- The Foundation is organizing Sathwaro Mela at the Adani Corporate House on 1 and 2 November 2023 to bring together many first-generation entrepreneurs like Mary to showcase their products
- The Foundation team tapped Bismi women’s talent and helped them form a self-help group (SHG) in July 2022
NE NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, AHMEDABAD, OCT 30
“We were invisible. We didn’t have a voice until our work began to speak for us,” say Muslim women of the Bismi group of Jameelabad in Kottaikuppam panchayat of Ponneri taluka in Tamil Nadu.
Jameelabad in this southern state is a small village and home to Muslim fishing community. Fishing is the main occupation of the residents of this village. The community faces hardships during the months when fishing is banned as they have no other source of income. Women, who rarely venture out of their homes, create small items from palm leaves in their spare time which hardly fetch them money.
However, winds of change began to blow after Adani Foundation started work in the region. The Foundation team tapped Bismi women’s talent and helped them form a self-help group (SHG) in July 2022. Soon after that the skill training of the 14-member group began. The Foundation also extended support in the form of materials worth Rs 70,000 under the livelihood enhancement project. The nimble fingers began to create beautiful artefacts from palm leaves.
“We couldn’t believe our eyes that we could make items like shopping bags, lunch and chocolate boxes, mats, trays, etc., from the leaves abundantly available in our coastal village,” said Fathima. “We earned Rs 1,20,000 in the period between July and September 2023,” she added excitedly. The new-found confidence has empowered the Bismi women, who are happy that they can contribute to their families’ income. They are the first in their village to start their own enterprise.
The Adani Foundation through its Sathwaro – meaning together — initiative works towards preserving India’s rich heritage of arts and crafts while uplifting artisans in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It helps artisans with design development so that they can produce as per the demands of the market. The initiative also provides support to artisans in forming market linkages to help them sell their products.
In Vizhinjam, Abdul Rehman was facing challenges when his products would get rejected as they failed to meet the market standards. A school dropout, he is a proud owner of a coconut shell handicraft business, which he built himself. His products – he makes around 40 items of kitchenware, tableware, garden, and décor – would sell at good prices in the market. But these lost sheen as competition intensified in the market. He then began to take part in the exhibitions organized by the Foundation, which had begun working in the Vizhinjam port area. At the exhibitions, he learned the importance of marketing and quality control that helped him with design precision and maintaining the quality of craft items at par with export standards. The Sathwaro exhibition held on the premises of the port for a high-level delegation opened new channels, energizing him to produce top quality coconut shell items.
Rahman, who lost his father very early in life and then met with a freak accident while playing football that left him with a deformed limb, takes challenges head-on. This first-generation entrepreneur found a calling very early in life and the Sathwaro initiative gave a new direction to his passion.
Soga Mary of Muthukuru village in Nellore is class XI passout with a general nursing and midwifery (GNM) certificate. Her husband is an auto-rickshaw driver and the sole earning member of the family that includes their children and her parents-in-law. Life was difficult because her every wish to work and help her husband run their household was met with a cold response from her in-laws. They never wanted her to go out and work.
So, she decided to take the reins of her life and start something of her own. The Adani Foundation had begun work in the Krishnapatnam port area and when the word reached her that they were extending support to people like her to start their own enterprise, she approached them. “I knew bamboo craft making and wanted to start my own enterprise from home,” said Mary. But she did not have money to buy materials like bamboo sticks, wire for handles and other equipment required to make items that she was adept at.
The Foundation helped Mary with the required materials in bulk to start the micro-enterprise. “My happiness knew no bounds when I received my first payment. Today, I earn Rs 6,000 per month by selling handicraft items like bamboo baskets, light covers, trays, flower baskets, etc. This has given me immense confidence as I am able to contribute to household expenditure and save a good sum every month for my future,” said Mary, who has built a rewarding life for herself.
The Foundation is organizing Sathwaro Mela at the Adani Corporate House on 1 and 2 November 2023 to bring together many first-generation entrepreneurs like Mary to showcase their products.
