When support and encouragement is offered, millions of women can stand on their feet. Poonam is one such example!
Poonam’s 36 guzrented home is a simple one-room dwelling made of mud walls. It includes a family sitting area, a kitchen and a bedroom. She has three children, two daughters, Sanjana (13), Muskan (10) and a son Kesav (4). Both girls study at a nearby Government school in Faridabad.
Unfortunately, her partner and husband, Maheswas an alcoholic, which lead him to be an incompetent father. When drunk, his arguments with Poonam would eventually turn into abuse. Poonam had no choice but to tolerate her husband’s unacceptable behaviour as she was financially dependent on him, to support herself and her children. Owing to the way her husband treated her, she suffered disrespect from the family and society as well.
The alcoholic husband and father of 3, spent most of his earnings on alcohol and cigarettes, leaving very little to support the household. Poonam had studied till the 8th grade and gained some basic tailoring and cutting skills from her mother. Receiving training in the same field, along with a certificate would help her get a job and support her kids. And that’s exactly what she went ahead to do. In her words, “If I can earn some money, I will first take care of my children and then work towards normalizing our lives so that we don’t have to worry about whether or not we will have our next meal, everyday.”
Poonam is one of many! She represents an estimate of 200 million unfortunate women in India whose talents are untapped. Victora Foundation firmly believes that such talent needs our support to surface. Our efforts are directed towards eliminating the gender gap, utilizing such talents, providing self-respect and in turn improving the future of millions of children like Sanjana, Muskan and Kesav.
Our Vocational Skill development program is specifically designed to encourage millions of women like Poonam to either start their own small businesses or to acquire a skill set that will help become financially independent.
We are pleased to inform that after six months of training at Victora Vocational Skills Centre, Poonam is now a trainer at one of our centres. She associates herself with one of the NGOs we work with. Today, she earns approximately Rs. 6000/- per month. Our foundation provided her older daughter with a cycle last year, which helps her reach school, 4kms away from home. Poonam no longer depends on her husband, and is raising her children on her own.
