I visited a third empowering site in the poor, Anakaputhur section of Chennai, the city formerly known as Madras. Many women in that area had become economically dependent on tannery work for 50 cents a day, plus the likelihood that their hands would be ruined by acid and their hearts sickened by a daily dose of managerial abuse. But six years ago, an Indian couple, Samuel and Prema Sundar Raj, started a needlepoint enterprise where young women receive $2 a day making exquisite tablecloths and napkins. Sometimes, the women talk as they cross-stitch, or receive information about hygiene or nutrition. At other times, someone reads the Bible out loud, as fingers ply the needles.

One woman, Sugila, said this about her new situation: "Before coming here, I was not able to pay school fees for my children. Now, my two children study at school. In days to come, God will work out better things for all of us."

Another young woman, Abya, said she had no father and her mother is a housemaid, so she is happy to be able to help her whole family. Others -- Jaya, Stella, Mymuna, Rajkumarai, Selvi and Radha -- noted similarly that they had been touched by hope.