Anuradha’s life has changed dramatically in the last two years. Married at a young age, she moved with her husband from Uttar Pradesh to Kolkata and then to Delhi. Here they lived with her parents and siblings, trying hard to make do with a subsistence income. While her husband made furniture, her role was to complete household chores and look after their son and daughter.

“I would sit dejected by myself in my free time not sure what was the way forward, or if there was even one. But all that changed when I was invited for a neighbourhood meeting set up by voluntary organisation Paras. I came to know that I could get an Usha sewing machine, get trained in stitching and open my own tailoring school. I jumped at the idea and there has been no turning back since.”

Now 32, Anuradha runs her own Usha Silai School in Delhi’s Nand Lal basti (slum), with 10 women as students. She teaches them to cut and stitch women’s apparel, specially sari blouses, petticoats and traditional salwar-kurta suits. By teaching others and completing orders that come to her from the neighbourhood, she is able to pay back ₹2,180 every month towards the ₹40,000-loan she took from a microfinance company to build her home, a one-room set with kitchen. “Now I always have some money left over and am able to pay for extra tuition for my children who study in a government school,” she says, grateful for this intervention in her life.

Yasmeen’s life has got a similar boost due to her grit and perseverance. A child bride at 16 years, she had no idea what was in store for her. Life, she says, carried on unthinkingly with the tough task of bringing up four children, But the last few years have seen a turnaround and her daily routine has started to economically empower her ever since she underwent sewing training and ventured to start her own school.

The 30- year-old spells out her schedule: “I start my day at 6 am. I send the children to school, then my husband, a daily wage plumber, leaves for work. After around two hours of housework, I am at my Usha sewing machine, to take class for the women who come to learn sewing.”

When Yasmeen finished her training, she received a free sewing machine, signage for the Usha Silai School she wanted to start and a syllabus for teaching students. “The whole family gains from this, my mother-in-law is happy that I am gainfully employed and sometimes helps with my work.”

Yasmeen finds her personality has also undergone a change. She is no longer shy and withdrawn, teaching others has helped her open up and become confident. Each student pays her ₹200 as a fee. Stitching charges are about ₹150 for a salwar sui, and ₹120 for a blouse. She earns between ₹3,000 and ₹4,000 every month.

Anuradha and Yasmeen are just two examples of women who have emerged from the margins, have fortified themselves with skills and set up their own enterprises. They are among a community of 20,350 micro entrepreneurs across the country who are running sewing schools for women, along with their own tailoring shops.

A movement of sorts, stitch by stitch

Aided by Usha Social Services, schools have come up in slums, shanties and colonies of big cities, small and medium towns, districts and villages. With only talent for tailoring as the criteria and no educational qualifications needed, a movement of sorts has started that attempts to build financial security for women from marginalised sections of society. The women, on an average, earn ₹1,800 per month, with the highest earning going up to ₹56,000 per month.

This community-based initiative that started in March 2011 has made substantial inroads, with 4,05,000 women completing the stitching course to date and nearly 25,000 women continuing to learn the art of sewing. “It has been an amazing journey comprising teaching, training, and learning. It underscores the commitment and intent of the Usha Silai School initiative on identifying solutions to problems and focusing on action and implementation on ground. This journey has brought to the fore the potential these women have to perform when equipped with the right training and mentoring. It has also been a learning in managing multi-sectoral partnerships that include NGOs, educational institutions, the women and their families,” says Dr Priya Somaiya, Director, Usha Social Ser-vices (USS), who has brought the initiative to this level.

One thing is for certain, Usha Silai Schools are equipped to change the course of women’s lives. When introduced in Indore several years ago to offer a new vocation to women who had vowed to leave their caste-based job of manual scavenging, they became successful enablers. Later, thanks to the drive shown by the women and organisation Jan Sahas, which initiated the sewing schools, manual scavengers got together to start their own garment label christened ‘Dignity’.

This is just one story of courage and conviction. Usha Social Services is brimming with tales from tribal villages, remote locations and urban shanties of women who fought, struggled, led and forged ahead in a single mission towards a livelihood that brings with it financial security and independence. Today they are present in 29 States and seven union territories. Usha schools are also operating in Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. There are plans to take the initiative to all SAARC nations. You can even adopt a silai school for ₹17,000.

Somaiya, who has been closely watching the changes that have taken place in the lives of these micro entrepreneurs, sums it up aptly, “ …the biggest driver is the fact that it gives them a dignified means of livelihood in their own homes. It’s so heartening to see how their earnings are used for better education, nutrition, and healthcare. Even more heartening is the fact that they become the centre of change in their own communities as they further empower more women by teaching them the same skill.”

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