Kushalta Ke Kadam: Raigad's Jayashree Became Sole Breadwinner For Her Family During Crisis

To sustain, USHA Sila School women have been able to learn, evolve and withstand crisis situations. Some have become sole breadwinners for their families during the financial crises when the male members lost livelihood. Through their hard work and dedication, Silai School women are helping fulfil the dreams of their family members are also encouraging other women in their community to come forwards and take charge of their life. Jayashree Janardhan Ghodvinde is one such woman. With help of the earnings from Silai School Ms Ghovinde was able to fulfil the need of a four-wheeler of her family. 

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Ms Ghovinde, who lives in Khalapur block of Raigad, Maharashtra started her Silai School on October 1, 2016. Her parents were farmers and struggled to educate her beyond Class 12. 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. The meagre income of her husband was not enough to manage the education and other household expenses of their children. She began to work by taking stitching and sewing orders from her neighbours. Ms Ghovinde said,

When I got married my husband had a job. But one year after marriage, he lost his job and we had no income. I had been doing stitching work since class 10. I had done a course but was not getting much. We had a bank loan as my husband had bought an autorickshaw. I thought if I earned money as well, it would be easier to pay off the loan amount.

According to Ms Ghovinde, while she was earning some money to support her family, she witnessed stagnation in her income. Through a local NGO, she found out about Usha Silai School Program. The thought of teaching other women had occurred to her earlier but she never could execute it, therefore, she immediately applied for the same. She was selected owing to her previous knowledge and hard work. After the 7-day residential training, she gained immense confidence and realized the importance of her skill. After gaining a technical and precise understanding of the skill of ‘Stitching and Sewing', she wanted to teach other women in and around her village.

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On completion of the training, she immediately opened up her Silai School as the basic requisites – certificate, signage, service manual, and a sewing machine –were provided by USHA. To spread awareness about her Silai School, and to mobilize learners – she met with the Self-Help Group members and went for a door-to-door awareness drive with the NGO. Ms Ghovinde charges Rs 500 per month from her students. She is not only teaching students in her own Silai School but is also teaching a batch of learners in a nearby hamlet. She has trained over 70 students so far.

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. Ms Ghovinde said,

Today I am financially free and not depend on others for my day-to-day family needs. With the help of USHA Silai School, I can recover my gold from bank against gold loan taken and arrange my daughter marriage very well. And purchased my own dream four -wheeler. And from USHA Silai School I can provided livelihood opportunities to some needy girls in my locality thanks to Usha for my overall growth.