Mitti Ke Rang — Changing the lives of widows across the world with Widow empowerment

We see normal people with normal lives doing extra-ordinary things that inspire us completely. It is here that we realize that bringing change can happen with a thought turning into action.

I had the pleasure of having a chat with an inspirational young man, who is on a mission that is changing the lives of many women across India and other parts of the World.

Meet Amit Jain originally from Bhusawal Maharashtra working for gender equality and the empowerment of single women and widows across the country. His organisation Mitti Ke Rang has its branches across Pune, Maharashtra, India and also across 9 other countries.

Impressive, is it not? Well, the plot thickens as there is more…

In a candid conversation, he went on to say these golden words that can change the world for volunteers. “ A lot of people want to give back to the society and the only thing that stops them is that they do not know where to give” .

Amit comes from humble beginnings and tough childhood, losing his father when he was just three years old, his mother managed to make sure he studied in a convent school, his grandfather set up a small shop for his mother; his cousins, uncle and aunt helped them a great deal with a roof over their head and also with food and clothing and he landed in Pune looking for a job in 2012 with just 1000 rupees in hand. Over the years he has grown in stature in the corporate sector and has successfully managed to get a good income and get his mother to join him in Pune.

This is where Amit says, “ I wanted to give back to the society. We had struggled our way through life. My mother was not given the respect she deserved as a human being and as a woman because she was a widow. There was no one to guide her or give us employment opportunities. So I began Mitti Ke Rang to empower the widows and give them a chance at finding employment and acceptance”.

It is estimated that over 45 millions widows are there in India alone, and even after years of independence and development, widows still live under very tough conditions. Mitti Ke Rang now exists as an advocacy in 9 countries — Kenya, Zambia, Gambia, Pakistan, France, Fiji, Nepal, Spain.

Mitti Ke Rang began as a small venture with cloth donation drives, book donation drives done over the weekend and slowly they grew to include volunteers, Volunteers then began to become nodes of changes by becoming collection centres. From one small village to Pune, Pune to Maharashtra, Maharashtra to India and then to 8 other countries.

Mitti Ke Rang is completely self funded — with Amit investing half of this earnings each month to run the organisation.

Mitti Ke Rang operates in three programs -

Project Woman — To make sure that the standard of living of these single women and widows get a raise, through vocational trainings, tailoring and other classes conducted.

Project Reading — to help the kids of the widows to learn to read and write and speak confidently in their local language and also in English. Classes are conducted to help these kids fare better in life.

Community Centers in the slum area to help in the overall development of these souls that have been pushed away by society for no fault of theirs.

Lack of literacy and access to knowledge is stopping so many young women from doing extraordinary things. Like I have said before change comes in small steps — Mitti Ke Rang now has three people working for it full time, a batch of interns that keep the voices from the teaching rooms rings with laughter and excitement.

Amit was a part of the Commonwealth Youth Council held in 2017 and met youth leaders form over 52 countries and found synergy with many people out there and together they bring this mission of making widows empowered a reality across national boundaries.

Amit’s story is a story of hope, grit and survival and his story drives him to make sure that no one suffers the fate his mother had to endure. His passion for taking this forward is unparalleled. Amit’s story is an inspiration for many.

I hope this story has kindled in you a fire to be the change, however small it is. Remember change comes is small packages and spreading happiness is a simple choice. If you are in Pune and want to contribute to this cause by teaching or conducting sessions for Mitti Ke Rang then get in touch with them via https://www.facebook.com/mittikerangofficial

India needs change makers like this, who are out to make the world a better place…

If you do know of similar change makers please do get in touch with me at pungidasa@gmail.com