According to this Firstpost article Covid19 decimated the livelihoods of 80% of the population of India and 63% of the population had to survive on only two meals a day. Our beneficiaries are mostly daily wage labourers who were the victims of the lockdown of losing their income.
Calcutta Rescue started the “Restoration of the Livelihoods” project through the handicrafts unit aiming to train and provide employment to the poorest section of the society who lost their work during the lockdown. In January 2021 the project started with 20 women trainees and after six months, the hard work of our dedicated handicrafts team pays off.
With a little help from Calcutta Rescue, Manika is now supporting her family financially
Manika Patro lives in a tiny rented room near Park Circus Tiljala with her elderly father and mother-in-law, her six-year-old daughter and her husband. Her husband Bijoy used to work at a small scale bag manufacturing factory as an electrician and used to earn a meagre amount each month. But the Covid lockdown in March 2020 brought stopped that income inflow too as he lost that job.
When Bijoy couldn’t find a job even after the unlock period, Manika decided to find a way to become self-employed. When her friend told her that Calcutta Rescue Handicrafts’ Restoring Livelihoods Project would train them in tailoring and embroidery for free she saw silver lining.
Calcutta Rescue Handicrafts provided Manika a sewing machine to start her small business
Manika always wanted to set up a small business for herself. She loved her embroidery classes at school and has a good command over all types of embroidery styles.
Upon asking Manika giggles and says: ‘I had learned embroidery and stitching baby clothes in the work education class back in school. Those lessons have helped me pick up lessons quickly here. Our teachers here are very helpful and they teach us with a lot of kindness’.
Needless to say that her teachers are very pleased with her work in tailoring and embroidery.
Two more trainees who demonstrated outstanding performances also got sewing machines to begin their entrepreneurship journeys.
Restoration of Livelihoods project resumes with a new batch of students
The second session of the project started on 23 August with twenty more promising students who will become independent at the end of the course.
