the community. “I saw that the mothers had given up on their lives, they thought that they were just supposed to look after the home and bear children but after attending the empowerment centres, their life started improving,” says Govind. “The idea was to bring the girls education, but in the village it was difficult as a lot of the girls lived far from the school and transportation was an issue with safety and security being the biggest problem for them.” To address this issue the Sambhali trust proposed a boarding home in Jodhpur for the girls under the centre’s full responsibility. The first boarding home started in 2012 with 15 girls and now, Sambhali has three boarding homes and houses 77 girls.
Image by Catherine Bain.
Guddi emphasizes that education—while crucial for female empowerment, is only one facet of the complex equation.
The integration of educational independence into the lives of rural Indian women necessitates an immediate focus on providing essential elements such as accessible, high-quality healthcare and a secure living environment.
The home-making not home-breaking model Sambhali has devised to tackle domestic violence is based on understanding the value in mediating with the family as much as possible. Unlike the western model of domestic violence shelters where women disappear and leave their home to escape their abuser, the Sambhali model prioritizes open family discussion and maintaining the entire family at home when safe to do so. Govind has a gentle demeanor and is a captivating and motivational speaker— juxtaposed with a wealth of experience and unwavering determination, eloquently illustrating the potential of a collaborative approach in fostering grassroots change.
Under Govind's leadership, Sambhali Trust seamlessly collaborates with local communities, establishing a reciprocal relationship. He emphasizes the importance of active listening to community concerns as the initial step in addressing and resolving issues. “First we listen to the community and ask about their problems,” he says, “then we propose to them some solutions and see if they will accept it. We cannot force it on them. It will not work.”
In this way the empowerment centres came about followed by the myriad of other initiatives, like the most recent Garima, or dignity project for gender minorities (LGBTQAI+), promoting connections into mainstream life and providing both peer and professional support.
Image by Catherine Bain.
Guddi started her educational journey at the Sambhali empowerment centre aged 6. By 18, when she left to get married she was educated, skilled in reading, writing, math and English. By providing a safe space to girls like Guddi where they are able to live around other girls their age and attend school—protected from child marriage and the onerous, patriarchal demands—the Sambhali Trust allows women in Jodhpur to explore their educational dreams, attain financial independence and reach for the stars.
To learn more about Sambhali trust, including volunteering opportunities and ways to donate, visit their website.
Sambhali Trust is part of our Protectors of the Sacred initiative to make tangible impact with the stories we make for the communities we create with, as well as our partner for Storytelling School India.
Learn more about our Protectors of the Sacred initiative and Storytelling School India below:
