Womens Education

 

It is a wellknown fact that women in India are the victims of various multi dimensional problems and also the most vulnerable group because of the social structure and at present scenario there is an urgent need for concrete efforts. Indian women has been one of the major impediments in the way of womens empowerments. Illiteracy and semi- Illiteracy keep women in perpetual state of assettleness. Even for effective implementation of innumerable development programmes sponsored by the government and non-government sector the educated women in the work force are a must.

 

India has a high number of highly disciplined educated and professionally competent pool of women and has a law of universal primary education, if focus is given to higher education especially of women will surely give India a bright future. An educational institution has to face global competitions and inter national collaborations.

 

Education should look into physical, mental, intellectual, emotional spiritual values for growth and development. Though the primary stakeholders are teachers and students, there is an influence on them from the secondary stakeholders they are parents, society, management, government, employers etc

 

Three important aspects in the quality enhancement of education for women is

1. Confirm to requirements

2. Requirements keep on increasing

3. Quality enhancement is continuous

 

The education should focus to raise consciousness, motivate, articulate and make women self-reliant to participate. For effective educational work, the teacher and learner should be involved in policy planning and effective execution of development. Gender blindness of most of the decision-making institutions and professional bodies demand intervention, without adequate teaching material has caused lot of inconveniences to teachers and students.

 

Teachers accompanying learners in their growth and development:

The art and science of teaching should include a worldview and vision of the ideal human person to be educated. The teacher's primary role to facilitate the growing relationship of the learner to truth, particularly in the matter of the subject being studied. The teacher creates the conditions, lays the foundations and provides the opportunities for the continual interplay of the students' experience, reflection and action to occur.

 

A challenge to a teacher is to formulate questions that will broaden students' awareness and impel them to consider view –points of others. To make teaching learner centered the learning process must include a pre-learning element, that of context, and a post learning element, that of evaluation. Personal knowledge and care of the student by the teacher is equally important as it is the hallmark of good education. A conducive environment and commitment to values, from the learner's point of view- readiness to learn and readiness to grow should be taken into consideration.

 

Learning experience should be the development of the more complex learning skills of understanding, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

 

Reflection is the process where by the learner makes he learning experiences her own, gets the meaning of the learning experience for self and for others. A thoughtful reconsideration of some subject matter, experience, idea, purpose reaction, in order to grasp its significance more fully is essential.

 

If learning were to stop at experience, it would not be integral for it would lack the component of reflection where in the learner are impelled to consider the human meaning and significance of what they study and to integrate that meaning as responsible learners who grow as persons of competence, conscience and compassion.

 

The term action refers to internal human growth based upon experience that has been reflected upon as well as its manifestation externally. Involving interiorized choices and choices externally manifested. The student's attitude, priorities, commitments, habits, values, ideals, internal human growth flowing out into action for others is most essential.

 

Periodic evaluation of a student's growth in attitudes, priorities and actions consistent with being a person for others is essential.

 

Thus to conclude the basic elements of cooperative learning are:

·        Positive interdependence

·        Face to face interaction

·        Individual accountability

·        Interpersonal and small group skills

·        Group processing

 

Being committed to your education equates to having prosperity in your career, so when you work a plan as good as this it's definitely plain to see yourself being fruitful in everyday life. On the other hand, when you consider the tuition expenses ascending upwardly annually there are a large number of families noticing financial variance to add career education cost to their existing expenses for their children.

Looking for scholarships are looking more like a trend in these times. You see, the number of high school grads selecting to take there educational foundation more serious is increasing. This implies that tons of first year college students will be applying for financial aid scholarships. To clarify what this signifies, with growing competition, academic awards have been reworked with more rigorous requirements. However, let's not think to give up on trying to pursue a higher education because the requirements are changing. The amount of what's available in free financial aid awards is still available for you. Let me say again, if you think that looking for collegiate academic scholarships is like locating a thousand bucks under your rug, throw that idea in the trash can. The realities of on hand award scholarships are conventional, and they are not for the scholarly students or the undeserving entirely.

One specific scholarship that illustrates this is the academic scholarships for women. This scholarship constitutes a desynonymize division of available financial aid awards. With thousands of free scholarships available, academic scholarships for women offers many opportunities within this award that's not available through other awards. One good example of such an award would be the EFWA (Educational Foundation Women Accounting). These scholarships are aimed to help women who are pursuing a career in accounting. Irrespective of the comparison in relations to the men and women, there are still many major fields that men have a strong hold in. Next to giving decisions in order to get a career training, an opportunity that women deserve just as much as men do, academic scholarships for women are meant to open some doors that were not long ago closed for women. Male domination in certain fields of expertise is a continually diminishing phenomenon, and academic scholarships for women are the first step in that direction.

As has been said before, finding a free scholarship can be a daunting task, and academic scholarships for women are no exception. Remaining notified about the places to go offers you educational benefits. Pursuing academic scholarships for women, if that is what you are interested in, can be a lot easier than you imagined.

Begin to put your education basically in the forefront and as it was said earlier, you will bear good fruit financially. In addition, with many academic scholarships for women available, why make any financial sacrifices to complete your college education? An academic scholarships for women offers first year college students an excellent possibility to reshape their life for the better. This is the reason why you should not miss out on any opportunity to find free academic scholarships for women, and online registration on specialized web sites is definitely worth considering.

Keep in mind, any goal is achievable especially if it's a college education. Why? Because financial aid is not the only resource available for reaching that goal but pursuing academic scholarships for women is there to help place you in a specific job area that will pay you more when you finishing post secondary college.

Ladies, do you want to work in the aerospace field? Are you currently pursuing or planning to major in engineering?  Well you are in luck.  There are many women that want to go pursue a career in this field but run into a brick wall financially going forward.

Acquiring college scholarships are becoming more and more competitive as well. To take a more accurate look, financial aid has seen an accelerative number of graduates from high schools that elect to continue education by going to college.  Of coarse when this is happen, even a bigger number of undergraduates begin to petition for allocated financial aid and scholarships.  To put it in another way, as more students decide to pursue their education, performance awards acceptance qualifications take on a whole new approach.  Anyhow, because the number of students who decide to continue their education increase is not a good reason to forget about what goals or dreams you may have.  The amount of what's accessible in free scholarships is ascending with immense likelihood to stay strong.  There are many free scholarship awards right at your finger tip, and the acquirability of them are not just given to the scholarly students inclusively or for the underprivileged also.

Did you know, aerospace engineering scholarships for women represent a distinct category of on hand non-repayable scholarships?  Since we know that there are many scholarships for many career paths, an aerospace engineering scholarship for women presents a unique education for women who may not be able to attend without it. One scholarship that comes to mind is the Delta Air Lines Engineering Scholarship.  This award is designed for women who are pursuing an aerospace, aeronautical, electrical, or mechanical engineering career.  Applicants must be a member of Women in Aviation, International and have a minimum 3.0 grade point average in order to be qualified.  So many women need to take advantage of these types of awards. Why?  Because did you also know that between males and females, the numbers of jobs are controlled in fields which men continue to dominate.  So aside from providing the opportunity to continue their education, a chance that women need more than men, aerospace engineering scholarships for women are intended to clear a path that in the past wasn't available.

As stated earlier, locating free scholarships may be a hard task, and aerospace engineering scholarships for women wouldn't be missed entirely. Staying informed and looking in the right places can make a huge difference. Locating aerospace engineering scholarships for women, if this is the financial aid award you got to have, is not that hard to uncover. The internet is the right place to start. Diverse internet sites, similar to Freetoapply produce first-class enquiries for aerospace engineering scholarships for women.

Your education is very important and as far as college education, you shouldn't make or think that it's a cake walk.  Furthermore, with all the available opportunities for aerospace engineering scholarships for women, why would you decide to settle on finding another way to pay for your education?  An aerospace engineering scholarship grants women a tolerable prospect to advance their life and accumulate wealth.

Take into consideration, a good college education is an achievable goal even for those who apparently do not qualify for financial aid for their college education, and obtaining an aerospace engineering scholarship will help put you in the proper line of work that may be very rewarding thanks to you graduating from college.

Investing in your education equals investing in your future, and this is one of the wisest decisions that a person can make. Unfortunately, with the cost of college education rising every year, more and more families find themselves in the unpleasant situation of not being able to pay for their children's higher education.

College scholarships are becoming more and more competitive as well. For starters, there are an increasing number of high school graduates who opt to continue their education, which subsequently means more competition for the available funds. In other words, with growing competition, the qualifying standards for college scholarships have undergone an ascending trend. However, this is not a good reason to give up on trying to pursue higher education and achieve your goals. The variety of free scholarships available is beyond what you could possibly imagine. If you think that finding a free scholarship is like finding a needle in a haystack, you couldn't be farther from the truth. Free scholarships do exist, and they are not for the A students or the underprivileged alone.

For instance, scholarships for women represent a distinct category of free scholarships. Like all other types of free scholarships, scholarships for women provide free education opportunities for this specific sector of society. In spite of the highly acclaimed equality between men and women, there are still many fields of activity in which men are favored. Aside from providing the opportunity to continue their education, an opportunity that women deserve just as much as men do, scholarships for women are meant to open some doors that were not long ago closed for women. Male domination in certain fields of expertise is a continually diminishing phenomenon, and scholarships for women are the first step in that direction.

As has been said before, finding a free scholarship can be a daunting task, and scholarships for women are no exception. Staying informed and looking in the right places can make a huge difference. Finding a scholarship for women, if that is what you are interested in, can be a lot easier than you imagined. The Internet is the right place to start. Did you know there are web sites where you can fill out a registration page for a free scholarship for women?

Your education is very important and, as far as college education goes, you shouldn't make any compromises. Furthermore, with all the available opportunities for scholarships for women, why make any financial sacrifices to complete your college education? A scholarship for women (and any type of free scholarship for that matter) is an excellent opportunity to change your life for the better. This is the reason why you should not miss out on any opportunity to find a free scholarship for women, and online registration on specialized web sites is definitely worth considering. Registration for a free scholarship for women only takes a few minutes of your time, while its benefits will last a lifetime.

Remember, a good college education is an achievable goal even for those who apparently do not qualify for financial aid for their college education, and scholarships for women are an excellent opportunity in that direction.

For more resources about Scholarships for women or even about scholarship for women please review this page http://www.scholarshipsforwomen.org

The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says, "It's a girl."  -Shirley Chisholm.

In the congested by-lanes of the Old-City around Charminar in Hyderabad, lies Shaheen a Women's resource and welfare organisation. This is one the few NGO's in the country that works for Women's welfare and empowerment. The organisation works on the principle that change happens when cultural norms are challenged. Indeed change is what we require with regards to the status of Women in India.

According to a recent report by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) up to 50 million girls and women are missing from India's population as a result of systematic gender discrimination in India. In most countries in the world, there are approximately 105 female births for every 100 males.

In India, there are less than 93 women for every 100 men in the population. The accepted reason for such a disparity is the practice of female infanticide in India, prompted by the existence of a dowry system which requires the family to pay out a great deal of money when a female child is married. For a poor family, the birth of a girl child can signal the beginning of financial ruin and extreme hardship.

Such is the condition of Women in India that we face today a strategic elimination of a gender from our country. This in the information age and when some news magazines have termed the "New Indian Woman" aware, confident and successful, this new age woman is capable of doing wonders and a great asset to the nation. There is more awareness than ever before but the system of patriarchy still prevalent is hampering growth for the woman. Domestic Violence also is a concern as many husbands still believe that it is their right to harm women physically. Till the age old power equation of male dominance changes, the future of Women is not secure.

The social evils of Dowry, Infanticide and Domestic Violence pose considerable problems for women across India. An often stated fact is that these activities are confined to rural and backward sections of the society, which is grossly untrue as Dowry and Female Infanticide are still practiced in educated, respected and upper class family. Much of the discrimination is to do with cultural beliefs and social norms. These norms themselves must be challenged if this practice is to stop.

Diagnostic teams with ultrasound scanners which detect the sex of a child advertise with catch lines such as spend 600 rupees now and save 50,000 rupees later.

At Shaheen that is precisely what a group of young, enterprising and bold women led by the Secretary Jameela Nishat believe they can do, that is, bring changes into the very system. The organization works on improving the condition of women from the grassroots level and has a bottom-upward approach towards their empowerment. There are many problems apart to which legal recourse is possible. Many women in the old city face constant discrimination and lack of education. Education for the girl child is not a priority and many are confined to their homes, exposure to the outside world is extremely limited. The goal of Shaheen is to empower the next generation to make them aware of their rights and break the stereotypes so that women are treated equally in every walk of life.

Organizing summer camps to sensitize school going children is undertaken regularly and there are regular vocational training classes for women. These classes train them in activities such as computer awareness, stitching, application of Mehendi (Henna) for free. This is a move to empower women who have not had the luxury or basic opportunity to access or benefit from education. Despite the fact that it is an organization for women's development the main aim is to sensitize boys and men towards women. Empowerment is the key to freedom, and education is empowerment, basic education and free tuition is a regular feature.

Women need to know that they have the right to ask questions. Field workers venture out regularly to educate families in the old city about the dangers of HIV/AIDS and report cases of domestic violence. Awareness includes counseling of the women attending at the centre on issues of dating and choosing a mate to marry.

Many girls are married off without even being consulted. Empowerment has paved the way for independence as Arshiya Begum, a visitor at the centre says, "I have a boyfriend but do not want to get married now as I am too young. My mother knows about him, I will get married later but to a person of my choice." An active domestic violence cell operates with a lawyer on the staff. Regular counseling among the husband and wife helps in getting to the root of the problem and helps in easing tensions. Organizing of public meetings to educate the masses and make them aware of the movement is a regular feature.

As with any new social movement towards change and challenging societal norms there are several hurdles to conquer. Initially families did not want interference in their "personal matters" and uncomfortable questions about sexuality and AIDS brought with them attacks and large scale protests. Marital Rape is not recognized as crime and refusal to have sex leads to many incidents of domestic violence. Awareness leads to the reporting of these crimes and decrease their occurrence.

Every time we liberate a woman, we liberate a man.  -Margaret Mead. Women need to be a part of the socio-economic development of the country to progress. Women have long been suppressed and the second gender now it is time for a change in the system.

Interview: Jameela Nishat, Secretary, Shaheen.

Q) Why a special organization for women's welfare? What about general welfare organizations?

A. There was no organization in the old city area for women and the other welfare organizations are strongly patriarchal. During the nascent stages of the organisation there was a conference for men titled, "Woh mard ki kya joh apni biwi ko nahi marta?"(He who does not beat his wife physically is not a man). Someone had to raise a voice against this, a voice for women.

Q) How difficult is it running a woman's welfare organization?

A. There are many obstacles. People did not let our workers enter the house. We were attacked many times for raising questions about the dominance of men. Girls are alone in this struggle, our effort is to unite and empower them. I am a Muslim woman born in Sultan Shahi and know how the old city works, so I take care of it. If I were a Hindu it would have been difficult to survive. A local person has to be the leader, otherwise the effect is diluted, and every group has a mainstay. We have several Dalit Haryanvi women here and we are trying to find a leader among them to get the message across effectively.

Q) Where does the law come into the equation of Domestic Violence and denial of rights?

A. There is little or no help from the police and the courts are slow. Most matters are settled with counseling, the police in fact ask the women (the most victims) to make all the necessary and required adjustments. Even in a Women's police station the situation is the same, the society needs to be sensitized towards women. That is the reason for our interaction with boys and young men in our localities.

Q) Does the presence of women in politics and bureaucracy help?

A. There definitely have to be women in politics and bureaucracy to empower women especially at the grassroots level. The emergence of Mayawati has been a great push. We began when the woman was a 'nobody', due to awareness has become a 'somebody' but the goal is to become part of 'everybody'.

Q) How does communal violence affect women?

A. Oh! Women are treated as dispensable commodities and sent away from home and only men remain there. This has an adverse affect on their education and displaces them putting them in conditions much worse than home. 

Q) Empowering women, does it mean that you are giving a voice to the voiceless?

A. Most definitely yes, women are as much part of the society as men. They deserve to have their voice heard and strive to lead a life on equal terms with men. Lots of families have a fictitious notion of "Izzat" (honor) which do not allow women to step out of the house. We intend to change that and the media specially the regional language newspapers and television channels play a major role in spreading awareness.

The Shaheen Centre is located at:
23-3-540, Baqshi Bazar, Sultan Shahi,
Hyderabad-500065.
Andhra Pradesh, India.
Phone:- 23486994.
E-mail:- jameelanishat@eth.net

IIWA (Iqra International Women's Alliance) was launched with a view to give exposure to educated Muslim women to express their views and be a part of active Muslim society. As we all know half of the Muslim population is women who have tremendous potential to work for Ummah in social religious and educational fields. These potentials need direction and support by responsible people to break the shackles of economic strife.

There are many misconceptions and stereotypes in the society to demean Islam with particular reference to women. IIWA provides a platform for Muslim women to come forward, express their views and work positively for the Ummah strictly within the framework of Islamic shariah.

IIWA is a platform where Muslim women could join hands with sisters of other faith in carrying out social services so that we send a positive message to others, which alone would help us in D'awah work. IIWA also plans to organized seminars to educate Muslim women about duties imposed on them by Islam as also their rights in Shariah. .

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Remove Domestic Violence

As per National Family and Health Survey in India, both Muslims and Hindu women are subjected to domestic violence. Though this violence is 20% less in Muslims as compared to Hindu families yet it is matter of great concern for any Muslim particularly when Rasulullah (S) asked in his last sermon:

"O people! Fear Allah concerning women. Verily you have taken them on the security of Allah and have made their persons lawful unto you by words of Allah. Verily you have certain rights over your women and your women have certain rights over you".

IIWA has plans to create a cell to sort out issues concerning women who are subjected to domestic violence. IIWA will first try to ensure that such acts do not recur but in extreme cases IIWA would help aggrieved women morally, legally and financially.

IIWA also plans to organized seminars to educate Muslim women about duties imposed on them by Islam as also their rights in Shariah.

IIWA will also cooperate and coordinate with other groups/ organizations who are doing this work. However, IIWA would mainly concentrate on problems of Muslim women under the laws of Shariah

IIWA would also involve Muslim advocates to ensure justice for Muslim women particularly when there is already an act in Indian law "Protection of Women from Domestic Violence" passed on 26th October 2006. .

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Removing Stereotype & Misconceptions

There are number of misconceptions about Islam and Muslims particularly about Muslim women in the society. IIWA plans to deal with each one of them and present the correct picture logically and in a positive manner. Hijab, Divorce, alimony etc., are some such issues, which are grossly misrepresented by the media with a view to make Islamic law anti-women. IIWA will try to make others understand that a Muslim woman covers her head but not her wisdom. .

Remove Cultural Imbalance

Muslims in India and many other countries live in a pluralistic society. It's obvious that some cultural habits and rituals have been adopted by Muslims particularly women. Most of us are not even aware of such rituals, which at times are found un-Islamic. It is therefore necessary that Muslims should shun such wrong practices and scrupulously adhere to the teachings of Islam IIWA will help identify such cultural imbalances from Muslim society and would educate women to adopt the correct way.

In this regard IIWA is working towards reforming Muslim culture and wants to bring about changes for both men and women. IIWA will help Muslim women to adopt Islamic practices and attire and face the challenges of the modern time by balancing worldly affairs with spiritual life. .

Generate Communal Harmony

When prophet Mohamed (S) established first Muslim state in Madinah, he announced the rights of non-Muslims too. He announced that every non-Muslim who lives peacefully his life, wealth, places of worship would remain fully protected by the state. They also shared equal opportunities and reap benefits in Islamic state.

There were strict instructions to the conquering Muslim army not to hurt them or defame their religious heads or touch their places of worship. In case of complaints from non-Muslims against the Muslims, investigations were carried our promptly and justice delivered without any delay.

Qur'an says:

Let there be no compulsion in religion. Truth stands out clear from Error". (2:256))

"We know the best what they (non-believers) say; and you are not one to compel them by force. So admonish with the Qur'an such as fear My warnings" (50:45)

Ehsaas

Ehsaas… is an endeavour of the IIWA through which it intends to extend a helping hand to the destitute women & children in India who year for an adequate and affordable means of training and professional enhancement. The project is towards establishing an institute that would offer courses on professional enhancement in Fashion Designing, Textile Designing, Interior Designing, Cooking, Beauty Culture, Computer Skills, Journalism, Photography, Handicrafts, Candle Making and Soft Toys Making etc.

The project entails building a base in Northern India in Delhi's suburb where the first institution will be established. The plan has a comprehensive approach wherein the base will be an all encompassing set up with a training base including practical, theory & computer aided training methodology; A manufacturing unit where orders bagged by trained professionals will be manufactured; A warehouse where logistics will be maintained; An office where corporate relations and administrative procedures will be carried out and a showroom for visiting guests. It will be a multistory building in a 1000 sq. yards area with an exclusive floor attributed to each division.

The institute will offer training programs through trained professionals and will be subject to a nominal course fees. However, the deserving and needy candidates will be considered in given circumstances.

Through this institute IIWA intends to spread Islamic Education also among the women who are the inceptors of generations and who if educated can at least pay off an inheritance of education to the progeny. This however, will be achieved by the inclusion of Islamic Education as a compulsory subject for the Muslim Women & Children.

IIWA believes in a truly peaceful society in which people cooperate and coordinate with each other irrespective of their religion and belief. In order to enhance communal harmony what is required understands the teachings of all religion for which inter faith dialogues are necessary. Let us present to the world what Islam teachers and what prophet Mohamed (S) professed. At the same time let us hear what other religions stand for and what they teach the humankind.

IIWA is arranging inter faith dialogues between various communities for the sole purpose of creating mutual understanding and trust between them and to remove stereotypes and misunderstandings created deliberately against a particular religion and faith. .

College education plays an important role in many people's plans for the future. Unfortunately, on a global scale, there are very few countries where a free college education is available. In most countries of the world, free college education is only available by means of scholarships, and those are generally available for the underprivileged or for students with excellent academic skills. There are many high school graduates who wish to continue their education but fail to do so on account of misinformation. Free scholarships are available for a variety of other people. For instance, did you know that there are free college scholarships for women?

Why should women scholarships represent a distinct category of college scholarships? After all, men and women are supposed to be equal and treated equally. While this is true in theory, when it comes to practice, men are still favored for many fields of expertise. College scholarships for women are first and foremost a means of providing women with equal chances of benefiting from a good college education.

Aside from facilitating women's access to high quality education, women scholarships are also an excellent opportunity for those who cannot afford to pay for their college education. Everyone knows that a college education comes with a cost, which is overwhelming for most of us. Fortunately, there are many foundations out there that offer college scholarships for women, and with whose help you can turn your education plans into an achievable goal.

Qualifying for women scholarships is not at all difficult. As long as you can demonstrate your critical financial need and your clear career plans, you are eligible to apply for college scholarships for women.

Once you have acknowledged the fact that a college education represents an excellent opportunity for a good career, you should do everything in your power to benefit from such education. Fortunately, finding women scholarships can be a lot easier that you might expect. You can use one of the free search web sites to register and learn everything there is to know about college financing and admissions.

Furthering your education and having a college degree undoubtedly means improving your career chances and ultimately changing your life for the better. Your critical financial situation should not be an obstacle in your way to academic success. College scholarships for women are widely available from a variety of institutions and foundations, and the best way of finding a source for financial aid is to use a free search web site.

Such free search web sites are useful for the search of both colleges and free women scholarships. All it takes is a minute of your time to provide some information about yourself. After that, all you have to do is wait for institutions to contact you, and decide which is the most appropriate course of action that best meets your education plans and goals. Financial help is available in many forms, including college scholarships for women, so a lack of necessary funds for a college education is no excuse for missing out on a great opportunity to further you education, improve your career chances and change your life for the better. Your only responsibility is to look in the right places, and free search web sites are an excellent place to start.

For more resources about Women scholarships or even about college scholarships for women please review this page http://www.scholarshipsforwomen.org

Soroptimist International is an international volunteer organization for business and professional women who work to improve the lives of women and girls, in local communities and throughout the word. Almost 100,000 Soroptimists in roughly 120 countries and territories contribute time and financial support to community-based and international projects benefiting women and girls. Clubs in Soroptimist International of the Americas receive numerous awards, such as the Women's Opportunity Awards, for implementing projects benefiting girls and women seeking education. Soroptimist also offers funds for club projects through the Soroptimist Club Grant. Finally, individual clubs can choose to conduct community projects to help girls and women seeking education in the surrounding area.

Women's Opportunity Awards

The Women's Opportunity Awards program is Soroptimist's major project. This award improves the lives of women by giving them the resources they need to improve their education, skills, and employment prospects. Each year, Soroptimist clubs in 19 countries and territories assist women in overcoming personal difficulties and improving their lives through education and skills training. The women may use the cash award to offset any costs associated with their efforts to attain higher education, including books, childcare and transportation.

Past award recipients include Maria P., who worked as an unschooled field laborer until her husband deserted her and her two children. After her second husband deserted her, leaving her with no income, Maria applied for and received a Women's Opportunity Award from her local Soroptimist club. She went on to win an additional cash award from Soroptimist's Desert Coast Region before receiving the $10,000 finalist Women's Opportunity Award. Recently, Maria was accepted into a nursing program, and began her course of study. Once Maria graduates and earns her registered nurse designation, she plans to work as a nurse while continuing her studies. Her work as a lab technician has inspired her to further pursue her interests in medicine and science. Maria is one of hundreds of women who credit the Women's Opportunity Awards with providing the financial means to achieve their dreams through education.

Many Women's Opportunity Award recipients have overcome enormous obstacles in their quest for a better life, including poverty, domestic violence, substance abuse, and in some cases, trafficking. Each year, more than $1 million is disbursed through the awards at various levels of the organization to help women achieve their dreams of a better life for themselves and their families. Since the Women's Opportunity Awards program began in 1972, it is estimated that $20 million has been disbursed and more than 22,500 women have been assisted. In 2007, the Women's Opportunity Awards received the Summit Award from the ASAE & The Center of Association Leadership, its highest honor, bestowed on associations that implement innovative community-based programs.

Soroptimist Club Grants for Women and Girls

Soroptimist Club Grants for Women and Girls are given annually to Soroptimist Clubs initiating or continuing innovative projects benefiting women and girls. Grants range from $1,000 to $10,000. Since 1997, more than $1.4 million has been disbursed to 228 Soroptimist Club projects, from which more than 130,000 women have benefited. Recent projects include providing resources for immigrant women fleeing domestic violence; funding a micro-enterprise artisan project for low-income women; providing reproductive health services for women in poverty; and teaching marketable job skills to girls with disabilities. This grant program also benefits women and girls seeking education. For example, a club in Taipei, Taiwan, recently won a Soroptimist Club Grant to provide tutoring and training to low-income teenage girls.

The tutoring program emphasized math and English-language skills, and was offered to adolescent girls from aboriginal and low-income families. The classes provided skills training and development, and helped spark interest and excitement about education among the girls. Club members volunteered as tutors and mentors to the girls, and also collected school supplies, including books and stationery for program participants. The program benefited more than 200 young women. Another recent grant, awarded to a Philippines club, went towards a project providing free computer education to women and girls living in the local barangay. The funds were used to pay for instructors, books, instruction materials, meals and transportation to and from the class.

Soroptimist Disaster Relief Fund for Women and Girls

Soroptimist has a long-standing Disaster Relief Fund, which is supported by voluntary donations from members. Funds may be distributed to a number of projects directly benefiting women in areas of conflict who are seeking access to education. For example, in 2006, Soroptimist awarded the Center for Women's Development and Research in India a $40,000 grant for a project designed to provide health education and health services to nearly 2,500 women, and to provide supplementary education, life skills and vocation skills-training to 250 adolescent girls. Also in 2006, Soroptimist awarded $29,000 to a project named "Project Sri Lanka". The funds went towards moving a girls' school-one of Sri Lanka's leading national schools damaged by the tsunami-and helping fund the reconstruction of four classrooms. In addition, Soroptimist worked with the organization to form a scholarship program, and funded an additional $18,000 that would enable low-income girls to attend school.