| Indian project – Suvidha women |
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Name of the Project: Indian project – Suvidha women Start date of the Project: Members involved(Who): Kirsten Schweers Pham Thi Thanh Thuy Targetgroup (Who we want to help?) We want to help the Suvidha women in India and female entrepreneurship in general to become successful and that those women can stand on their own feet and earn enough money to feed the whole family. With this target, we can help the whole family. The children mustn´t go to work, but can visit a school and later be skilled enough to learn a job, with which they are able to survive. Background (Why): The Suvidha group is a co-operation of 40 women in a slum in New Delhi, India. They produce clothes and accessories, mainly for the European and American market, respectively for the Suvi communities there. Suvidha was founded by the Hope Foundation, a charity organization. Until today, Suvidha is highly financially dependent on the Hope Foundation. The women are mostly illiterate and lack knowledge regarding marketing, the European market and free entrepreneurship. Additionally, the management of Suvidha does not have sufficient knowledge on international finance and marketing. Description (What, How): We networked for several months and spoke to organizations, enterprises and other people in order to find potential customers or business partners. Also, we communicated regularly with Mohini Prakash, the manager of Suvidha, and GJ Manschot, the chairman of the Hope Foundation. They helped us to identify Suvidha’s needs and set up our project accordingly. Then we travelled to India. There, we co-operated with an Indian SIFE team (this is always recommendable!). We set up a workshop for the women, in which we taught them about the European taste (i.e., which colour combinations look good and which don’t), the importance of keeping deadlines and meeting quality standards and about the relation of quality and price. Also, we had an intensive session with the Suvidha management, in which we discussed international payment methods, export procedures, international law and international marketing. Our networking in the beginning helped us to get in touch with Martje van de Meerendonk. She is a Dutch designer who is planning a co-operation with Suvidha. The first steps are already taken, and Suvidha is thus on the way towards production on demand. Also, they have applied for an export license independently from the Hope Foundation. We also helped them to increase their turnover for April, but could not identify a way to establish a permanent increase. The Dutch designer, who is now visiting the Suvidha women in India. There she will try to find out if the women are skilled enough to make clothes out of her designs. If not, she will speak with us over the problems and we will try to solve them. Furthermore, we try to get in contact with other Indian projects, helping women entrepreneurship and disabled people. Goal: SIFE India maintains the co-operation with Suvidha. Currently, SIFE is helping them with the application for an export license. DU SIFE continues the project by supporting Martje van de Meerendonk: She asked us to help her with import matters, and we offered our help regarding other issues as well. She is looking for investors right now, which might be something we could support her with. Generally, the possibilities are unlimited, so if there are any feasible ideas for the continuity of this project, feel free to share them. Our goal is to help the Sudiva women to get independent and that they can live with the money they earn. Judging Criteria:
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