Kerala - Kozhikode   

Empowering women, with a difference

R. Madhavan Nair

KOZHIKODE: Their deft fingers have fashioned on clay the rock engravings of Edakkal caves which are a major tourist attraction in Wayanad. And that is only one of the many eye-catching products this small group of women in Wayanad now makes and sells.

Omana , Director of Rasta, the NGO that has given them training in the art of making pottery, points out that such initiatives are needed for empowerment of women.

Rasta's efforts began in 2005 when it decided to impart training to five village girls under Amal Sagar, a Bangalore-based expert in making handicrafts on clay.

Six months of intensive training under Amal Sagar made these girls adept in the art of preparing, processing, and drying clay, and fashioning the final finished products by burning them in the kiln.

The girls were soon churning out attractive ornaments in pottery. They became experts in making earrings, bangles, and finger-rings in various attractive designs in a short time.

Turning point

Taking note of the skills and enthusiasm of the girls, Rasta took the initiative to link its programme with Rashtriya Sama Vikas Yojana. In 2006, the group was supported with a grant of Rs.50,000, which helped it emerge as a micro-enterprise. Its production increased. Market linkages were established. The number of girls working in the unit has now increased to 10. All are from poor households. And most of them had studied only up to the 10th standard.

The unit is now making a variety of products ranging from wall frames, statues and models of historic monuments like Edakkal rock engravings in pottery. "This is the first kind of it in pottery" says Amal Sagar.

Other products made by the group include the chain tree(also a tourist attraction in Wayanad), tribal women (who are common in Wayanad) and , long chains. They also paint some of the items to make them more attractive.

"Now we are getting orders from various shops in Wayanad itself ,'' said Hafsath, who leads the group. "Now we produce nearly 150 different items. Shops in Kalpetta town ask us to provide earrings and bangles for sales, she said.

The products have been displayed in exhibitions in Bangalore and Delhi. In Wayanad, the products were displayed during festivals and in a stall at Wayanad Flower Show. The clay that is the raw material for these products is collected from within Wayanad itself . A small exhibition stall that has been opened on the Rasta campus attracts a number of visitors from various parts of the country.

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