by Cleric Sanket Chauhan & Fr Jerome Aruldass for BISMumbai

On 03 December, the feast of St. Francis Xavier, Lok Seva Kendra [LSK] at Don Bosco Chhotaudepur inaugurated and commenced a tailoring course assisted by the Don Bosco Development Society [DBDS] - MumbaiSalesians' Province Development Office [PDO]. This is a Livelihood Development Project primarily for women and girls who are school dropouts. Girls from different remote villages, whether dropouts or uneducated, are mobilized and motivated to pursue tailoring courses. The girls or women enrolled in tailoring courses will learn embroidery work, blouse designs, foot-mat designing, jute bags, and handicrafts via YouTube.

People with low education levels have very little chance of securing a job in the formal sector. They are looking for options to generate income to sustain their families. Local communities, especially rural women find themselves inept at supporting their families due to lack of professional skill. This tailoring skill development is useful for many women and girls, since it procures easy income and grants opportunities for work in companies. Tailoring leads to a sustainable source of livelihood. This skill training can raise the economic and livelihood opportunity of people, especially women, with no access to formal education and training.

Through this initiative LSK has opened up opportunities for the girls and women from poor socio-economic backgrounds, who rarely enter or dropout from formal training. LSK aims to cover rural girls and women who often suffer from social access barriers, young mothers, persons with disabilities, adults who want to upgrade or learn new skills so as to venture into a meaningful career.