Apart from making the women in rural areas financially independent, USHA Silai School also aims to help these women grow beyond their Silai centres and emerge as change catalysts, willing to make a difference and act against prevailing social issues. Paulina Tuti from Chirkubera village of Jharkhand is one such woman. Overcoming her own struggles, Ms Tuti has now become a voice of change, contributing towards the betterment of her community by mobilising people for forest and land rights and preservation of the environment.
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Ms Tuti spent her childhood in the village call Birjila Patra toil of Khunti Block district Khunti, Jharkhand. She was the eldest of the five children of her parents. Her father was a farmer and her mother was a housewife. Ms Tuti remembers her childhood as a difficult time as she saw the struggles of her father to feed all the five children. In spite of all the difficulties, she studied up to intermediate. Ms Tuti got married in the year 2006 at the age of 20 to Joseph Purty, a farmer and a teacher in Chirkubeda village Bandgaon block, West Singhbhum. She is a mother to two children- a boy and a girl.
Ms Tuti's village, which is covered with forests and mountains, is also affected by Naxalism. Ms Tuti had to struggle to make a life of her own in this conflicted area and so she found support in the USHA Silai School initiative. While talking about her struggle, Ms Tuti said,
After working in an organisation I left and did only domestic work. We need financial support, working in the house gave us food but no money. We were not financially sound, I learned that USHA has a Silai School in Ranchi and they train people there. I thought it was the right time, as they were starting a 7-day training program.
It was this training, and the sewing machine that the Silai School provided, that made all the difference in Ms Tuti's life. According to her, the biggest difference is the level of independence that the training has brought into her life, especially when it comes to household expenses.
Earlier I was dependent on my family for everything and could not do anything myself, but now after doing stitching work I earn money and don't need to ask anyone. We have also formed a Mahila Samuh in our village which is running since 2009, she said.
Today Ms Tuti is an active participant in community matters too. With the aid of several self-help groups, she is working to save the forest, and is active member of ‘Jal, Jeevan, Jameen'. She spends her time educating people about the importance of saving their tradition and the environment.
In our community, we educate each other about the main issues which are Jal (water), Jungle (forest) and Jameen (land). We teach women the importance of water and how important it is to save it. We also talk about forests. We do not cut the tree directly from the bottom, but cut only the branches, she said.
Ms Tuti says that now her dreams have taken wings and she wants to grow beyond the one sewing machine training centre that she currently has. She said,
USHA first gave us training and then they gave us sewing machines. Now with those machines, we are earning a living. With the money, we are able to look after our families.
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