"Bridging Worlds" Coastal Woman Magazine, Fall 2004

Coastal Woman Magazine, Fall 2004

Bridging Worlds

By Molly Chizzick
Photos by Mikki Andina

Nepal is not a land of many different castes. Only two - men and women.
-Nepalese women's cooperative motto

"Let me light my lamp says the tiny star, and never debate if it will dispel the darkness."

This sentiment from Indian author Rabindranath Tagore serves as inspiration and a reminder to Santa Barbara resident Mikki Andina of the potential lying within each of us to make a difference in the world. As president of Jagriti International, Andina, 53, works with grassroots women's organizations around the globe to promote educational programs and cultural exchange.

An anthropologist and graduate of Columbia University, Andina's background in women's health and development led her abroad to work and travel extensively. After lengthy visits to countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nepal, she says she felt deeply moved by the struggles women face worldwide.

"Women have faced discrimination for centuries and still today they are mistreated, suppressed and exploited all over the world," say says. "As a woman and as a human being, I feel obligated to do something to protect other women; women just like us."

In 1998, Andina invited thirteen women friends to travel with her to Nepal to see firsthand the conditions women endure. In Nepal, women are treated as

It's a hard life for Nepali women. This woman is not yet 55 years old.

second-class citizens, denied access to healthcare and education. Only 35 percent of women are literate, and it is one of just three countries in the world where the life expectancy of women is lower than that of men.

After the trip, Andina and her friends felt they needed to do something to help the Nepali women and women like them around the world.

In 2001, she laid the groundwork for Jagriti, Sanskrit for "awakening," with its mission to help women around the world awaken to their own power. "The biggest thing for women right now is to find their voice. If they have a voice, then they can make a difference," says Andina. "When we work with women's organizations, we never tell them what they need to do. They address their own needs, their own issues and their own communities, using their own approaches. All we are doing is helping them achieve what it is they determine they need to do."

Jagriti's Bridging Worlds program, "like all good bridges, works in both directions," Andina says. By providing volunteers the chance to travel and use their skills abroad, as well as offering active women leaders from grassroots organizations in Asia, Africa and Latin America the opportunity to work directly with like-minded nonprofits in the United States, Jagriti hopes to unite women from all walks of life.

In 2003, Jagriti hosted six women from Afghanistan, India, Nepal and Pakistan to study in the U.S. through its Emerging Leaders program. Democratically elected within their own organizations, the women joined together with women's groups in America to learn the skills necessary to advance their own agenda.

"Each one [of the Emerging Leaders] went back a transformed human being," says Andina. "And everyone who met them was transformed by their being here."

This woman makes incense to earn money. The skills necessary to make the product, package and market it were learned from Nepali woman's cooperative helped by Jagriti International.

This woman makes incense to earn money. The skills necessary to make the product, package and market it were learned from a Nepali woman's cooperative helped by Jagriti International.

Maryma Scotlin, from the Center for Women's Development and Research in India, came to Santa Barbara. For three months, Scotlin participated in leadership training with Girl's Inc., Women's Economic Ventures and Transition House, where she gained computer, networking and professional development skills.

"Seeing the honesty and commitment of the people in the non-profit world offered me renewed hope and the ability to speak honestly," Scotlin says. "Ive learned from this experience how to become more organized and to work in a structured fashion."

This year, Jagriti had planned to host four, week-long trips to Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and Nepal for volunteers, but security concerns worldwide curtailed these plans.

A blue burka hangs in Andina's office, a physical reminder and symbol of the importance of her work - helping women overcome oppression. "While Jagriti is designed to help women around the world regain their voice and utilize their strengths, the irony is that it is also about each of us realizing our own potential," she says. By encouraging all women to come together to share their ideas and skills, Jagriti aims to enrich women's progressive movements and restore human rights.

"We hope to help everyone awaken to the reality of circumstances women face everyday around the world," says Andina. "And to the power that lies within each of us to make a difference."

You can help Jagriti and women around the world. To learn how, please visit www.jagriti-international.org.

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