Enlightenment 


Untouchable women meeting in southern India focus on such issues as literacy, malnourishment, and employment. An organization called Janodaya, run by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, calls regular meetings in the Karnataka countryside to educate women on how to press for better government services in areas such as health and education, and how to start small businesses. The group operates mostly in villages where less than 10 percent of the women can read and write. Weighted with some 1,500 years of bitter history, Untouchables face daunting challenges as they try to shed the burdens of caste.