Today, Thanveer was a bit late, so I reached the office at around 8:45 am (15 minutes late). However, it was no problem because I made it before most of the workers anyway. I sat and read my book for about an hour before I was told that we were ready to go. The employee I shadowed today works for Ujjivan's sister company, Parinaam. Parniaam was founded by the wife of of Ujjivan’s founder, and it helps clients gain social skills. One way they do this is through a program called Diksha (associated with initiation of learning), which consists of in-depth training sessions over five weeks so clients can better understand their options with savings and debt management.
In addition, I went to two separate but similar Diskha meetings, each of which was attended by about 30 women, all jovial and eager to learn. The staff members gave each woman a calculator and a diary to track their expenses. These classes reminded me of similar Financial Literacy Classes conducted back home in the United States. They then used "role play photos" (shown below) to help explain to the women the do's and don’ts of saving and spending. They use two women as their example, Sukhi and Dukhi. Sukhi is very careless with her finances and pays for her carelessness by losing her home, whereas Dukhi is very careful with her finances and able to buy herself an expensive gift from the store. They also make sure the women understand the difference between needs and wants, and whether an expenditure is necessary or unnecessary. Finally, they also help the customers open a bank account to ensure they begin the process of saving money as well as make sure they understand the proper ID they should bring when going to the bank.
On another note, the kindness of these women continued to impress me (even after I spilled my water on their floor!), as they treated me with respect and compassion. The pictures below are of the Diksha pledge in Kannada or Urdu (I'm not sure which), the Diksha logo, and of the role play mentioned above.
.JPG)
.PNG)
In addition, I went to two separate but similar Diskha meetings, each of which was attended by about 30 women, all jovial and eager to learn. The staff members gave each woman a calculator and a diary to track their expenses. These classes reminded me of similar Financial Literacy Classes conducted back home in the United States. They then used "role play photos" (shown below) to help explain to the women the do's and don’ts of saving and spending. They use two women as their example, Sukhi and Dukhi. Sukhi is very careless with her finances and pays for her carelessness by losing her home, whereas Dukhi is very careful with her finances and able to buy herself an expensive gift from the store. They also make sure the women understand the difference between needs and wants, and whether an expenditure is necessary or unnecessary. Finally, they also help the customers open a bank account to ensure they begin the process of saving money as well as make sure they understand the proper ID they should bring when going to the bank.
On another note, the kindness of these women continued to impress me (even after I spilled my water on their floor!), as they treated me with respect and compassion. The pictures below are of the Diksha pledge in Kannada or Urdu (I'm not sure which), the Diksha logo, and of the role play mentioned above.
.JPG)
.PNG)
No comments:
Post a Comment