GROWING up in a poor family and with no opportunities for advancement, S. Letchumi found herself caught in the vicious cycle of poverty.
Illiterate and with no skills, she has been doing odd jobs to make a living since she was 17.
After her parents died, Letchumi cared for her younger brother, who is an alcoholic.
Last year, things took a turn for the worse for the 43-year-old when she had to stop working because of pain and swelling of her joints.
However, eight months ago, a lifeline was extended to her through an initiative to help destitute women become self-reliant.
It was a basic tailoring skills programme organised by i-Alumni UKM, a non-governmental organisation set up by the Indian alumni of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
Yesterday, Letchumi and 11 other women proudly received their basic tailoring skills certificate at the MySkills Foundation training centre in Port Klang, marking the start of a new chapter in their lives.
Dr Thilagavathi Shanmuganathan, the project leader and vice-president of Persatuan i-Alumni UKM, said the programme, conceptualised under its Indian Women in Need Business (i-WinBiz) initiative and supported by MySkills Foundation, went beyond equipping poverty-stricken women with sewing skills.
It lends a helping hand to women to become small-time entrepre- neurs, to earn a sustainable income and reshape the future of their families.
Thilagavathi said the organisation was of the opinion that women were the most important catalyst for change in the lives of their families and, as such, should be given the opportunity to work their way out of poverty.
“More often than not, these women bear the responsibility of meeting the basic needs of their families.
“Some who are divorced and/or abandoned by their husbands struggle to care for their schoolgoing children and aged parents, and provide a decent meal.
“However, many of them live in an oppressive home environment, leading to low self-esteem and a lack of self-confidence.
“By equipping them with tailoring and entrepreneurship skills, we want to empower these women economically and socially.
“We want to build their self-confidence.
“And with this, we hope to see the rippling effect manifest itself in the lives of their families.”
According to Thilagavathi, the i-WinBiz project, which is a maiden effort by i-Alumni UKM, has been well received and is recruiting a second batch of impoverished women for training, which will begin next Saturday.
The training includes teaching participants to sew modern attire, sari blouses and Punjabi suits.
They are trained to sew their graduation robes, which they will don at their graduation.
Thilagavathi said the organisation monitored the progress of these women, and helped them purchase sewing machines, network with potential customers and market their skills.
Upon completing their course, i-Alumni UKM makes arrangements for them to be absorbed into apprenticeships, where they can hone their skills and be exposed to the realities of conducting a business.
“The success of this project is evident as two of the women have purchased sewing machines with Persatuan i-Alumni’s help, paying on an installment basis, and are set to start their business.
“We are taking this initiative to the next level by establishing a web page to showcase their work and help them connect with customers,” Thilagavathi.
In terms of funding, she said, i-Alumni UKM had been fortunate to get the support of well-wishers to carry out the project.
It received the support of Brother International (M) Sdn Bhd and Tamico Bell Sdn Bhd, which sponsored 10 sewing machines to be used during training.
“For now, we are concentrating on helping impoverished women in Klang, but we hope to eventually reach out to single mothers and wo-men in other parts of the Klang Valley.
“In the near future, we hope to provide other types of skills training, such as catering, baking and bridal make-up, to help these women become self-reliant and have a stable income to support their families,” said Thilagavathi.