Activities
We work with more than 500 women in Ahmedabad, Patan, Kachchh, Bhavnagar, Bharuch districts. Gramshree is decentralized into self-help groups, which consist of 10-15 women and a leader. By enabling each woman to earn, she can improve the overall quality of life in her household and alleviate the pressure on her children to work. After she begins to generate income, we expose her to awareness on issues such as health, nutrition and education. The woman is the best catalyst to securing her family's welfare, which is linked to society’s overall development.
Each woman who joins Gramshree must agree to two conditions: irrespective of how many children she has coming into our program, no woman should exceed three children after joining us. Every woman must commit to furthering her child's education either through schooling or then through vocational training.
Click on each activity to learn more:
LIVELIHOOD IMPACT
Reality is that most underprivileged women in India need to work, but are also the main caretaker of the family. Gramshree found a compromise to this dual demand. We train women in various handwork techniques, and then the women work from home, simultaneously earning and looking after their children. This flexibility allows women take care of their domestic duties while working to earn when they have the time. Through handiwork, each woman can sustain herself and strengthen the fabric of her life.
HEALTH EDUCATION
Unfortunately, many marginalized women do not receive proper health care due to social stigmas and a lack of information. Gramshree continuously organizes seminars, lectures and interactive workshops to create awareness among the women regarding health, hygiene and nutrition. Additionally, if women are in need of medical care, we take the necessary steps to ensure their visits to a medical professional.
FOOD SECURITY
Each year the women are provided a year’s supply of oil, grains and spices to reduce the daily stress of feeding their families; life in the slum invariably revolves around a hand-to mouth existence. They then repay this subsidized “food loan”, which costs less than the market value, by paying monthly installment from the wages they earn through Gramshree.
WOMEN'S SAVINGS SCHEME
As women earn they are also given advice on how to save and spend wisely. We have set up a community operated bank where the women can maintain their own accounts, and become financially independent. We also established a need-based loan program for our women to help them pay for basic amenities such as electricity and toilet facilities.
STRENGTHENING EDUCATION
We strongly encourage education as a means to a brighter future. We help our women ensure their children’s education by helping them cover fees, admission costs and school materials.
FIELD TRIPS
Women in India work constantly and enjoy very little respite. To allow them an occasional break and the chance to relish in some fun, we organize field trips to places such as temples, heritage sights and the cinema. The women get to momentarily leave their confined roles as daughters, mothers and wives, increase their self-confidence and strengthen the bond of sisterhood.
FAMILY PLANNING
Gramshree promotes family planning operations as regular child births put a huge strain on the woman’s health and her family's finances. The government offers the operation, in which the fallopian tubes are tied, for free. In cooperation with Manav
Sadhna, Gramshree provides aftercare and medicine as well as one kilogram of ghee (clarified butter). We also take the women to the hospital for follow-up examinations and check-ups.
BASIC AMENITIES
Since many slum households do not have a toilet, open defecation is one of the leading causes of illness within these areas. Our field workers evaluate each woman’s home, and where necessary, we install toilets at a minimal cost to the women. Most of the cost is covered by government subsidization and donations. We also provide gas tanks for cooking at subsidized rates to all of our women.
AWARENESS PROGRAM FOR ADOLESCENT GIRLS
Every Sunday more than 15 adolescent girls come together at the community center in Ramapir No Tekro for an awareness and education program, held by two volunteers. The meetings focus on confidence-building and self-reliance through activities like self-defense, health awareness and public speaking. By teaching these girls about life outside their own neighborhood, we hope to help them become independent and confident women.
STRENGTHENING ARTISANS
In an effort to strengthen India’s Craft Traditions, we work with artisans to give them design input, access to resources, a marketing platform and other requirements to ensure they can continue to make high-quality crafts and earn a fair wage from their trade.
Gallery
