Name: E.Siddamma
Address: 23/3 Eshwar
Apartments,
Mobile Number: 9884080048
Phone: 24404016; 55519972
E-mail: bharathitrust@yahoo.com
Academic Qualification:
Teacher
Training, Government Teacher Training
Institute(1980-81)
B.A Sociology
(1982-85), Bharath Education Society
Awards
&
Honors
(i)
Best
social work Award
Lion’s Club Chennai, 1999
(ii)
Best
community worker
award, Irula Society, 2000
(iii)
Asha
Fellow, 2002
(iv)
Best
social work
Award, Medha Patkar, 2003
(v)
National
speak out
Award, Sonia Gandhi, 2005
Background:
Born in a very small village,
Sivaganga, Chitradurga District, Karnataka, in a farmer’s family.
In a family
of 11 children, 7 girls and 4 boys. Educated within the family. Was
attacked by
a bear when 7 years old but saved by parents. Some relatives suggested
euthanasia thinking it would be a burden to find her adequate dowry
later on
now that she lost her right eye and beautiful looks.
No bus would take her to the hospital. Busappa, a kind bus driver went against the advise of the bus conductor and took the child dripping with blood to the hospital. A kind nurse Susheela at Chitradurga govt hospital treated her wound refusing to kill her. Mother, Busappa and Susheela saved her life.
The tragedy that cost her right eye and some aesthetics, created sympathy in her parents who decided to send her to school as a consolation. She thanks the bear in a way as otherwise she would have been married at 15 years like her siblings. She attended the Sivaganga school where some teachers ill treated her for her appearance. Her illiterate mother was determined to educate her against all odds.
In 1980 she graduated from high school and got into teacher training at the Govt teacher training institute at Chitradurga. She then came to Bangalore and joined Bharath Education Evening College. In the mornings she helped with literacy of slum women as part of Govt’s literacy program. She also worked with educationist Margaret of Tilak Nagar education society serving as a full time teacher for rag picking children.
In 1985 she finished her BA in Sociology and came to Chennai for her eye surgery. In Chennai she met with Edward, her future husband, who was working with Montessori educationist Amuktha Mahapathra, Mandara education center.
From 1986 – 1990 Siddhamma was an activist with Pennurimai Iyakkam. Here an Irula from Gandhi Gramam village met her regarding harassment by landlords. This is when she began taking up the cause of Irulas. Without any financial support, until 1995 she lived with the Irulas and organized the community to represent themselves and their rights.
From 1995 to 1998 she received Fellowship from CRY which she used to help 25 villages in Thiruvallur district. Children in Gandhi Gramam were living in the house of the landlords as bonded laborers and she started teaching children, ultimately enrolling them in Pudur Govt school.
From 1991-98 the Irula community transformed itself. They came together to fight against issues of human rights violations, land. In 1996 she facilitated a struggle in Thiruvallur against a landlord who had taken away the land of Irulas. The Irulas successfully got their land back which they are cultivating now. Through the Irula movement, villages are now getting better organized to demand their rights.
Sarpam, an Irula organization was formed with leadership being promoted from within. HIVOS, a Netherlands based co-finance agency supported the community’s initiatives. From all this experience, in 1999 Sidhamma concluded that lack of education was a central facor that led to exploitation of the Irula community.
In 2000, Sidhamma met Asha Princeton volunteer Shanmuga Subramanian at CRY. 10 motivation centers to encourage Irula children to go to school in Tiruvallur district were initiated. Muriel, a student from Belgium supported running one motivation center for children in a rice mill. Several Asha volunteers Sundar Kumar Iyer, Jayashree Janardhan, Ashok, DP, Jeba, Melli have since been engaged with Sidhamma.
In 2002, Sidhamma served as the first woman Asha Fellow.
In Apr-June 2004 she was invited by Netherlands govt to discuss with Dutch
students
about social work at Humanistic University. She
visited Asha
Zurich volunteers including Chidu in Switzerland.
She spent a day at a village school in Germany. She met college
students
at Brusells university in
In Oct 2004, in response to Sidhamma’s urgent call for help, Asha Honor and Asha Toledo chapter volunteers including Srikanth Pilla, Srivatsan Kannan,Jeba,Sathya and Dhanalakshmi played a critical role in raising awareness and funds to feed and educate rescued children of bonded laborers in Tamilnadu rice mills from over 1000 families. In 2005 Sidhamma has been engaged in Tsunami recovery work in 7 villages of Cuddalore, and 11 villages of Thiruvallur.
In Nov 2005, she was honored by Sonia Gandhi with an Indian national speak-out award for human rights of bonded laborers. For the recent flood relief in Tamilnadu, in cooperation with Theosophical Society, Chennai, Siddhamma is providing mosquito nets, clothing, tents, dry food to over 1400 affected families.
In Feb1-2, 2006 she has been invited by United Nations to give a talk representing the Irula Dalit society of more than 50,000 people in 560 villages that has been suffering from discrimination.
Role &
Responsibility in Asha
Sidhamma continues to
be a
valuable part of the Asha family with tremendous insights tempered by
grass
roots realities. Beginning with her Asha Fellowship in 2002, the first
Fellowship taken up by a woman in leadership, currently Sidhamma is an
Asha
Fellow supported by Asha Austin. Apart from facilitating the Irula
community
movement and rehabilitating bonded laborers, she is engaged with
Tsunami
recovery work in 18 villages in Cuddalore and Thiruvallur districts of
Tamilnadu state. She is also working on Flood relief in villages
recently
affected by heavy rains in Tamilnadu. She is part of the Asha Honor
worldwide
team that is working towards Universal Quality Education in