Livelihood Rural villages in the heart of Gurgaon
Stitching and tailoring units are usually the first solution presented to corporate houses who want to put the CSR funds for women livelihood projects.
It is mandatory to understand that women who live in rural areas in the big cities are migrants from different parts of the country. They usually have some lifeskill that they have learnt in the village and they are capable of doing a lot more than just tailoring or doing courses in beauty parlours.
With this clarity we began did a skill assessment of a small group who came to this Gurgaon training center supported by Vipul group. The women who were mostly migrants from Bihar and knew how to knit and crochet. They traditionally used to make mats from old saris and crochet some unused yarn into covers and decorations. A large number of girls are taught basic skills before they are married of at a young age. Many women who were working at the center had very young children. They were all keen to work and were very enthusiastic to show the work they already did. They were made aware that an additional skills of crochet and knitting will further enhance their income generation capacity. This would be all the more desirable because it will not only allow them to work from home at the same time it would require no investment in expensive machines or extra space.
Collaboration with an existing marketing platform would further help enhance their skill and expertise to do special products that are marketable, so that it becomes a viable livelihood option.
With the design skill and marketing platform provided by Mon Ami Foundation, this input will go a long way towards opening a new earning avenue for the underprivileged women who come to our vocational training centre.
The training centre is run by Quota International is a social service organization, committed to improving the lives of the underprivileged, specially women and children.
About 20 women were trained during the firts phase of the project. Thereafter many women have joined in taking regular work home.