We are all Here because of you: Web 2.0

We are all Here because of you: Web 2.0

“Yes, we are here because of Web 2.0” a chorus of young women shouting with excitement- This is a colorful picture I have been carrying in my mind without the slightest fade of all those smiles and cheers of gratitude towards me.

What have I done? I just got them second hand laptops. Each laptop was in the hands of four, most of them in their twenties or below. Web 2.0 has become a dream come true for them. It meant everything to this inclusive group of girls and women who would otherwise remain behind those mudwalls. Each one either had a polio attack or was disabled at birth and was unable to move without ones help. Poverty had rendered with sticks for a few to move and the rest crawled. But now the world visited them under this small thatched roof.

And how did this happen? I would call it a little miracle in the name Shiny was behind this venture.

Life was not so easy for 20 year old Shiny, in a tiny village of Anakuli at Tamilnadu State of India. She too belonged to the community where men are the owners and women are properties. And to add, disability was a curse that put her in the dark.

During the 2011-12 Youth led initiative for women empowerment using Web 2.0 which I was organizing in the interior villages of the district, she came to me with full of hope. “Akka, I know it’s beyond my limits but I want to see the world”. Earlier we had set up an animator’s home for the women to gather for the training. But for Shiny I decided to change the title, yes the word ‘inclusive’ accompanied the program. I should travel to meet her each time. Now I got ready to make the announcement for the differently abled sisters in the community.

I spoke to Shiny’s mother. She was awaiting a new horizon, to see her child smile, stand up speak aloud.

First few weeks I traveled to her place carrying a laptop which I was using. She gained pace in learning, so excited about browsing, her eyes wide open creating her email account. Learning some basic English took some time and the rest all went on steadily.

Unable to bear the torture from her drunkard father, the mother and child decided to move to the town carrying two cloth bags and few books. Then there was no looking back. In a rented single room she explored and connected with the world. She is a degree holder now training twenty other women to touch the world with a single button.

They now can contribute to the community just like how you and I can.

What else can Web 2.0 mean to me when it is making the slightest change in the community count, making countless voices unite to one soul for our rights.

The success stories of Web 2.0 will continue.