“Men Care group participant, New Delhi” Photo by World Vision Ireland
Mangay Lal, a shoe maker decided to join the Men Care Group, started by World Vision to bring about a change in his community, especially regarding their attitude towards girls and women. “From childhood we have been pointed towards an orange and told that this is an apple. For a long time we believed that the orange was an apple. But in reality an apple is an apple and an orange an orange. Similarly we have been made to believe, by society, that a girl is someone elses property and will marry and ultimately go to someone elses house, so why should we invest in educating her, we dont benefit from it. But if we invest in the boy, he lives with us he would be our support during old age. Girls if educated can bring a wind of change in the household she goes to and bring happiness there. We dont think this way, society doesnt think this way. They blindly follow the traditions set by ancestors, like once the girl turns 14 get her married. Not understanding the ill effects of child marriage leading to health problems. The in-laws treat the new bride as a maid and expect her to do all the sweeping, swabbing, dishes, cooking, washing etc. Everything is thrust on her shoulders like construction material thrust on a donkey,” says Mangay Lal a Men Care Group member. To tackle gender based violence including Early marriage, it is necessary to bring in mens focus to address such violence, hence World Vision started Men Care Group, giving men a platform to gather together and improve their understanding of how gender inequality impacts relationships between men and women. “I never saw myself as having a friend type relationship with my children, especially my daughter. There was no concept of taking the children out for leisure. No one did it in our community. With regard to caring for our children, earlier there was no desire in me to bring about change. I never considered about what they were eating, wearing or playing. I used to take pride in my role as a man