By Geetanjali | Manager
Dear friends,
Greetings from IDEA!
Hope you are safe! We are writing to you to thank you for your continued support to this project. Because of your contribution we have been able to skill thousands of young women over the years in different trades like Tailoring, beauty parlour, cooking and handmade products. Many have even taken our entrepreneurial training and have been running micro-businesses too. But due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent nation wide lockdown, our skilling courses and the women-led businesses both have taken a hit.
To help these young women continue their skilling courses even during lockdown, our team has been conducting their classes online. The women are divided into manageable batches according to the choice of their courses. Our instructors have developed small modules to impart skills training especially suitable to be taught online.
It was really helpful that these women had already completed our digital literacy course earlier where they learned how to use computers, internet and smartphones. They can create WhatsApp groups, do video-conferencing and share videos/photos with ease. These digital skills are helping them continue their vocational skills training online.
Our team of social workers has been contacting them since the beginning of the outbreak, first to create awareness about the pandemic, to understand their situation and then to counsel them inorder to alleviate their fears and anxieties related to loss of jobs and livelihood opportunities. We urged them to continue honing their skills and keep attending our online sessions.
In early March, just when the early cases of COVID-19 affected were being reported in India, women from our Tailoring course left aside their other orders and started stitching masks. They quickly completed an order of 500 masks in March which were sold in their communities at an affordable price. Currently, a team of 12 women is working very hard to complete a huge target of 10,000 masks. They post photos and through the WhatsApp group, our team is able to keep a track of their progress. It is quite impressive that in spite of the gloom surrounding the pandemic, these women have not lost hope and are striving to make a contribution to society!
Women from our cooking and catering course are also learning from their instructor who is conducting online cooking sessions for them. Sharing recipes and solving their doubts on WhatsApp group. Recently their instructor arranged an online cooking competition. The task was to prepare immunity-boosting snacks which are most needed at this hour. Women shot and posted their cooking videos, a poll was conducted on the group and prizes were announced thereafter. The winners were asked to share their recipes. The team has decided to hold more such activities throughout the course.
Our beauty parlour students are also making the best use of their lockdown time by watching beauty tutorials on youtube and practicing their make-up skills at home. Our instructors are also conducting online sessions for them. The women were encouraged to practice their hair cutting skills by giving haircuts to their family members. Besides these trade-related sessions, many life skill sessions are also conducted by our team including sessions on anger management, nutrition, how to boost immunity etc.
Since many of these women used to run micro-businesses which had to be closed due to lockdown, they are facing many financial problems, some are struggling for even basic essentials and medicines. To help them survive this lockdown, we are making bank transfers to help them with groceries, medicines and their other urgent needs. We are also planning to help them revive their businesses post lockdown through entrepreneurial training, motivational sessions and monetary support!
We request you to keep donating to this project so that we can help thousands of women to revive their micro-businesses and help their skilling journey. Let us keep their hopes alive!
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