Our NGO partner, Sahiyar Stree Sangathan was featured in the Indian Express recently.
Sahiyar Stree Sangathan
helps women get organised, earn profits and root for women
empowerment.
Express News
Service
Vadodara,
January 8: THE issue of
women empowerment will soar on the wings of a kite this year. With
women traditionally involved in kite-making, city-based organisation
Sahiyar Stree Sangathan has made a foray into kite trade. Through
organised trade, the NGO plans to help women kite-makers earn a
better living. And, through their kites, it hopes to spread the
message of women's rights.
Taking a cue from entrepreneurs who advertise their goods on
kites, Sahiyar, too, decided to cash in on this method. However, its
main intention is to mobilise and organise the womenfolk engaged in
kite-making ? a household industry in Muslim-dominated areas like
Bawamanpura.
The NGO has started off the venture with 35,000 kites prepared by
half-a-dozen women. The kites are up for sale at the traditional
kite markets in the city, and also at the organic dhaba on Race
Course Road. ??It is a modest beginning. We are trying to set up an
organised system so that the role of middlemen can be eliminated.
This will help the women get their proper share of money,'' says
Trupti Shah of Sahiyar.
These kites also have another purpose. It will serve as a display
for three themes: communal harmony, save the girl child and stop
domestic violence against women. These messages have been printed on
around 5,000-odd kites. ??Institutions will be interested in kites
printed with such social messages,'' says Reshma, a Sahiyar
activist.
Taking another step forward, Sahiyar plans to form a women
kite-makers' co-operative. ??Now that we know the business, we can
get organised. But, everything depends on the response we get this
year,'' says Trupti.
For Salma, a divorcee who makes kites for a living, the NGO's
intervention is a morale-booster.
??This step also encourages a sense of solidarity with other
women,'' says Salma.
??The growth in seasonal income eases the burden of daily
expenditure,'' says another kite-maker, whose husband sells fruits
for a living.
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