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News 2013

April

These short reports are just in:

Sewing course (PDF 397 KB)

Henna design course PDF (65 KB)

2012 notes

Karunadeepa writes from Pune:

Sewing classes. Now more women and girls have started coming to us and are demanding a sewing class to teach punjabi dress, which is really great.

Livelihood. After the six years that BODHI has been supporting this program, the women have started some income generating activities so that they can sit at home and earn something.

Medical camps. Only 24 women attended the camp because they were held from 11.30am to 1.30pm. This was not a good time for the mothers as the water that comes through the pipe lines comes at different times in different areas and hence the women give priority to washing their clothes, cleaning and storing water as water comes for only few hours a day. And they do not have lots of pots to store water. Therefore few women turned up for this programme. Also, some women had been out doing some jobs for their living.

From left: Karunadeepa, Kris Chakma, children

BODHI is providing henna design classes to older sisters (and others) of the Gosawi nomadic tribal children in our 0-5 year-old medical care and education program.

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l(PDF 80KB)

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Tribal Child Health & Early Education, Pune, India

Making a start at making some money

Imcome generation: henna design class, 2013

From left: Karunadeepa, Kris Chakma and Ganabhai Chauhan.
Kris is holding up a sari blouse Ganabbhai made in class.

Sari-blouse sewing classes started on December 3 for the mothers,
big sisters and other Gosawi women.

December 2012

2 new livelihood projects just starting for mothers, big sisters & others

Two new experimental livelihood projects are just beginning for the mothers, big sisters and other tribal women in Hadapsar (Gosavi Vasti) Pune. We don't know how they will go. We'll see. This is experimental; if it goes well, then we offer advanced classes and purchase used sewing machines for the women to use to make some money.

Sewing classes

For twelve weeks from the first week in December, teacher Usha Tavale will teach 12-15 women for 1 1/2 hours each day excluding Sunday. They will learn 12 different patterns of blouses on two sewing machines.

Karunadeepa writes, 'We will see if the women build up confidence and are able to stitch good blouses, then we will try and find donors of secondhand sewing machines lying unused by women from different localities, to be reused by our sewing class women.

'This is the first time we are conducting training with these women. We are not sure how they will respond. This is trial and error, but my gut feeling is that something good will be achieved from this which will give way to more such trainings.'

Henna decoration classes

Teacher Swati will give four 15-day training courses for up to 45 girls and women to learn the art of applying henna designs to the hands and feet of brides. They can then charge Rs500 in the wedding season. They can purchase their supplies (cones of henna) inexpensively and easily in the marketplace.

All the girls are over 15 years of age. Some are married and some are not. They will be working with their own or lower castes at the very least.

An advanced course will follow.