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Women Healing Women
  The MAHER Project ~ A Model of Hope for Oppressed Women Everywhere
 

 

by William Keepin, Ph.D. and Cynthia Brix, M.Div.
 
 

Much has been written on the plight of women in Indian society, but this book presents an effective practical response to the appalling injustices … and a model of hope for agencies and programs for oppressed women around the world.

Women Healing Women in India recounts the true story of MAHER, a remarkable project and center for battered women and children located near Pune, India. Founded in 1997, the project has provided refuge to more than 1250 women, half of whom might otherwise have been murdered, committed suicide, or starved to death. Maher is an interfaith community that honors all religions and strongly repudiates caste distinctions—making it a rare beacon shining new hope upon some of the gravest problems in India and around the world.

The book is rich with stories—poignant firsthand accounts by women and children whose lives have been transformed by the Maher project. Later chapters explore the larger implications of this pioneering work, with guidance for implementing similar projects elsewhere. Written in a concise narrative style, Women Healing Women in India is an easy and compelling read.

William Keepin, PhD, author of Divine Duality (Hohm Press, 2007), has facilitated intensive gatherings in five countries for healing and reconciliation between women and men. He is the President of Satyana Institute, and founder of the Power of Reconciliation Project.

Cynthia Brix, M.Div., is an interfaith minister specializing in international peacemaking, and spiritual direction for young adults. Program director of Satyana Institute, and co-director of its Power of Reconciliation project.

  View Bio Keepin & Brix  
   
$19.95
ISBN: 978-1-890772-88-8
320 pages - paper
6 x 9 inches
 
   
   
     

This lovingly written book is an inspiring and beautiful story of the practical love of the oppressed, destitute, and downtrodden of India manifested by Sister Lucy Kurien and her supporters.  It raises searching questions for missionaries, as well as for those serving in religious communities in countries suffering from centuries of abuse of the poor. – Fr. Thomas Keating, founder of Centering Prayer and author of 34 books including Open Mind, Open Heart and Intimacy with God.

How can one pay enough or thank enough for pure Gospel?   Well, here it is in written and biographical form!  I have met Sr.Lucy, Cynthia, and Will personally and know their words to be true to life.  Read, and let your own life be re-framed and re-gifted for a waiting world. – Fr. Richard Rohr, O.F.M., Center for Action and Contemplation, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Like Sister Lucy Kurien, I witnessed a human being burned to death, which changed my mission in life forever.  I watched Patrick electrocuted in the electric chair, and Lucy watched Renuka and her unborn child burn to death after being set afire by her husband.  What made it doubly horrendous for Lucy was the fact that she had turned Renuka away the night before when the desperate woman came to the convent seeking help.  After the tragedy Lucy was driven to begin Maher, and I to abolish the death penalty.  I met Lucy in Jaipur in March 2008.  I was so impressed by her story that I wrote it into my journal. Now you get to read these incredible stories of lives transformed. But watch out.  After reading these pages you may well never be the same again. – Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, Author of Dead Man Walking                                                              

Women Healing Women is a heartrending yet inspiring account of the triumph of the human spirit in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. The Maher project was initiated by the wise and compassionate Sister Lucy Kurien in response to the horrors of wife battering, dowry deaths, rape and neglected street children, all so widespread in India. These tales of despair and hope serve to remind us of the appalling extent and prevalence of this abuse directed towards women and children -often within the family home - along with a solution that might possibly work. Will Keepin and Cynthia Brix chronicle the rise of this unique interfaith organization which passes beyond the narrow boundaries of caste and religion to the shared openness of loving care, faith and mutual respect. It is a wake up call for us all. – Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, Tibetan Buddhist nun and founder of Dongyu Gatsal Nunnery.  Her remarkable story is featured in the best-selling book Cave in the Snow by Virginia McKenzie.

"The story of Sister Lucy Kurien and the Maher Project is absolutely thrilling: To absorb everything it has to teach us – about courage, spirit, patience, and loving, non-violent resistance -- is to see the world and humanity itself in an altogether new light. With the publication of Women Healing Women that story can at last find the global audience it so richly deserves.  Let the transformations begin!" – Carol Lee Flinders, Ph.D., author of Enduring Lives: Portraits of Women and Faith in Action.

William Keepin and Cynthia Brix are to be congratulated for a very inspiring and useful book. They have looked at the Maher Project with a compassionate heart and a clear mind.  They have listened to the many stories of suffering, pain and oppression of women in India with attention and care and have produced a book full of hope.  Highly recommended for everyone concerned with the quality of life of the women throughout the world and especially in the Indian society. – Ravi Ravindra, author of Pilgrim Without Boundaries

“This book is a record of healing and integrity in a project that emphasizes the joy of community and persistence of development. Maher members embrace diversity, and challenge oppressive stereotypes in Indian society such as gender violence, patriarchy, bribery and corruption with love and truth. Maher is a model that could well be applied in my own and other countries. I hope it will. This book shows us how.” – Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, Deputy Speaker, Parliament, Republic of South Africa

Women Healing Women is equally heartbreaking and inspiring, detailing the atrocities of how women are treated in India as well as the remarkable effectiveness of the solutions offered by Sister Lucy Kurien, and the Maher Project she founded.  Weaving together cultural and historical facts, spiritual wisdom, and penetrating stories of women's experience, Keepin and Brix offer an engaging testament to the utter and undeniable effectiveness of love when brought to bear on personal and social challenges. Sister Lucy is a heroine and a shepherd, already living a future longed for in every human heart. –   Hilary Hart, author of The Unknown She

In a world where God is most often still referred to as ‘He’ India stands almost alone in worshipping the Divine as female.  And yet, as outlined in this extraordinary book, the position of women in Indian society is still one of profound exploitation and abuse.  Amidst this, Sr. Lucy, the Christian nun who founded and continues to give practical and spiritual leadership to the Maher project, answered a call to respond to the needs of raped, battered and impoverished women and their children. Her work sets an example of the clarity and courage needed to build an alternative for women and keep faith in interfaith.                If only every young woman in our ‘emancipated’ Western democracies could read this book to gain perspective not only on the real position of women worldwide, but on the many forms of her own exploitation.  I thank Sr. Lucy and the authors for what I believe will become an inspirational classic. – Swami Ambikananda Saraswati, founder of The Traditional Yoga Association and The MUKTI Project, Chaplain Reading Hindu Temple, General Secretary Reading Interfaith Group 

 

 

 

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