KOLPING India trained 30 women of an indigenous nomadic tribe in Tamil Nadu in tailoring and dressmaking in a pilot project. The special feature of this project is that this course targets a section of the population that is ostracized by the majority of people. This nomadic tribe is a marginal group in India, that is denied the basic rights and discriminated by the government. In addition, these people are economically poor and they are poorly educated.
To give as many women from that tribe as possible a chance to undergo a training, the three-month courses were held in their village called Kuruvimalai. The instructors praised the women’s exceptional talents not only in sewing but also in embroidering clothes exquisitely. In the presence of desk officer Gregor Federhen from KOLPING INTERNATIONAL, the graduating women received their certificates which they can use to apply for funding under a programme sponsored by the government. Any woman who can produce evidence of a three-month training can apply to receive a sewing machine and to start a business as a seamstress. The KOLPING training courses were held in cooperation with Tamil Nadu State Rural Livelihoods Mission (TNSRLM) and enable women to generate an additional income. The first step has been taken to leave poverty behind. Thanks to KOLPING these women have got a chance and a new perspective.
