WIIFM? A question we often ask, even if it is only subconsciously… What’s In It For Me?
- Business wisdom will tell you that you must never enter any relationship without stopping to ask, WIIFM?
- People driven primarily by compassion may choose to never stop and ask WIIFM before stepping out in the next act of compassion!
And, as usual, the real wisdom is somewhere in the middle!
At first glance the empart4women community might look like it’s only the second group of people – women driven by compassion for their unfortunate sisters in India. But take a moment to really ask yourself, “as part of the empart4women community, WIIFM?”
Here’s my take on it…
As a co-founder of Empart I have had the privilege of ‘bringing transformation’ into countless communities in North India. At times it has been hands on in the villages, teaching women about their inherent value, their health, their babies …. cows wandering by our little gathering, kids laughing nearby as they dance in the dust. These are precious moments for me, my favourite times of ‘bringing transformation’.
But mostly ‘bringing transformation’ has been much less tangible, less appealing to my senses and far less interesting! My part has often been doing the mundane administrative tasks, organising volunteers, making dinner for board members, marketing, speaking etc etc.These often dreary and potentially boring tasks are lightened and brightened because I have a purpose in doing them – I know that I am constantly ‘bringing transformation’ to my sisters in North India 
So WIIFM?
- There are opportunities for trips to the villages and communities, sitting with the women in their environment and hearing their stories
- there are opportunities to teach about the God-given value of women, to speak against gender bias in any form
- I have been able to expose my children to realities and wonders they would never experience in normal, western suburbia
- there is the opportunity to look beyond myself, my children, my house, my …. to be bigger and better than “me and my”
- there is the incredible opportunity of having a purpose in life that is so much bigger than myself!
When I look at all we do in and through Empart and empart4women, when I stop and consider, “WIIFM?” I have to tell you that there is NOTHING in the world I would rather be doing! Somehow, in choosing to live a life of “bringing transformation” my WIIFM is answered like this: I have been/am being transformed as a person by choosing to be part of this community!
by Jenni Chacko
We are women who see injustice among our sisters in India and cannot, no, we WILL NOT, sit by and do nothing!
We cry for the neglected girl child, ache for the widow who is cast out as worthless and weep over the countless girl babies killed through gender selective abortion. We are women who reject gender inequality and rage against the evil of dowry deaths.
We listen and learn, we seek truth and justice, we value freedom and respect, we tell their stories, we pray, we fundraise, we choose to act. And miraculously, in so doing, we grow and are transformed ourselves.
