Advocacy

Tammy is highly evolved in raising awareness and support for the Dalit people of India. The Dalit are considered an outcaste of society and less than human. Being born and raised with the belief that they are nothing more than a commodity, the Dalit’s are used as bonded slaves and many find themselves sold into human trafficking.

Tammy uses her passion and platform to educated and empower women to make a difference in the lives of the Dalit.

Each Tuesday night from her Orange County base, Tammy leads more than 200 women in a community-wide Pilates class to empower women. This class has led to a fitness movement that has not only empowered the women of Orange County, but has sparked a movement to empower the Dalit’s.

As an extension of her community Pilates class Tammy began an annual 5K in 2007 that has not only raised the personal challenge of her class, but awareness of the Dalits. The movement has gone from a 5K, to 5-8K to a 5-10K to her new vision of a 5K with obstacle course. In 2010 the women participated in the personal life and burden of their counterparts miles away. They engaged in the duties and challenges of the Dalit women of India. This 5K was a hands-on experience for the women of Orange County. Keynote speakers at the rally included Dr. Ana Steele, president of Dalit Freedom Network and Congressman Ed Royce.

Tammy’s passion is to take the 5K to various cities, encouraging other women to join her efforts to tell the story of bondage of the Dalit, and set them free from a life of slavery.

Church reaches out to India’s ‘untouchables’

More than 500 people endure the heat in Yorba Linda to run for a shunned people.

By MATHEW PADILLA THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Tammy Hotsenpiller, while teaching a Pilates class at her church in Yorba Linda, inspired her students to a higher cause. She was leading a class of stretching and low impact exercises when she brought up the Dalits, members of India’s lowest caste who have been dubbed “untouchables.” The Yorba Linda Friends Church had funded construction of primary schools in India for them since at least 2004, but Hotsenpiller thought something should be done for women, especially women with children. 
    The Pilates class morphed into a how-can-we-help discussion. They hit on the idea of a women’s 5K run/walk to raise money for vocational schools for Dalit women. 
    So on Sunday, despite the 95-degree heat, more than 500 women walked or ran in the second annual event organized by the church, hoping to raise about $80,000. Last year, the church raised $42,000, which helped fund the construction of two vocational schools and operations for two more and also other services.
    Hotsenpiller, of Anaheim Hills, and a life coach, said Indian society has historically blocked access to education for Dalit women, who sometimes have to resort to extreme methods to survive, including selling their own children for food. 
    “I think it’s the greatest social injustice in our world today. 
    Today India’s constitution provides for equal rights for all, but critics say Dalits remain social outcasts and are generally poor with access to only the most menial jobs. They are numerous, with population estimates ranging from 250 million to 300 million people, or approaching 25 percent of India’s total population. 
    At the new vocational schools, Dalit women spend four to six months learning how to sew and then get to keep a sewing machine, Hotsenpiller said. 
    “The women now have a vocation. We are making entrepreneurs,” she said. 
    The training and income have made a big difference in the lives of some Indian women, she said. 
  “We have literally seen women who have not had to sell children into slavery for food,” Hotsenpiller said.