New Skills Help Women Earn Extra Money

Backgrounder

In many places, women are the ones who grow food, shop for food, cook, and feed the family. They also nurse family members who are sick. So when women spend their money, it is for the benefit of the whole family, not just themselves. But when the growing season is over, many women agricultural workers have no way to earn income, and the health and welfare of their families may then suffer.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if women could work together during the off season to earn extra income for their families and themselves? Well, they can! Listen to the story that Dr. Sara Bhattacharji told of some women in southern India who have changed their lives by meeting together to learn new skills.

In the villages around Vellore, the harvest was over. There was no more work to do on the farms, and not much money for food and clothing. So a group of young women, eager to help their families, asked some community health workers to help them find ways of earning a steady income the whole year round.

Doctor Sara Bhattacharji and her colleagues, working in the community health program of the Christian Medical College in their district, helped the women find a skilled teacher from a nearby district who could teach them new skills and crafts such as basketweaving and matweaving. With their new skills, the women would be able to make products that they could sell.

Their teacher showed them how to weave beautiful palm leaf baskets. These baskets sell for a good price. Soon the women were earning enough to buy better food for their families or repair their houses or buy medicines when someone was sick. So the whole family was better off.

Then, a second group asked to learn tailoring so that they could save money by sewing their own clothes. They could also earn more by making clothes to sell. Other groups ventured into work which, until then, was done only by men. One group learned welding, although it meant handling high temperature torches and hot metal. They now make racks for drying clothes, weld window bars and frames, and even do welding for large buildings at the hospital where Dr. Bhattacharji works.

Another group asked to learn bricklaying and masonry. When the doctor and her colleagues told them it could be risky, the women laughed. “What do you think we do now, Doctor?” asked their leader. “We carry baskets of earth and bricks and cement on our heads up the scaffolding for the men. That’s just as risky, but we get smaller wages.” So the community health group arranged for them to learn masonry. They built the community centre where the women’s groups gather for their classes. The women are neat, steady workers, so they get good jobs that pay well.

Earning more money changed other aspects of these women’s lives. At first there were only small changes. When the women talked to one another in the class, they found they all wanted the same kinds of things. They all had the same kinds of problems, too. So each learned she was not alone. Soon the women found that they could do some things in groups which they could not do alone, like go out to buy new clothes or to see a movie. Traditionally, the women in these villages were not allowed to go out alone. They had to wait for their fathers or brothers or husbands to take them. But now they could go together in a group. Knowing that they could do things independently gave them new confidence in themselves.

Slowly, the women began thinking about changing customs and practices that were unfair or harmful. Traditionally in this area, parents used to marry off their daughters very young, even by the age of 12 or 13. This meant that they started having children very young, too. Often this weakened both the mother and the children.

Now the women talked about these problems. Some of the unmarried girls in the groups began to say that they would marry only when they were ready to do so. And because the whole group supported them, it worked. So the average marriage age in this community went up from 15 years to 21 years. This means healthier mothers and healthier babies.

They also learned to accept other people’s customs and ways of thinking. Many different social and religious groups live in these villages. Usually, each group keeps to itself and does not mix much with the others. But because women of different groups met in the craft classes, they became friends.

At first, the men found it hard to accept the changes. The old men felt the women were becoming too bold and disrespectful because they no longer walked with heads bent and eyes on the ground. The young men felt angry that the young women had become so independent. The men forgot that the extra money the women earned was helping all of them lead easier lives.

One night, the young men of the basketweavers’ village got so angry that they burned down the community centre where the handicraft classes were held. With no place to work, the women stopped practising their handicrafts. Without the extra income, entire families suffered. Slowly, the young men realized what a mistake they had made. After two years, the same young men who had burned the centre down agreed to help rebuild it. Although they have not yet done this, the women have started their classes again in a rented building. The men now support their activities.

This all began over five years ago. The masonry group continued for about three years. The welding group still works, but is much smaller. However, the basketweavers’ and sisal fibre workers’ groups have grown much larger. They have now formed a cooperative with more than 700 members. Their crafts are not only sold locally but also exported to other parts of India and even to other countries. Although some of the groups have faded out, the women learned something important: that there is strength in working together. The men learned that some changes in old customs can be good. And to everyone’s benefit, the health and nutrition of the people in the community has improved.