The support extended by St Francis Xavier Church in Borim with regard to women’s empowerment needs to be appreciated. It is learnt that the parish-backed self-help group has brought together twenty homemakers in order to turn their cooking into a collective business that has steadily grown over the past six months. What started as two small stalls outside the church premises has now rolled on wheels, quite literally, as the women were gifted two handcarts by the parish priest Fr. Victor Ferrao. A society cannot truly advance if women are not empowered and if their potential is not fully realised. When one talks of women’s empowerment, the aspects that come to mind are mandatory education, financial independence, active participation in social life, and economic and political spheres. But the idea of women’s empowerment should have a wider scope and also needs to include women with little or no education, housewives, and homemakers, who many a time are neglected. It needs to be noted that women often cannot afford to take up stalls and shops on rent. Hence, this initiative by St Francis Xavier Church in Borim assumes significance. Hopefully, this model will be followed by other parishes in the state as well.
