January 2009 was when we first visited the village of khadoli. Since then we have visited them several times and on each visit been constantly amazed by what the women of Khadoli have achieved.
Here’s their story --
In early 2007, a group of women from the kuruba community (sheep rearing community of north Karnataka) decided they wanted to improve the quality of their life. The women visited some established SHG’s (Self Help Groups) around their area and got inspired.
This group of 35 women approached Shramik Kala (a local organisation involved in promoting craft based sustainable livelihood) who helped them in setting up their SHG’s and also trained them in craft skills. After their training they started working at their village community centre 9am to 5pm. They started making lovely bags from sheep wool.
Regular work started to stream in, but they were unable to work regularly as the community centre was for the whole village and other groups wanted to use it to have prayer meetings, exercise sessions, party meetings etc. Without a proper place to work, they would not be able to earn a regular income from their craft skills. Undeterred, the women decided to tackle the problem head-on. They successfully approached the bank for a loan and also approached their local MLA for help. It was 2008 and state assembly elections were due shortly. The spunky women promised thier vote to him in return for his help. After he won the elections, the women made sure he kept his word!! They also got tremendous support from the men of their community. An old gentleman from the village donated a small piece of land and the women set about building their work centre. These women took turns to do the manual work at the building site and to work on the orders. Here’s a picture of their Work-In-Progress building.
The 2 SHG’s have now moved into their new building. During our recent visit, the confident women showed us new bag designs they had themselves come up with. The new designs were, needless to say, quite impressive! (who needs these specialised urban designers uh!!? ) They proudly tell others in their village that their bags were being used by women in foreign lands!! Having already paid off half of the loan, they are already dreaming of expansion. Amen to that.
