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India: Escape From Poverty
By Hema Vijay
Women's Feature Service
Chennai,(WFS) -
Three years ago, Jayanthi (24), a young widow, was a pavement dweller. With no roof and a meagre income from her part-time job as a domestic help, Chennai-based Jayanthi could barely provide a proper meal to her three children.
Today, Jayanthi brings home Rs 250 every evening. No longer a maid, she drives her own auto-rickshaw, bought with the help of an interest-free loan. Over the last two-and-a-half-years, she has regularly paid her monthly loan installment of Rs 100... in addition to her children's fees. All three of them now go to school.
When twenty-four-year-old Kumuda's father passed away, her mother, two siblings and she had to make a living by selling fish. Today, she has come a long way from her days as a fishmonger. With a school completion certificate in her kitty, she is enrolled for a diploma in computer operations and plans to pursue an MBA through correspondence from Madras University.
Both Kumuda and Jayanthi are residents of Sathyavani Muthu Nagar. Till 1999, Sathyavani Muthu Nagar - home to about 2,600 families mired in varying degrees of poverty - was just another slum in a bustling metropolis. While the men were generally employed as labourers, the women, mostly destitute, worked as domestic help at low monthly wages.
Mercifully, the fortunes of the slumdwellers have seen a turnaround, largely due to the efforts of activist Frenchman Philip Malett, who set up the Slum People Education and Economic Development (SPEED) Trust. Private companies and Rotary clubs in Tamil Nadu take on the expenses for the running of SPEED.
"My younger sister has completed her graduation and my youngest sister has just given her school board exams and is preparing for her medical college entrance test. We are delighted, and it is all thanks to SPEED," says Kumuda. Malett chose Kumuda's family to be the beneficiary of a special sponsorship raised from donors in France and Switzerland - routed through the NGO he is part of, Secours Populaire Francaise (SPF). This sponsorship is mainly for the education, be it vocational or academic, of deserted and destitute women and their children.
As coordinator of SPF, Malett came to India to set up a literacy programme for villagers at Auroville Ashram in Pondicherry. Then, eight years ago, he accidentally stepped into Sathyavani Muthu Nagar and was treated to cups of tea and lunch by the slumdwellers. "They were so generous, even though they had nothing much for themselves. I wanted to give something back to them," says Malett. He began by observing and studying the issues in the area for around six months. "The first problem, as I saw it, was that the women here were not just unemployed, but unemployable as they had neither education nor any vocational training," he recalls.
Consequently, in 2000, Malett set up a tailoring unit in the area, which doubled up as a teaching institute. Today, the unit has expanded to include handicraft training and a production centre, operated by physically challenged women from the slum. The handicrafts made here include cushions, bags and baskets that are even marketed abroad through Baladarshan - a fair trade company that Malett runs. To further the sales and visibility of the products, Malett has set up an attractive showroom in the slum. "Even though the showroom's location does not allow for many casual visitors, it is very important for the people around here. It inspires them to keep their homes and streets clean and spruced up," he says.
Another milestone for the slumdwellers has been the introduction of the micro-credit programme. Women such as Rukmani (37) now support themselves and their family, thanks to the small, interest-free loans that the SPEED Trust grants them. "We insist that they show us their business plan and give a token sum of money to show their commitment before we grant loans. We want to empower them, not indulge in charity," Malett explains.
"I wanted to set up an eatery but didn't have even a single vessel to start with. With the Rs 2,000 loan I got from SPEED, I have been able to set up a platform eatery," beams Rukmani. She makes a daily payment of Rs 30 towards paying off the loan. At the time of giving a loan, SPEED also insists that the borrowers save 10 per cent of their profit with the Trust. "It is protection both for them - it can help them tide over an illness or an accident - and for us, as it makes sure they don't default and end up losing their savings," says Malett, who clearly understands the people he works for.
Perhaps one of the reasons SPEED has been successful is its policy to provide as few free services as possible. "The stress is on the education, responsibility and self-confidence of the slumdwellers; not charity," explains Malett. As Bharat (36), an autorickshaw-driving instructor on the rolls of SPEED, puts it, Sathyavani Muthu Nagar is lucky that this Frenchman wandered into the slum.
Today, the good work of SPEED is for all to see. The tailoring and basket-weaving unit has benefited 150 women, around 103 families have been granted sponsorship routed from SPF, five women drive their own autorickshaws, while 500 children from the slum are tutored at the tuition centre. In fact, one of them is about to take her medical college entrance examinations now. Future plans include starting up adult education classes for the residents and also computer training courses for youngsters.
Philip and his Indian wife, Denice, have made Chennai their home for the last seven years. "I visit France once in a while but I feel a foreigner there," he says in passable Tamil. Today, the SPEED Trust has started intervening in other slum areas the city, such as those in Chintadripet, Sathya Nagar, Nochikuppam and Pallavan Nagar.
It was during his tsunami rehabilitation drive that Malett met 23-year-old Thenmozhi, whom he refers to as his 'motivator'. A railway accident had left Thenmozhi paralysed waist downwards. But her cheerful, never-say-die spirit without a trace of self-pity won over Malett, who sent a trainer to her home to teach her how to weave bags with plastic fibre. Today, Thenmozhi is economically independent. She has export orders to complete and her entire family chips in the work. As of now, SPF pays for her medication, but Thenmozhi is keen to take care of the bills and soon will.
"The accident may have broken her back, but it has done nothing to her spirit. Whenever I feel dispirited, I go and chat with her and end up regaining my courage and cheer," Malett says.
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