When COVID-19 pandemic induced lockdown led to the loss of jobs and financial crisis in many homes, USHA, skilled women in mask making which not only supported their families, making them sole bread winners, but also opened income opportunities for their learners as well. Teaching women about mask making during the pandemic not only benefitted the women to create items to protect themselves from coronavirus and their families but also it generated some income for them and their students during the crisis. Gouri Das, Kalawati Sharma and Jayashree Janardhan Ghodvinde are three of the eight lakh women who worked non-stop during the coronavirus outbreak, sustaining not only themselves, but other Silai School students and teachers as well.
38-year-old Gouri Das from Gumrah village in Barak valley, one of the remotest regions of Assam is a mother of three children, and an USHA Silai School trainer. People in her village say that she is a strong, motivated woman. She runs an USHA Silai School in her house. When she found about USHA conducting a training near her village, got herself enrolled.
She said that after getting an order from the village head, her Silai School women got work and started earning. But, they were told to arrange for the raw material themselves. As all shops were closed, it was difficult for them to access the required raw material easily. Ms Sharma went to the homes of shopkeepers and requested them to provide the material.
Jayashree Janardhan Ghodvinde who lives in Khalapur block of Raigad, Maharashtra started her Silai School on October 1, 2016. She then learnt sewing and got married at the age of 20 to Janardhan Ghodvinde, an auto-rickshaw driver. Soon after the marriage, she understood the economic limitations of her family. She began to work by taking stitching and sewing orders from her neighbours.
Ms Ghovinde charges Rs. 500 per month from her students. She has bought two more machines which enables her to teach more women in her class. Given her hectic schedule, she cannot work on 'stitching and sewing' orders for blouses, suits etcetera. She earns around Rs. 10000 to Rs. 12000 on an average in a month, solely based on Silai School. By saving every penny, she has managed to return a part of the gold loan that her husband had borrowed from the bank. She has educated her daughter and recently married her off. She has even bought a four-wheeler.
Kushalta Ke Kadam, an initiative by NDTV and USHA, aims at empowering women from rural India and encourages them to become entrepreneurs by taking up sewing and training others in their respective communities. Since 2011 Usha Silai Campaign has trained more than 3.95 lakh rural women within five years, with 17,000 Silai schools, spanning over 9272 Indian villages in India.
Kushalta Ke Kadam in Season 4 has returned with new goals and vision. The new season will witness the establishment of the new cluster in Kashmir, apart from the existing four clusters setup last year. The women from volatile Kashmir will work with well-known fashion designer Rohit Bal and get an unique opportunity to learn from him and make clothes for him. The work done by the Silai School women will be presented at Lakme Fashion week 2019.
USHA hopes they will be able to capitalise on this advantage and that their continued intervention will turn Puducherry into a strong contender in the silambam circuit of India
USHA has been persistently promoting local traditions and culture around the country, whether through traditional forms of art and craft or indigenous forms of spor
Yoga is practised worldwide by millions of people in many forms and variations. At its core, it is a mind-body practise combining physical posture, breathing techniques, and meditation for both health and relaxation
USHA has been joining hands with like minded partners as well as individuals to bring the benefits to as many women beneficiaries as possible
The North Western Railway Womens Welfare Organisation (NWRWWO) has been committed to working for the welfare of railway employees and their families. In addition to this Silai school, they have donated RO water plants and promoted sports in various regions
With the plastic ban in the state, the Meghalaya State Rural Livelihoods Society (MSRLS) saw this as an opportunity to curb pollution and create employment for women who could stitch cloth bags