For Chitra and Mangayarkarasi, life in their villages was difficult before 2005. “ Age-old prejudices” ensured that as women, they were forced to depend on the men in their family for a living and this resulted in everyday insults that they could not bear.
However, the two have come a long way. From being forced to endure the humiliations at home, they now have a say in all family matters. And for this, they have Wellpaper (Women Empowerment through Local Livelihood), a non-government organisation at Auroville, that began as a post-tsunami relief effort in 2005, to thank.
“This organisation has converted us from being workers to entrepreneurs. Our financial independence has ensured that we are respected in our families,” says Chitra, with a gleaming smile.
How the organisation began is a story by itself. Danny Merguei, who founded Wellpaper along with his wife, Orly Alol, says that they moved to Auroville from Israel just a month before the tsunami struck in December 2004.
While the entire family, including their two children, used to walk on the beaches every day, they chose not to go to the sands on that fateful day as Danny was injured.
“When we went to the shore after hearing the news about the waves, we realised how lucky we were. We decided to stay back and give something to the community. Thus began this initiative,” says Orly.
They first wanted to ensure that women in the nearby villages, whose standard of living was very poor and whose families were devastated by the killer waves, were given an opportunity to earn a livelihood. Secondly, they wanted their enterprise to be eco-friendly and help reduce the waste they see around them.
“Therefore, we decided to use recycled newspapers to make our products,” says Danny. The recycled newspapers are woven and wound to make a range of products including baskets, bowl plates, coasters, jewellery and other accessories, that have now become a hit with consumers in different markets.
The couple, with the help of trainers and designers, has imparted these skills to over 60 women since 2005. Divided into four groups, the women, who now function independently, are passed on the orders that the organisation get and paid on a “per product” basis. They have also developed strict quality standard that the groups are expected to follow.
“When you want your products to sell in the market, you must also ensure quality,” says Vijay Govindaraj, a software engineer, who helps the organisation in marketing the products.
Orly says that customers sometime refuse to believe that the products are made of only newspapers and check twice or thrice before buying them. “From about a 50 per cent rejection rate in the beginning, we hardly have any now,” says Danny and attributes this success to the dedication of the women.
Apart from training the women, the organisation has also encouraged them to form groups and avail the benefits under the SHG schemes to improve their businesses. In this, the couple learnt something very important. “We realised that diversity was the best weapon to ensure equality in the groups. We decided to bring together women from different villages, and those who have basic education, so that the social hierarchies in the form of caste and other things are broken,” they say.
The organisation has also approached the Government under the Integrated Rural Development Programme for funds to train more women from the nearby villages in making handicrafts using recycled paper.
The organisation can be contacted at >www.wellpaper.org
