Why Help the Women of India?
India has one of the world's most rapidly growing economies associated with drastic life style changes. It is now afflicted with first world diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, in addition to the old burden of chronic infections and malnutrition. Many suffer needlessly from a poor system of primary health care which would otherwise allow for quick detection & intervention of deadly diseases.
Poor families in India suffer devastating consequences when a family member becomes ill. For much of the population poverty is so severe that the loss of income from even one working member may mean that the very survival of the family is placed at risk. Ignorance and inaccessibility to primary health care cause people to forego check-ups. Instead they wait until the effects of an illness or injury become catastrophic.
The need is great. While hunger and poverty are pervasive in India, women suffer both in greater numbers and to a greater degree than men. At the same time, it is women who bear the primary responsibility for actions needed to end hunger: education, nutrition, health and family income. Women in India must also cope with limited educational opportunities, overwork in difficult conditions, alarming mistreatment and violence on the basis on gender, and powerlessness in a patriarchal society. Most heartbreaking to Cyndi were the high maternal, fetal and infant mortality rates.