Siragu

Founded in 2018, Siragu provides a platform for skill-development and financial independence for women from low-income communities.

At Siragu, we establish Siragu Centres in identified low-income communities, which is used to teach women from those communities, the art of tailoring.

The women at Siragu engage in making eco-friendly products out of Jute, Newspaper and up-cycled Cloth and other items such as scented candles, soaps etc. These products are sold through various online and offline mediums and the revenue generated is used to support the women.

In the last two years, Siragu has directly been able to impact the lives of over 100 women. Siragu also works with survivors of Acid Violence by helping them through rehabilitation.

During the lockdown months of Covid-19, Siragu started an initiative called Project Feeding Chennai to help daily wage workers and their families, with ration items and hygiene kits. Through the initiative, Siragu was able to reach out to and impact the lives of over 26,000 people

Siragu's aim has always been to give underprivileged women a platform for skill development and financial growth & independence. When we took a peek into the lives of the women living in underprivileged areas, we realised that they too have the same passion and drive as many of us, but it is just that they do not have enough opportunities to let their talents come in the foreground. These women live rather simple lives with limited resources. Their work choices are limited to becoming either a house helper, a street vendor, working in the municipality as a cleaner or becoming a full-time homemaker. Since the husband is the breadwinner in most of the households, they look down upon the women of the house and this often leads to cases of domestic violence, emotional abuse or at times even cases of acid attacks. The women from these communities have

to endure a lot and even after taking care of the house, raising children, working part-time, they are not given the respect that they truly deserve. There are a few women who take their standpoints, but when compared to the larger crowd, this number seems quite insignificant. Hence, Siragu was formulated to give the right platform to these women to help them grow in their own eyes. We realised that the easiest way to do so is to develop a simple mechanism by which these women can earn well, contribute to their household income and hence earn that respect in the eyes of their family members and the society at large. Research shows that tailoring is a skill that almost 60% of women

know or want to learn. Thus, at Siragu, we teach women the art of tailoring, using which they make eco-friendly products out of Jute, Newspaper, upcycled Cloth material, upcycled Denim material and items such as scented Candles and Soaps. The proceeds from the sale of these products are used to help the women live a better livelihood. We also help the women working with us to understand how the money earned should be used effectively and not spent callously. We have seen amazing changes in the lives of the women working with us. Domestic violence has almost become zero in most of the households, and they seem much more confident, determined,responsible and happy.

Website: https://www.siragu.in/