Hamari Silai is an NGO targeted at women empowerment through tailoring. Students from Grade 11 at B.D. have been working with this NGO over the past semester and have coordinated multiple CAS activities. This includes an introduction of pillow covers – a new product, to their existing line, educational sessions of Math, English, and general awareness, conducting interviews to learn more about the inspiration and purpose behind the enterprise and now a blog post to help raise awareness about their cause.
Manisha, Kaashi and Lakshmi are three ladies who’ve been working at Hamari Silai for 2-3 years. B.D. students decided to speak with them in order to gain an insight into their wonderfully inspiring stories. Manisha, Kaashi and Lakshmi are 29, 27 and 21 years old respectively and they’re eternally grateful towards Hamari Silai. They believe that it provides them with an opportunity to express themselves and gain more confidence about their role in society. They have learned how to read, interact with customers and gain real-life experience that they hope to pass on to their daughters in the future.
The organization has allowed them to provide for their families and has served as a stepping stone for bigger, better jobs in the future. They love their work and hope to expand Hamari Silai, encourage more women to join, and create more opportunities for themselves. Over the pandemic, ladies working for the organization have made over 12000 masks and distributed them to other NGOs, playing a vital role in the safety of multiple communities. To add to what they’ve achieved, they have also made sanitary pads, tote bags, dresses and many other products through the training they received at Hamari Silai.
Their struggles and their path of empowerment is extremely inspiring and we must do our best to support them in any way we can. Here is their Instagram page: @hamarisilai – please check it out and share their posts to help them get noticed and also make more people aware about the difference the NGO is trying to bring in the community.
This post has been co-authored by Malvika Mehta from Grade 11.
