"Brotee’s journey towards social change is rooted in the democratic values and principles of ‘participation’ and ‘secular co-existence’. It believes, the essence of empowerment, human dignity, equality and democratic thinking lay herein, and only an inclusive, participative social order and governance can achieve these. The culture of social inclusion and equal opportunity together with discipline
and the rule of law must be practiced in our daily lives, in our schools, in our families - at the grassroots. Only then shall we truly lay the foundation of an inclusive participative democracy.In its search for ways to strengthen this culture at the grassroots, Brotee, while working with participatory processes, soon learnt that when people ‘research and act’ they form a rational knowledge base, make an informed choice and act on local needs. External priorities and messages, expert-driven ‘awareness programs’ and prescriptive action becomes redundant. Community confidence, understanding and awareness of poverty, human rights (HR) and human dignity (HD) begins to grow on its own merit. Community discourse on HR brings out starkly the vulnerable status and social alienation of the woman and the poor and challenges the community to address these. Brotee found, Action Research in the hands of the ‘poor’ sustains a process of ‘self’ learning and empowerment (atma shakti) and gives birth to a higher level of collective consciousness in the poor."
