-: Ranjana Trivedi & Rekha Jain
-: Block– Salumber, District - Udaipur (Raj.)
Childhood friends Ranjana Trivedi and Rekha Jain are Post Graduate and Graduate respectively but their certificate has been of a little use in the distinct Salumber. Salumber is almost 100 km away from Udaipur District headquarter. Opportunities for employment are almost scarce here. A typical household in the region is characterized with subsistence form of agriculture; little or no animal husbandry activities, with significant family income coming from male members migrating to Gujrat and Maharashtra working mostly in construction and hospitality sector. Most of the women are on their own here tilling the soil as marginal farmers or landless farmers. That too due to harsh conditions one hardly gets work round the year.
When Vishvas started its activities they joined as volunteers to empower rural tribal women of the area and provide first alternate sustainable green livelihood options to them. As volunteers, they mobilize women to form Self Help Groups (SHGs), organize regular monthly meetings, help Self members with small loans to meet small entrepreneurial, social and contingent needs, update record books, facilitate bank and credit linkage, assist beneficiaries in social entitlements, coordinate various project activities etc. The groups are also getting trained in making stitched garments which sell in the local markets.
Both have excelled as a resource person and went to Kota to train women in forming SHGs for their economic betterment and gain collective bargaining power under the Going Green Project a Switch Asia Project awarded by the European Commission under its flagship programme SWITCH-Asia.The project is being implemented by Traidcraft, UK & All India Artisans & Craftworkers Welfare Association (AIACA)
This was their first visit on their own capacity as to a different city. This opportunity made them gain confidence and goals. Slowly due to their continuous support and motivation, these rural tribal women have started to come out of indebtedness.
-: Waloo Devi - Mahakali SHG member
-: Village– Dhawra, Post- Jhallara, Block– Salumber, District - Udaipur (Raj.)
Waloo Devi is an SHG member of Mahakali Swayam Sahyata Samooh (Self Help Group). She lives in the tribal settlement of Dhawra in Salumber, Rajasthan. Waloo Devi joined the group in 2015 with her neighbors to find a livelihood option in this backward village. Waloo’s husband is a Mason and the monthly income is between Rs. 8 to 9000. She has a big family with four sons, four daughter –in –laws and 9 grandchildren. Money is always scarce but the determination to make change is not.
Waloo Devi had no access to any savings of her own and was dependent on her husband for every expenditure. Moreover, apart from her husband’s earnings, she had little of her own. When under the project house-to-house canvassing was going on she registered her interest with the mobilizers. Waloo Devi was keen to join a group of women with collective spirit to create a sustainable livelihood option for the women. Initially, they started their group with a monthly savings of Rs.50. However from April this year, they have started saving Rs. 100 each. They have 10 members in the group. Their joint savings stands at Rs. 7,000 and loans disbursed internally stands at Rs. 6,000.
The group meets every 1st of the month to discuss various issues and deposit their savings, calculate the interest gained as well as to document the proceedings of each meeting. Waloo Devi has also taken a loan to purchase a sewing machine so that she can stitch cloth bags for local shops in the city. The CBO helps them with the raw material and forward marketing. Waloo Devi had no prior knowledge of sewing but today she has gained the confidence to learn the new skill to support her family and become a small entrepreneur by her own right with the support of collective strength. Waloo Deviinvited me to her home and showed around her life-changing investment with pride. Her sturdy white multi-purpose plastic bucket becomes her chair when she is at the machine.
She showed me with pride the number of bags she has stitched for her next set of delivery. She works for around 4 to 5 hours daily for stitching these bags. As the sun was about to set we bid goodbye to WalooDevi admiring her spirit to learn new things.
-: Lalli Devi- Bayan Mata SHG Member
-: Village– Jaitana, Post- Jhallara, Block– Salumber, District - Udaipur (Raj.)
Lalli Devi smiles gently as you ask her how she finds the quality of the ongoing skill training at the Skilling Center at Jaitana. “I am very happy, I have learned to cut and stitch the local dress worn by us”. Lalli Devi is 55 years old, a widow with a family of nine members. Interestingly she is also the Ward member of her Panchayat, the village level executive body of decentralized governance followed in India.
Lalli Devi’s has 9 family members. Their main occupation is agriculture. Being small and marginal farmers the family finds it difficult to sustain itself on their small household monthly income of Rs. 4000 – 5000. Lalli Devi joined the Bayan Mata Swayam Sahyata Samooh (Self Help Group) in June 2015 in Jaitana village. They started saving Rs. 50 per month. Today the group have collective saving and they have disbursed loan also amongst the members.
The group is skill themselves in cutting, sewing and stitching clothes for the local market. This was made possible through a convergence program with ICICI Bank Rural Skill Employment Training Institute and Going Green Switch Asia intervention being implemented by Vishvas.
Today Lalli Devi is hopeful about her family’s future.
-: Kanta Jogi- Bayan Mata SHG Member
-: Village– Jaitana, Post- Jhallara, Block– Salumber, District - Udaipur (Raj.)
30-year-old Kanta Jogi is physically challenged. She is married. Kanta is childless. Although she has completed High school but her certificate has been of a little use in the remote, backward village. The men leave the villages in search of work but women remain home bound and Kanta too had to stay back in her village although it has limited her horizons. In the picture above seated in front, Kanta is extremely happy to have joined the skilling program in tailoring and cutting under the convergence program in Going Green. Today she looks at new possibilities of running her own enterprise from home. Kanta is resolute to start life with new possibilities.
Kanta has also joined the SHG – Bayan Mata Swayam Sahyata Samooh or Self Help Group last year to gain access to savings and finance. Kanta has not missed a single training class. It’s motivating to see her be her own master as she bids us goodbye from the training center and speeds off in her scooty.
-: MINU
-: Village- Sundh, Block- Touru, District- Nuh(Haryana)
I am Minu. I live in Sundh village in Touru block, Nuh District in Haryana. My husband name is Manoj Kumar. I stiches clothes at my home & earn up to Rs. 700 per month. To fulfill basic needs of home my parents used to do labour work in the village. My earning from tailoring is not enough to fulfill the basic needs. A woman of my village told me that there is training going on sewing and embroidery work in the Panchyat Bhawan. It was organised by Vishvas Sansthan, Udaipur, UNDP & Traidcraft under Disha Project. I came to know that after the training I shall be getting work at the center itself. I told that woman that, there have been several organisations came to our village but did not do anything for our livelihood. I thought I should not join the training, but my neighbour told me at least do the registration.
I did the registration and was given 45 days training on sewing on semi-automatic machine.I feel so motivated and proud. After the training I got work at the centre. Currently I prepare shirts, trousers, bags and able to earn Rs (4000-5000) per month.
The most I like is that now I get my earning into my bank account. Due to this I have learn how to do banking transaction. I feel so proud that now I can fulfill my basic needs easily and can cover my child education expenses.
I am thankful to Vishvas Sansthan, Traidcraft, UNDP,for providing this opportunity in our village & making me and other women of the village self-reliant.