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EMPOWERING WOMEN
One way to empower a woman, is by teaching her life skills to support herself and her family.
The Tailoring Institute for Women located in Parassala, Kerala, was Karangal's first project. It not only provides refuge to women from homes of alcohol abuse but also trains them in sewing, embroidery and tailoring techniques. This skill has given a livelihood to hundreds of rural women over the years.
It all started when two women one Indian (Lily) and one Swiss (Anne-Françoise) met at a painting class in Rolle and became good friends. Their common interest to uplift women enduring socio-economic difficulties in the rural areas of South India gave birth to R+D South India Association.
The three founding members, Anne-Françoise Steimer, Lily Amirtham and Pierre Reymond founded the association in 1992 at Mont-sur-Rolle and began their work to develop a structure to provide refuge, training and space to women for their empowerment.
The Tailoring Centre for Women was Karangal's first program, located in Parassala, Kerala. It has provided a safe environment to women from homes of alcohol abuse, abandoned women, widows and many others from difficult situations to come and be trained in the area of sewing, embroidery and tailoring.
These skills could then be monitized by them and inturn help them and their families sustain a livelihood. Over the years, with Karangal's support through various activities in Switzerland and India, the centre has grown to a great extent.
It is self supportive with 4 staff members and few workers that work at the onsite facility and many others who collect material from the facility to work from home. They produce beautiful garments and textile products as per the tailoring needs of the local families and small readymade garment stores.
If you would like to support them further, please visit our online shop for more information on how to buy products created by them.
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