Ritu Sharma speaks worldwide about the problem of women living in poverty in developing countries. She co-founded Women Thrive Worldwide in 1998, as a means to find solutions for the issue, and is the current President. She began this organization after leaving Punjab, India with her family to immigrate to the US, leaving behind poverty.
During her public speeches, Ritu Sharma uses personal stories, compelling discoveries, and unique viewpoints to bring light to women facing devastating circumstances. Here are inspirational lessons we can learn from her, based on speeches she has given:
Women hold the world together
In Ritu Sharma’s acceptance speech for a 2013 NCCWSL Women of Distinction award, she explains that there are women working for less than one dollar a day and are working throughout the day to feed their many children. She explains in the video clip below “they are holding it together; they are raising their 13 kids.” In other words, don’t forget that it’s these women in poverty who are working all day to feed and care for their families that help keep our world together with their determination and drive.
Women want the focus to be on men too
At The World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogue, Ritu Sharma spoke about women’s perspectives as the sole woman on the panel. She explained that when she meets women in villages and farms around the world that they tell her they do not just want the focus of interventions to be solely on their own struggles. Instead, they often point out (Sharma explains) that their husbands are also struggling to grow crops, are frustrated, or are unemployed. She explains that focusing solely on women actually does harm to these females rather than helping them.
To quote her in the video clip below, “in our zeal to help women and climb on this women’s empowerment train, we can forget that we need to take a very holistic approach and that needs to in fact include everybody.”
Societies that thrive are ones that value women
Ritu Sharma has spoken a lot about the value of women in society. In the short video below, she discusses how a society that values women within it is more likely to be a society that thrives. To quote her from the video, “societies that really value women and their participation are the least violent, the most democratic, the most economically prosperous, and the least likely to go to war.”
From this quote, it is apparent that 1) women are vital in any society, and 2) respecting women must be incorporated into solutions to resolve issues such as poverty and violence if they are to be effective.
What other lessons do you take away from these videos of women’s activist Ritu Sharma?
Top photo credit: Enlightening ideas with Ritu Sharma. Photo Source: Sam Wolff, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Flickr
Loved this one, Christy
Thanks sweet Val.
Wonderful post, Christy, and she is definitely inspirational. I believe many times here in America people in general complain about the most trivial things, getting wrapped up in materialism and yet, there are people who live with very little who remain happy. It makes you wonder and then again, happiness comes from within not our possessions…Sometimes when I’m listening to world news, it frustrates me to no end hearing how women are treated with no value at all. They are only useful in the obvious ways…I don’t know what the answer is but it’s women like Ritu Sharma who will help these archaic ideals disappear. :) xo
Thanks for sharing your views here, Lauren. I think there are more and more women stepping up and saying we’re more than those labels we’re given – and that’s why I’ve created this site :) PS Happy vacation!!
That’s an inspiring personality. Ritu Sharma. What can I say..ah no words. She inspired me. Whereas here in India we have a great culture for women. Ritu is now on my inspiration list.
Hi Christy,
I really liked your new blog dedicated to Women empowering. A brilliant Idea. I am looking forward to read more from here too. As a little surprise I am too up with a new website. See you over there.
Thank-you, Swetank. So nice to see at both sites now! Yes, Ritu is an inspiration. PS I think I found the new site you have :)
Beautiful post Christy, as always. Every member of the body is needed, each has a vital function and the body can’t function to its fullest potential unless every part is working. Women are vital in the makeup of society and this post highlights this as a fact. Thanks for sharing.
That’s so great the way you talk about the parts that make up the whole all needing to function well to achieve great performance. Thank-you for stopping by to really enjoy the post with me.
She is right as to women living with less than one dollar a day and despite It, they keep on facing daily struggles, usually with a smile on their face…
Women are vital in our societies and that’s why we need to have a general, holistic approach, remembering to look further our closer reality…
Thanks for this post, Christy.
It is always a pleasure to stop by at WWI.
Best wishes, Aquileana :)
I am so glad you picked up that message Aqui as it really struck me deeply too. Holistic – that sounds like a great path to take! I always love seeing you here and thank you :)