By Gouthami | Senior Lead, Resource Mobilisation
Together we are stronger!
July to September 2021
July brought with it some lifting of lockdown restrictions as the pandemic subsided in India. An active vaccination campaign by the State has ensured that Sakha drivers and the Azad team were able to get their first dose of vaccination. Our offices opened up tentatively, across locations. Only half the staff were allowed to attend each day, masks were mandatory, hands were washed at regular intervals and a physical distance was meticulously maintained.
We invited doctors to talk to us, online, about Covid-19 and the vaccinations. There were so many myths floating around that this proved to be a valuable input. Over four online sessions, our teams in Delhi, Jaipur, Kolkata and Indore interacted with doctors to know more about both physical and mental health issues arising from Covid-19. And importantly, how to keep themselves, their families and our customers safe through these difficult times.
In May 2021, Azad Foundation had launched the #noturningbackcampaign to ensure that the lives of our women drivers and their families remained undisrupted by the second wave. Through your generous support we were able to ensure just that. Thank you!
Back to work in person
It was with relief that our teams have gone back to work physically in the midst of communities. 29 feminist leaders in Kolkata and 18 in Delhi were able to continue with their training to improve their understanding on gender issues, patriarchy, dealing with violence, etc. This will help them to support other women in their communities to go for driving as a job option or any other such non-traditional job. Understanding the nature of violence within the family and the legal and social redressal steps, prepares the feminist leaders to support others in their families and communities to live a violence-free life.
Supporting them in this endeavor and in doing a fair share of unpaid care work are the 406 members of the Men for Gender Justice program across Delhi, Jaipur, Kolkata and Indore. These young men have also taken a lead in vaccination campaigns in their communities. An assessment after two years of work amongst 360 young men in Delhi and Jaipur shows that about half of them have an increased understanding on gender issues and on the importance of consent in a relationship. About a third of them are giving a helping hand at home in unpaid care work.
We are also working with 84 adolescent girls who are active leaders in their peer groups, families and communities. They take a lead in motivating their peers so that girls study further, delay their age at marriage, have a say in whom they marry and are ready to take up a job in a sector where women traditionally do not work.
As a result of the support from these community change agents and our mobilisation efforts, we have reached out to 4360 women and enrolled 149 women for the Women with Wheels program to drive a 4-wheeler or to ride a 2-wheeler.
Between Delhi & Kolkata, we were able to place 20 trained women drivers in the e-commerce segment.
One such woman is Jyoti who was felicitated by Flipkart (sometimes referred to as the Indian Amazon), her employer, for doing the maximum number of deliveries in one day. Jyoti got trained to ride a 2 -wheeler in the beginning of 2021 and joined Flipkart as a delivery executive in April. One day when her scooter broke down, she walked to make sure that she completed the deliveries assigned to her for the day. She needs the job to support her children and herself and will go to any lengths to ensure that she does her job to the best of her ability.
It’s wonderful to see women inspiring women and creating a strong network of women non-traditional livelihood options. Appreciations from customers serves as a reaffirmation of the hard work, courage and determination of our women.
“Today, my groceries came with a huge packet of happiness for me! She was quick on her feet and wearing sports shoes. She was so efficient and full of energy. I could not stop smiling to see the change. I will keep ordering from bigbasket.com just to meet more women delivery agents in the future. In a segment that has traditionally been dominated by all male workforce, this was my first encounter with a woman in the last mile delivery and I was thrilled. More power to women in such jobs.”– Shruti, a customer
We provided 8029 safe rides across our four locations and placed 71 drivers as private chauffeurs with individual clients and private organizations. In Jaipur & Indore, we inducted 2 Electric cars each in our fleet as a move towards a more sustainable and responsible travel option.
We are still not out of the woods, but we are hopeful that with the number of positive cases being down and more people getting vaccinated each day - the pandemic is on its way out. A big shout out to all our donors, supporters, customers and well-wishers without whom we would not have been able to come so far. THANK YOU!
Our Annual Report 2020-21 is out now if you want to know more.
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