Tag Archive: Employment

1. Rukmuddin’s Shop of Hope

   June 24, 2023 10:37 am Leave a Comment

   

   Rukmuddin’s Shop of Hope

   Rukmuddin, 19, is a victim of teenage marriage – a common practice in Mewat, socially the most backward district of the country as listed in the NITI Ayog report.

   He dropped out of school and got married at the age of 15 to a girl of his age. He lives with his widowed mother, wife, two children, and two younger siblings. He has been a wage laborer for 5 years out of necessity. Orphaned and poor Rukmuddin had no choice but to take responsibility of his family. He started doing menial jobs but his earnings were never sufficient.

   He has 2 buffalos at home and sells the milk in local shops. In his last job as a water tanker When he approached the HWF for support through the local coordinator it was difficult to design a project for him as he was unskilled. However, he had a small piece of land at the roadside. Therefore, a small grocery shop was set up and initial stocks were filled. Now Rukmuddin earns an average of Rs. 350-400 per day which is more than twice his earlier wages.

   “I was struggling with low and irregular or at times no income at all. My wages were threatened by the availability of work. Since the HWF opened this shop I have a source of regular income which brought certain peace in my life.” Rukmuddin

2. From Hardship to Happiness: A Barber’s Tale of Success and Hope

   July 24, 2023 10:33 am Leave a Comment

   

   Kaptan, 34, has been a barber for 12 years. It was both a necessity and an occupation associated with caste. He is a school dropout and got married in his late teens. His wife Anisha was in her mid-teens.

   Teenage marriage is a common practice in Mewat district. Now he has the responsibility of looking after his wife and children. “After marriage, I had to earn; I couldn’t do anything as I was not educated, and this is our family occupation,” says Kaptan.

   He ran his salon in a rented shop in Shikrawa. Life was dragging on with meager earnings, which worsened with the imposition of lockdown when his shop was closed. His financial condition deteriorated, and he struggled to meet his daily needs. During this period of financial hardship and mental distress, our Model Village Coordinator from Shikrawa introduced him to the Human Welfare Foundation.

   The HWF, under its livelihood project, helped Kaptan set up a barbershop. All the basic equipment and essentials were provided by the HWF. As his shop was standardized with bigger mirrors and modern equipment, he attracted an increased number of customers.

   Kaptan shared that “For the first few days, I got a good deal of customers that I could barely keep up with; the earnings were beyond expectations.”

3. Cultivating An Entrepreneurial Mindset

   July 26, 2023 11:29 am Leave a Comment

   

   In post-covid time, the Indian economy went through an invisible epidemic of unemployment crisis and job shortage. Afeef Saifuddin Asre also lost his employment as his woodcarving unit remained shut during this period. In the pre-covid time, he provided jobs to three skilled workers in his workshop in Chiplun, Ratnagiri. Around five families depended on this workshop as it was their only livelihood source.

   Two years after the pandemic Mr. Asre approached the HWF for financial support to restart his business. Mr. Asre inherited this workshop and skills from his family and thus had a clear strategy and training for expansion but lacked capital. He presented his idea and proposal to the HWF team. After a detailed feasibility study and need assessment the HWF supported him by providing CNC (Computerized Numerical Control) Machine to modernize the carving work.

   Asre shares that when his father retired from the workshop, the earning responsibility fell on his shoulder. He has aging parents, wife and two children, and 4 school-going siblings to look after. The woodcarving shop was their only source of income. As it remained shut for a long time all savings were spent. Distressed Asre approached the HWF for livelihood support to restart his workshop. He needed a CNC machine to be competitive in the market. The HWF supported him as there was potential for regeneration of employment through the workshop.

   The CNC machine has given Asre an edge over market competitors. Asre shares that due to the new machine he is able to make affordable products and deliver on time with good finishing touch. As a result, customer footfall has increased in his shop. As demand and profit grew, he now employs three salaried carpenters and four wage workers. Additionally, he has started giving training to local carpenters in in-house workshops on the machine.

4. A ‘Tailor-Made’ Success Story

   June 24, 2023 6:25 am Leave a Comment

   

   Hailing from the Khairabad block of Sitapur district, Sufiyan always harbored a dream of starting a business of his own. He learned the craft of tailoring from his father, now aging and ailing. A 10th standard dropped out, Sufiyan grew up watching his father design and stitch clothes for local suppliers. Education was not his fate.

   As he had the responsibility of his aging parents and younger siblings. Like his father, he also started working for the suppliers. He had two basic machines on which he worked for suppliers on an order base model. Khairabad which is a hub of household garment manufacturing can provide market opportunities too. Skilled Sufiyan understood the market dynamics and supply chain of the cloth business. He wanted to establish his own small business but lacked resources. The HWF helped him set up his own production unit providing required equipment like commercial machines, design dye, heat press, and small assistance for raw material procurement.

   With HWF’s help, he started the manufacturing unit for shirts. His younger brother joined him in the business taking care of the sales aspect. He has employed three tailors on a salary and two helpers on a wage basis. Sufiyan says that “the help from the HWF has transformed my life as my dream to start own business actualized which otherwise looked beyond my capacity.”

5. Vocational Training Centres

   May 27, 2022 7:34 am Leave a Comment

   Human Welfare Foundation’s skill development and vocational training projects aims at helping underprivileged segments of the society improve their technical skills, enhance their employability level and enable them for employment and entrepreneurship.  Such institutes are set up in most backward regions in the country. 

   HWF establishes Vocational Training Centres (VTC) and Skill Development Centres (SDC) to provide short-term job-oriented courses. These courses are designed to make youth especially from backward communities capable of securing decent jobs in various industries. Currently, HWF runs seven such centres in Delhi, Haryana, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, and Rajasthan.

6. Self Employment and Sustainable Livelihood Projects

   7:38 am Leave a Comment

   This program intends at supporting poor households with opportunities for income enhancement leading towards economic mobility. Under the program, we provide individuals and communities with training in small-scale skills and interest-free business loans which offer them dignified and well sustainable ways to make a living.

   During this year, we implemented 114 projects in the states of Delhi, Bihar, Assam, Jharkhand, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan providing livelihood means such as e-rickshaw, wheel cart, small business shop, service centre, production unit, goat farm, etc.

7. Vocational Training Workshops

   7:42 am Leave a Comment

   Human Welfare Foundation  is dedicated to making a positive impact on the lives of underprivileged individuals. We firmly believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to improve their circumstances and access better opportunities. To this end, we have taken the initiative to conduct vocational training workshops that are specifically designed to empower those who might not have had access to formal education or technical training.

   The primary objective of these workshops is to equip participants with the technical skills necessary to enhance their employability and encourage entrepreneurial endeavors. We recognize that gaining proficiency in various trades and technical fields is crucial for individuals to secure stable employment and even potentially start their own businesses.

   In recent times, we have successfully organized a series of workshops covering a wide range of technical disciplines. These workshops have been meticulously crafted to cater to the diverse needs of the participants. Some of the key areas we have focused on include automobile repair, electrical work, solar technology, and the operation of heavy machinery like JCBs.

   As we move forward, our goal is to continue expanding and diversifying our vocational training initiatives. We are committed to providing more individuals with the tools they need to create a better future for themselves and their families. By doing so, we aim to uplift the underprivileged segments of our society, fostering economic independence and self-sufficiency. Through these efforts, we hope to build a stronger and more equitable community, where everyone has the chance to realize their full potential.

8. Covid Handholding Project

   8:15 am Leave a Comment

   COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdowns have adversely impacted individual lives of the middle class and lower middle class irrespective of their caste, creed, and gender. It has brought economical and financial challenges for the marginalized and low-income groups from the unorganized sector. ‘COVID-19 Handholding Project’ is an initiative by HWF to brave this unprecedented situation, to ensure our contribution in handholding of the needy in their challenging times and to play our part in the nation-building.

   The project aims at providing financial assistance in the form of loans to the individuals whose livelihood activities got adversely affected due to the COVID pandemic and related restrictions. This project also addresses the issues of micro and small livelihood activities. So far, as the first phase, we have implemented 500+ livelihood projects in different parts of the country.