Impact Quotes

“Namaste! My name is Khushbu Suthar and I have been associated with SEWA since the past six years. After availing of trainings from the SEWA Manager Ni School I cascade the same to my grassroots leaders at Jaisalmer. I would like to share an interesting incident - I was providing the ‘Personality Development’ Training in the Siddhnath Village of Dungarpur District in Rajasthan and the participating sisters were also listening attentively; when all of a sudden a brother came and stopped our training angrily saying, ‘You are only furthering your ends, please leave!’ Implementing my learnings from the conflict resolution session of the training that I was imparting, I remained calm and explained to him that we had no personal interests but were keen to build the capacities of these rural sisters to enable them to contribute to the family earnings and also become self-reliant. I also spoke to him about SEWA’s work… all this created a positive impact on him and finally he himself said – ‘Please go ahead and provide all these useful trainings in our village; and if anyone creates a problem then let me know!’ Today not only are we providing trainings in Siddhnath but our RUDI products are also being sold there extensively.”

Prior to attending the micro-enterprise development training program conducted by SEWA Manager Ni School under the ‘Behno Ni Udyog Sahasikta’ Program, Grade XII pass-out Rehanaben was on the verge of shutting down her shop. But thanks to this training she says that – “I learnt how to expand my micro-enterprise by promoting and selling products online in social media groups; giving discounts for bulk purchases and to repeat customers; requesting customers to provide referrals etc. Today not only has my income and profit doubled but I am also able to create livelihood opportunities for my community sisters! ” She learnt the importance of the customer and how to - prepare a business plan; calculate the capital required for starting any micro-enterprise along with the human resource requirement; market products and services; ensure that the location of the trade is conducive to its growth; work on concepts like branding (logo) and promotion (pamphlets, social media) etc.

“Through the SEWA-World Bank Digital Financial Literacy Program I was provided training by SEWA Manager Ni School on the usage and features of mobile phones and digital transactions. For women like me who are tied up with household work and farming activities, this training has proven to be a blessing; as it has made my life easy, safe and convenient besides saving my time! I now plan to learn the basics of each application using the smartphone as this is extremely essential in today’s digital era.”

"Namaste! I am Arti Kumari, a humanities graduate from Patna. I recently availed of the Digital Financial Literacy Training from the SEWA Manager Ni School and have found it to be immensely beneficial in both my personal and professional life! I have linked my AADHAR Card with my bank account and have helped other grassroots sisters of my community also to do so; I now save sixteen hundred rupees on a monthly basis in my bank account and; I use my smartphone for money transfers, recharges and online purchases. Not only this after becoming a Master Trainer thanks to learning about virtual platforms I am able to deliver trainings to sisters located in faraway villages also!"

"The entrepreneurship development training delivered by SEWA Manager Ni School under the ‘Behno Ni Udyogsahsikta’ Program made me understand the benefit of working in an organized way. I am a tailor, but I alone cannot cater to the tailoring needs of all the people in my village. There are many women in my village who are not working and can spare some time from their daily household work. I will teach them tailoring and we can build a joint tailoring micro-enterprise. All of us can become financially independent and self-reliant and can support our families and provide our children with a better life"

“Namaste! I have been providing trainings in Hindi language since 2013 in topics like – personality development, leadership skills, member education and values, digital financial literacy, agriculture etc. Of these a subject which I hold close to my heart is member education and values; as this training provides us with an all-round perspective of our SEWA and more importantly re-affirms our belief in our values. Thanks to SEWA Manager Ni School not only have I been able to build the capacities of the sisters of my community but the economic condition of my family has also stabilized; I have educated both my daughters and today they are both independent!”

Shabnamben Qureshi from Rai Bareilly District of Uttar Pradesh has participated in many trainings of SEWA Manager Ni School; of these she finds the Digital Financial Literacy Training to be the most relevant and important in the current times as it provides information about the various digital and financial tools that bring convenience to our lives and help save our time and money. Sharing how she has applied the learnings from this training program Shabnamben says, “I now adeptly use mobile applications like Google Pay and PAYTM and my ATM Card for completing my routine banking transactions thereby saving three-to four hours and transportation cost of around eighty rupees per trip. I purchase my groceries and provisions from Amazon and Flipkart. I have also opened a ‘Jan Dhan’ savings account which going forward will financially support my family in case something untoward happens to me.”

“Namaste! I have been providing trainings since 2020 in Hindi and Gujarati on topics like – personality development, member education and values, digital financial literacy, community based organizing, savings etc. I simply enjoy providing trainings! SEWA Manager Ni School has strengthened my knowledge and training skills; not only has there been a positive change in my livelihood and life but I have also been able to make a meaningful difference in the lives of my grassroots sisters. ‘Time Management’ is my favourite training module for many reasons – the topic is of universal interest; the games, tools and activities in this module are fun to conduct and participate in; and after implementing my learnings from this module I have completed my studies and today am working as a teacher.”

“Namaste! My name is Ritika Chouhan. I belong to Gamda Bamaniya Village, Dungarpur-Rajasthan. I am a member of SEWA since 2010 and follow the integrated approach. It was the learnings from the ‘Virtual Platforms for Meetings and Trainings’ Training Program conducted by SEWA Manager Ni School which came to our rescue during the recent pandemic and enabled us to continue connecting with our sisters through virtual platforms like Zoom and Google Meet. Earlier when we used to participate in virtual meetings over our smartphone our family members used to get irritated and complain – “You are always on the phone!” But when schools became online then our families realised the pluses of having someone trained in the house as it ensured that the education of our children continued uninterruptedly and more importantly it kept them engaged! We could also participate virtually in the training provided by the ‘Pashu Vigyan Kendra’ (Animal Science Centre) and gain an understanding of how to keep our cattle safe from the coronavirus, arrange for their feed and immunisation etc.”

“Namaste! My name is Shaheen Baloch and I belong to Radhanpur Village of Patan District. I am a member at the Banaskantha DWCRA Mahila SEWA Association-Patan. I was recently a part of the Digital Financial Training being imparted by SEWA Manager Ni School. This was a six-day training program and for me the most important takeaway from the sessions was the importance of savings. Within one month of my completing the training, not only have I regularly started saving an amount of hundred rupees per month but I have also taken the lead in forming a Bachat Mandal (Savings Group) in my village with 12 women, each of whom saves an amount of INR 100 per month. The training made me realize that saving regularly is important as it helps create a nest fund which can be used in case of any emergency in the family.”