Women – Integral Part of SIBU and Agents for a Better World
Empowerment and equal treatment of women are central tenets to Sibu’s business and culture and also the harvesting and propagation of our prized botanical around the world. This notion is also a necessary key to improving the culture we live in and that of the entire world. From day-1, women have been an integral part of our operation. The majority of people doing the hand-harvesting of our berries in the Tibetan cultural part of the Indian Himalayas, organized by a local co-operative that SIBU helped put in place, are local women. This work is ideal for local women because they can harvest as much or as little as they have time to harvest and are paid by the weight of the product they bring to our local processing stations. It is an empowering kind of job that rewards them the same as the men and allows them to supplement their household income when and where it is most convenient. This operation SIBU arranged earned an in-person Thank You and acknowledgment by the Dalai Lama himself. (One location that he lives part of the time is a stone’s throw from some of the wild sea buckthorn groves we harvest from in an area called Shey.) SIBU would like to recognize some of the great female influencers of our time that helped the world recognize a need for gender equality. A few of these include:
- Margaret Thatcher
- Billie Jean King
- Rosa Parks
- Susan B. Anthony
- Oprah Winfrey
- Princess Dianna
- J. K. Rowling
- Malala Yousafzai
- millions and millions more…
We have far to go to realize the equality these thought leaders foresaw and continue to strive for in our world. SIBU supports such leaders and believes their vision will help make this a better world.