Each One Teach One

We've all probably heard these before....each one, teach one / when you educate a man, you educate a person; when you educate a woman, you educate a family. Well, after seeing so many rural women in India get trained on basic writing and math skills and in turn getting more empowered and self-confident and taking charge of their household finances and other key decisions in the past few months, I've been meaning to attempt the same within my own little community. Yesterday, out of the blue, my cleaning lady asked me simply, is today the 30th? I replied in the affirmative and then asked her if she knew whether this month had 31 days or not. She didn't have a clue! So I decided that this was the moment for me. My moment to teach one and I thought I should get her started with reading numbers and interpreting a calendar.

As an aside, I refrain from calling her my "maid" because she is so much more..she's one of the first persons I meet most mornings: a hardworking young Bengali lady, unfailingly punctual, honest and trustworthy, with a smile on her face and genuine affection for our cats (yes, that is very important :-)), ready to start her job, sadly, for not a whole lot of money. In spite of paying her  'significantly above-market' fees, praising her for her work and offering her paid leave (much to the chagrin of some of my neighbours, who chided me for 'spoiling' her), I still think we vastly underpay our hired help. Too much supply? Perhaps. That's only because of the lack of opportunities in the regions of their origins. I suspect I learn a little bit from her everyday - about tolerance, humility and living within one's means. About being calm in the face of adversity and sharing joys and sorrows. Maybe she's actually the teacher and I the student.
Back to my role as the teacher. Why the humble calendar? Its a ready reckoner for so many possibilities. I would like her to keep track of her own monthly activities, income and expenses, important dates and events. I want her to create milestones for herself and her family, which she can then record. I wish I could get her to remember her birthday, but that, unfortunately, is not a day worth taking note of for her or countless others like her. She tells me she's probably around 35 and already a grandmother of an 18-month old boy. That's right, its the same old story: she was married off at 14, became a mother at 16 and has repeated the cycle with her own daughter. I want her to eventually manage her own time and not be a slave to the demands of everybody else on her time.

Today is May 1st and its celebrated as Labour Day in India. So I will dedicate this post to all our hired help who make life so very easy for us and to hired help everywhere. May they get all the dignity they deserve.