‘WeLive’ program offers 2,000 women support to set up own business

(MissionNewswire) Bangalore Rural Educational and Development Society (BREADS), located in Bangalore, India, is giving women like Manikkam, aged 62, a chance to improve her life. Manikkam has found beekeeping as a way to become more self-sufficient and has regained the dignity that comes with being an entrepreneur.

Through the Salesian initiative “WeLive” program run by BREADS, Manikkam has managed to transform a life marked by poverty and family difficulties into a path toward independence, hope and a future. She lives in Kodom, a village in Kerala, and grew up in a large, poor family that is part of a tribal community. Her circumstances prevented her from continuing her education beyond the early years of school.

At the age of 18, she married a sharecropper and became the mother of two children. For years, her husband was the family’s sole breadwinner until a serious accident at work left the family without a stable income. Subsequently, alcoholism, domestic violence and an ever-increasing burden on Manikkam’s shoulders were added to their struggles.

A Salesian explained, “Despite everything, she did not give up. She looked after her husband and children and began working as a farm laborer, a domestic worker, and a kitchen assistant in other homes. The financial situation also affected her children’s education. One of them had to drop out of school to work as an electrician’s apprentice and help support the family.”

Manikkam’s life began to change when she joined a Kerala government program aimed at eradicating poverty and empowering women. Her strength, perseverance and desire to support her family led her to enroll in the free beekeeping course run by the “WeLive” program, which stands for women’s empowerment through livelihoods and entrepreneurship.

In Kerala, the project offers education and support to help as many as 2,000 women set up their own businesses. To date, 500 are creating organic home gardens and 1,500 are developing other small-scale agricultural or retail ventures.

Manikkam received education in entrepreneurial skills, basic bookkeeping and market access. She also took part in a practical course on beekeeping and was provided with beehives, equipment, and protective gear to set up her own micro-enterprise.

The Salesian added, “Through hard work and dedication, despite her literacy difficulties and limited technical knowledge, she has managed to expand her business to include 20 beehives. Little by little, she has begun to earn an income from honey production and the splitting of her hives.”

Currently, Manikkam balances her work as a kitchen assistant with the income she earns from her small beekeeping business. Manikkam takes pride in her work and lives with the dignity of someone who has found an opportunity to move forward.

She said, “Where there are bees, there are flowers, and where there are flowers, there is new life and hope.”

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Sources:

ANS Photo/Misiones Salesianas (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

ANS – India – Manikkam, the Indian beekeeper whose life has been transformed thanks to the support of the Salesian

Misiones Salesianas

Salesian Missions – India

World Bank – India