During the pandemic, when the world had shut down, and lakhs of people were struggling to earn a living, several women across the country benefitted from USHA's unique programme - Adopt A Silai School. The 54 Silai Schools that have been adopted during the course of this programme were able to weather the pandemic, thanks to the opportunities provided by the programme. Here is how the initiative has been changing the lives of women in need across the rural areas of the country.
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Mamta Kumari, from Gondia in Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand, is a beneficiary of the ‘Adopt A Silai School' initiative and a Silai Hero. Her life was confined to the kitchen, and to helping her husband on the farm. But in 2019, she went for training and things got changed for the better. While talking about her experience, she said,
My mother used to train girls, so I learned a few things too, though I did not get proper training. I filled up a form with Nav Bharat Jagriti Kendra, where I received a seven-day training and learnt a lot of things. With that learning, I am now training other women here, and I am also able to maintain my household expenses. We have a small plot of agricultural land, and my husband is also earning. After getting the USHA Silai machine I am able to manage the expenses better.
Mamata was able to continue working after the training process was over, thanks to the sewing machine made available by Rakesh Sreekanth, Non-Resident Indian (NRI) in San Jose, California, who adopted her Silai School. Mr Sreekanth said,
I was looking for something meaningful in terms of contributing back to the community. It was a very straightforward process, and once I made the donation, somebody from the support team got in touch with me and gave me details about how this fund will be used and the details of it.
Mamata said that the funds and the support received from Mr Sreekanth have helped her and the women in her community who are training in her Silai School but she believes that with more hard work and more support, she will be able to train more women.
The ‘Adopt A Silai School' program has many partners who have collaborated with USHA to promote entrepreneurship amongst rural women. But there are many individuals as well, who want to contribute to making the world a happier place. Krishna Shriram, Executive Chairman, USHA International Limited said,
People want to be generous but often do not know whom to trust. So, for a company like USHA to be able to say we will like to adopt a sillai school, the credibility is there now that we do it.
The USHA Silai School program started its ‘Adopt a Silai School' initiative in 2015-2016 with the aim of tapping potential individual donors, who may live anywhere in the world, but who believe in the cause of socio-economic empowerment of rural Indian women. According to Mary Rupa Tete, Vice President, Usha Social Services,
‘Adopt a Silai School' is a modal where individuals wanting to contribute to the USHA Silai School programme can donate through our website- www.ushasilaischool.com. The donations go directly to the NGO partners and with the help and support of these NGO partners, we select the women entrepreneurs who are then trained on sewing and stitching and then provided with an USHA sewing machine, school signage, a certificate and of course training for seven days. On a regular basis, the donor gets an update on the progress being made which is right from the selection of the women entrepreneurs to the sustenance of the Silai Schools.
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Priyanka Devi from Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, who is also a beneficiary of the programme said that earlier women from her village used to travel to the city to get their clothes stitched. But now she stitches clothes for them, so they have to travel less and it is also helping her to earn a livelihood. She said,
I have started getting a lot of orders. My monthly income has also increased, and I am managing my family well. I am looking after my children and I also contribute towards our farming needs. I have planned on buying more sewing machines and fabric, stitching clothes and then selling them. This will provide work to women.
Priyanka comes from a poor family background. There was a time when it was becoming difficult to pay for her children's education, but the issues of daily expenditure are now a thing of the past.
My husband works in the forest office, in a private job. His income is not enough to manage our children's school fees, because of which I trained at USHA Silai School and started my own work in the village. Now, I help him so that the school fee is paid on time. I look after the medical expenses, and we also take care of our grandfather who stays with us.
Shradda Devi, a 55-year-old widow from Hazaribagh district has become a role model for many as she turned around her life by starting her own Silai School. She said,
When my husband died, I had small children and there was no one to support me. I was completely blank about how to live my life, take care of my children and look after the house. For the first six months, I did not even step out of the house. Then, I came to know about the training at the Nav Bharat Jagriti Kendra. I already knew a little sewing, thanks to my sister-in-law. But I did not have a sewing machine. When I came to know about the training, and that a sewing machine was provided, I went there. I told them about my situation, and I was enrolled immediately. I got a call from them after a month, asking me to join the training.
USHA Silai School helped her start a new chapter of her life. Today, she is very well known in her community as someone who does her own stitching and sewing work and also trains anyone who comes to her for learning. She is making every effort to empower as many women as she can, in her community, by training them in sewing and stitching. But there are many women who are still living in the darkness of grief and poverty, waiting for a ray of hope. Madhu Akasapu-Smith, Shraddha's Silai School Donor who lives in Atlanta, Georgia, USA said,
I told my colleagues about the USHA Silai School programme, and we all contributed and sponsored a school. So, I wanted to tell you that I have done very little
The success of the programme, and the example of empowered and self-reliant women like Shraddha Devi, Priyanka Devi and Mamta Devi has given the people at USHA the impetus to take the training to more remote areas. The ‘Adopt a Silai School' programme is not a business model, it is an opportunity for people who care to help, to create an ecosystem of independent, earning women.
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