Ananthi lives with her husband and two children in Devadhanapatti village in Theni District. Relying solely on the income from her husband's irregular work as a driver, the family was struggling to get by.

"I thought of doing agricultural coolie work in my village to support my family," says Ananthi. "During this time, though, I heard that Reaching the Unreached was running a tailoring centre for rural women in my village."

Ananthi attended the course at the mobile centre for six months from June 2017, where she learnt all the skills she needed to become a tailor. Soon after completing the course, she achieved her first commercial success and was able to invest in her future with the proceeds.

"Our tailoring instructor taught me to sew handkerchiefs, blouses, shirts and sudidhars, as well as many handicrafts. I am very proud to say that I learnt all the products quickly."

A sustainable future

"I made more handicrafts and sold them for 10,000 rupees in Madurai. I purchased a sewing machine from this income and started stitching many sudidhars for our neighbours."

Not only was Ananthi now confident about supporting her family through her own tailoring, but she was ready to help the community by training others and setting up her own business.

"I trained two of my friends nearby and now they have joined with me to make more handicrafts. After seeing the quality of our products, a Madurai-based foundation started sending more orders."

Extending our reach

Without the generosity of our supporters, we would not be able to provide training to individuals such as Ananthi, giving them a solid platform for their families' futures and boosting the well-being of their communities.

"I am very happy that RTU helped me to get this tailoring training and become a successful entrepreneur. I am so grateful to RTU for giving me such generous help."

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