Sujata Savant is 39 years old. She has two sons and a daughter. One son is 15 years old and in high school, he eventually wants to follow a Bachelor of Science degree. The other son is 17 years old and starting the ninth grade. He wants to attend university and follow an industrial training course to become a mechanic. Her daughter is 18, has completed two years of college, and is now working in a medical shop.
Ten years ago, after twenty years of marriage, Sujata’s husband left her. She now lives with her mother and children. Her mother is 60 and does not work, leaving Sujata to shoulder the financial burden on her family.
Sujata attended school up to the eighth grade. She then followed a stitching course and ran her own business from home, making traditional Indian clothes. She earns Rs 800 to Rs 900 per month (€11 - €13 per month) while her mother also receives a small pension. From this she pays Rs 600 per month for their small rented house. Her daughter eventually had to quit school as Sujata was not able to fund the tuition.
Sujata received a microloan of Rs 5,000 (€70) from Mann Deshi. She used this to purchase two sewing and embroidery machines. She was able to repay the loan in one and a half years.
She joined the Satara Fashion Project because she needed the financial assistance and wanted to expand her skills and knowledge of industrial sewing techniques and Western fashion.
“The first few days of the training course I was afraid of the industrial machines, but now I’m enjoying myself!”
Sujata’s dream is to buy her own house, provide her children with a proper education, and enable them to be independent with a stable income. She wants her daughter to get married within three years and enter into a higher class.
