My recent visit to Shoshana sewing project at Angalakuduru village which is near to Tenali.
Mainly visited since the present batch of women who are under the sewing training are about to finish their course. We were discussing about their requirement and future programs after they finish their course.

Present batch of students at Shoshana sewing project, Angalakudur

Providing a sewing machine for them after finishing their course is necessary because majority of the women are from very poor background, mostly daily workers. They can't afford to buy a new machine on their own.There are instances of some women who again went back as daily workers or house maids even after finishing their tailoring course because they had not enough money even to purchase a machine.

All our efforts training them for their better ment of their lives were of no use so i think it would be useful for them to have a machine right after they finish their course for more practice and for proper use of their skill.

Few women have old sewing machines of their own and few bought machines on their own but majority of the women need machines.


I happend to meet one of the previous batch students who is residing close to the Sewing centre.
I was very happy to find her running her business successfully and making proper use of the sewing machine given by us.

Her name is Rajani. She is 30yrs of age. Married. Her husband is a coolie. He lost everything in gambling and had to even sell their house to clear the debts.

She was a coolie too but in her leisure time she got the opportunity to get the training at Shoshana sewing project. She belongs to 2008-09 batch.

She made very good use of her skill. Now in their area she is well known as  a tailor and now she became the main support for their family. She is taking good care of her children. Presently she is living in a rented house but recently she bought a land and very soon they are going to have their own house again.

Rajani along with the instructor Krishnaveni(Angalakuduru)

Pics of Second batch of students at Shoshana sewing centre, Nagaralu ,Guntur.















The insttructor Mrs. Vasantha showing the students the special map which they have to prepare first before going to the real models.

This map is specially designed by two German ladies which is very much usually for the students for their systematic learning.

So every project made it a point that each student have a map of their own for their future reference.








This sewing project was started in Aug-11 and recently finished its first batch  of training programme.
Now we have second batch students started in April-12.

 Soon i will upload the  updates of the first batch students pics.

Name of the student: K.Deva kumari

She  is a married, Christian with 28 yrs of age.

She is from a village called Gannavaram which is 30 minutes drive from Vijayawada City. After finishing her school education she got married to a Pastor.

In villages usually pastors will not have a proper income of their own since they work mostly among poor people. Inorder to support her husband she is working as a domestic helper .

She has a son(12yrs), deaf  by birth and a daughter who is 8 yrs of age. Both are in a Government school.

Hearing about the sewing classes at Giripuram, Vijayawada from her husband, Deva kumari joined as a special student at Hemima’s place only during weekends. She used to come by a bus to Vijayawada from Gannavaram. She recently finished her one year training in stitching.

Provided with a machine from Shoshana, she started her own work as a tailor. Besides that she started her own sewing centre at Gannavarm with 10 students charging 100 rupees each per month. She is quite confident in her work as a teacher. Ofcourse she can’t run the centre for free since she needs money for her living but she is ready to give free classes to needy women once in a while. She is very happy for the support she got from Shoshana for her self help as well as for having a position to help others.

I would like to share the pics of Deva kumari as soon as possible.

Name of the student: Nagamani

She is a married, Christian with 35 years of age.

She is an illiterate woman. She has one daughter (15yrs) and son (11yrs). They are living in a small rented house.

Her husband is also a school drop out working as a daily worker in an iron welding shop.

Nagamani also has problem with her husband drinking habits. She is a victim of domestic violence. Her husband used to beat her up when she refuses to give him money for his drinking. She had to suffer all that because she had not much confidence to defend her situation.

Most of the men in that area called Giripuam are alchoholics and drug addicts. For many generations there is no progress in their lives and not much development. Women has to run their families and most children remain as child labourers.

Nagamani is working as a servant maid in the near by apartments. Children are going to Government school and in their holidays they also have to work to help their mother for their living. They are very much neglected by their father.

Hemima encouraged Nagamani to attend the sewing training so that it would be of use for her besides her regular work. She finished her training and she started working. She got a machine from Shoshana and she started her business slowly along with her regular work and since it turned out to be good income for her now she took it as a full time job. She started living seperately in a small house with her children.

Her daughter also is taking training in  embroidery at Hemima’s place now. She finished her 10 standard and she utilized her summer holidays for the training so that both mother and daughter can work together.

  

I hope some day her husband will repent and get back to their family.

Name of the student: B. Leya

She is a married, Christian with 25yrs of age.

She finished her school education. She has two small kids,one daughter(9yrs)and one son(7yrs).

Her husband is a daily worker in a welding shop. He is an alchoholic and used to spend all the money for his drinking habits. Family was in a very bad situation even unable to get their daily meal. Sending their children to school was a dream for them. They are living in a small house with only one room.

At that time , Leya is suffering from uterus cancer and it was very difficult for her to work and take care of her family. Knowing about her situation - 

Hemima(Instructor at our Sewing Project, Vjd) joined Leya’s kids in a free education school run by her aunt. It’s a school with free education and free mid day meals. This way the kids survived to some extent which was very difficult for them at home.

Hemima encouraged Leya to join her free sewing class. Leya succeeded in finishing her training besides taking treatment for her disease.. Some times she was very ill and couldn’t attend the classes but the teacher, Hemima showed special interest in her and gave extra time to finish her course. Now her health also is much better and she is in a position to take care of her and her household activities.

With the help of Shoshana now she got a sewing machine and she started her own work from at home and she is doing good with her work.  Her husband is still an alchoholic and he has health problems too but now she is confident that she could run her family on her own and take good care of her children.

Hemima's  Embroidery class - Instructor at Shoshana Sewing Centre, Vijayawada.

Hemima our instructor at Vijayawada sewing project recently underwent a major surgery so instead of a tailoring class, this time she organized an embroidery class for needy girls in their area called Giripuram.

New batch of women with one or two previous students who finished their sewing class.