A day to Remember

Saturday, November 8 was a new marker for the Aashray Abhiyan Journey. At the Loyola hall on St. Xavier's High School campus, our 'Seamstress' graduates came together to mark the beginning of the AA Talent Collective, comprised of willing women who have completed their skill-building courses, and who are willing to band together to start an enterprise of their own.

To start the conversation, and encourage our young women, the Chief Guest of the day, Ms. Usha Jha, the chairperson of the Bihar Mahila Udyog Sangh, an organisation that helps rural women along their entrepreneurial journeys, shared her story, and informed the gathering of possibilities, that could be explored.

Sister Dorothy explained that the vision of the venture was to follow up on the skill-building programs and further accompany the tailoring centre Alumni, into a talent collective that would address the demand for affordable garments, especially among those with modest incomes.

The collective would be comprised of the trained girls and women, and would explore market possibilities, further skill-building, participation in exhibitions and trade fairs, and so on.

It was encouraging that several of the women present reported that they were able to earn some money from their neighbourhoods, sewing women's and children's garments during the festive season.

The event was ably compered by Ms. Aiman Fatima with the able support of all the members of the Aashray Abhiyan team.