In October, several clubs from RI district 3233 came together in an ambitious venture to give 200 underprivileged women in Chennai not only sewing machines, but also the crucial training and skills required to use those machines to become economically self-reliant and make a financial contribution to their families.
The brainchild of Anees Begam, member of RC Chennai Sunrise and chairperson of the Women’s empowerment committee of RI District 3233, this project made headlines in the local media, providing the visual appeal of 200 women assembling at the recently renovated Valluvar Kottam in the city and returning home with gleaming new sewing machines.
Giving details of the project, Anees, its project chair, said when DG Devendran called her and said he was appointing her as chair of this committee, as she was herself a woman entrepreneur (chairperson of Haiku Foods, which makes breads, chapattis, etc) and would have some good ideas on how to create more women entrepreneurs, she decided to convert the club project she had in mind of giving sewing machines to women into a district project.
Eventually, what had been planned as a small project expanded into a much bigger one, with ₹15 lakh being spent to provide training and give sewing machines to women from poorer homes. Normally an Usha sewing machine of the model chosen costs ₹7,500, but after a lot of negotiation and considering that this was a community service project, she was able to procure the sewing machines at ₹5,000 a unit.
When a good deed is being done, it attracts sponsors; a single club in RID 3233, RC Madras Arch City, came forward to sponsor 33 machines, and RC Madras North West sponsored 20 machines. Anees herself and two of her friends, each paid for 25 machines and a total number of 200 women were helped through the project titled Thaiyal Nayagi (Tailoring champions).
On how the 200 beneficiaries were identified, Anees says that she wanted to concentrate on North Madras as poverty levels are higher there. She explains that to help women who have passed their 12th class, and have a dream but no jobs or skills to get an income, government PHCs (Public Health Centres) keep a note book where such women can provide their details and the area in which they have some interest/skill. “So we scouted the PHCs near slum areas in North Madras and identified 100 women from Old Washermanpet and another 100 from Vyasarpadi who were interested in getting training in tailoring.”
The next obvious step was to equip them with tailoring skills. Here she took help from a friend who does training courses for women in beauty care, tailoring etc. “So I asked her if apart from tailoring skills, can you also teach them aari work (embroidery). I want you to train 200 women for me, not only in tailoring, because if they stitch blouses they will make as little as ₹150. But if they can embellish the blouses with some aari work, they can earn much more. And she agreed,” says the project chair.
Anees is always brimming with ideas on how to empower women. For instance, earlier, she had come out with the idea of empowering women by giving them auto rickshaws, and 115 autos were given to women in what became the famous Pink Auto project, with the Lead2025 conclave seeing the RI President Francesco Arezzo and Tamil Nadu Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin giving out keys of autos to 100 women drivers in Chennai. This enterprising Rotarian recalls that when she first thought of the autos-for-women project in 2019, she herself spent ₹9,000 required to pay for the beneficiary’s driving lessons. “At that time, the cost of one auto was ₹2.75 lakh and I paid ₹1.25 lakh from my pocket!”
With the right partnerships — TN government, which provided two Corporation school premises during non-school hours to conduct the training, the Trinity Training Academy which is founded and owned by Rtn Ganapathy Suresh, DGN of RID 3233, and whose co-founder and CEO Kavitha Rammohan is her friend — the women underwent the training course. She didn’t need to organise the money — ₹3,000 a person — for the 75-day training course as Kavitha told her that funds for this were available under a government welfare scheme.
The women were trained, the 200 sewing machines were bought and the project was launched with Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi being the chief guest. Expressing her happiness that the Rotarians had undertaken such an important project to give economic independence to 200 underprivileged women, the MP urged the project team to ensure that the women got marketing support, and some marketing skills. “The crying need for this project is clear, and I assure you that the Tamil Nadu government would extend its support to this initiative,” she said.
Kanimozhi’s advice was taken seriously; “I have spoken to Ambattur Clothing and another friend who produces cotton kurtis in bulk and exports them, to pass on some work to these women. I am also connecting them to some wholesalers; they will have to pick up the fabric, sew the garments at home and continue the cycle. Marketing linkages will also be given through social media,” said Anees.
Addressing the meet, RID 3233 DG D Devendran said foundation-building was important and emphasised the need for women’s education as this was the bedrock upon which all empowerment rests. His message was clear: today’s sewing machine could become tomorrow’s small business, but only if paired with knowledge and skill.
He added that when first conceived, the goal was audacious: to provide 200 underprivileged women not just with sewing machines, but with comprehensive skill training, creating pathways to self-reliance and dignity. “But an unwavering belief prevailed and Rotarians across the globe rallied behind the cause. Clubs from RI District 3233 joined hands. Friends became partners in purpose. What began as one person’s dream evolved into a collective mission, stitched together with determination and supported by a community that refused to let it fail,” added the DG. Well known entrepreneur and philanthropist Nina Reddy was also present.
Addressing the meet PDG ISAK Nazar reiterated Rotary’s enduring commitment to women’s empowerment, and added: “We don’t see this as charity; this is an investment in human potential.” PDG Chandramohan connected Thaiyal Nayagi to the broader landscape of women’s economic empowerment, and described how the Pink Auto project was also changing lives and giving independence to women.
RC Madras Arch City came forward to sponsor 33 machines, and RC Madras North West sponsored 20 machines. Anees Begam and two of her friends, each paid for 25 machines.
For the assembled Rotarians the most gratifying moment was when the 200 women came forward to receive their machines. “Behind every woman stood a family, and behind every family, a future now reimagined with possibility. Seeing these smiling women receiving their machines, each representing a family on its way to stability and happiness, and more important, dignity and future possibilities as the children would now get better education, and the entire family a better lifestyle,” said Anees Begam.
The hall was filled with smiles and laughter and along the edges of the venue, stalls run by women entrepreneurs displayed their wares. “They themselves were testimonials of empowerment and their presence seemed to be whispering to the 200 recipients: ‘This could be you’” added the beaming chair for women’s empowerment in RID 3233.
Behind every woman stood a family, and behind every family, a future now reimagined with possibility; the children would now get better education, and the entire family a better lifestyle.
She added that this enterprise showed that grand events and projects were not always necessary to bring about change. “We all felt that the machines these women carried home were humming with so many possibilities. Some would mend torn clothes for neighbours. Others would create new garments for sale. A few might eventually train others, paying forward the gift they’d received. The specific paths would vary, but the direction remained constant: forward, toward self-reliance, dignity and a future they’d sew with their own hands.”
Encouraged by the huge success of the project, which has now become a district project, and the event (organised under the advice of PDG A P Kanna), Anees is determined to enlarge its scope to benefit more women. “Next year, I plan to organise 500 sewing machines to underprivileged women after training them. At that event we plan to get Chief Minister M K Stalin. And the year after, I hope to expand it to another 1,000 women beneficiaries,” she says optimistically. She has plans to rope in CSR funds into this project.