Gift an education...Make a life !

India has a rich tradition of weaving. The range of weaving techniques
and styles is incredible.

Nagercoil School's Tamil Teachers Ms. V. Anu Radha and
Mr. S. Suresh Kumar took the 7th standard students to the
Handloom Weaving Centre as part of activity for Tamil lesson
on 'weaving'. For most of the students this was their first exposure
to the art of handloom weaving. Students had several questions which
they posed to the weavers. Interestingly we noted that they compared
the answers to the information in the lesson.

Sharing by Anuradha, Tamil teacher, Nagercoil school: “In seventh
standard, we have a lesson on weaving. So we thought it would be
a great idea to take our children to the weavers' colony. It was very
useful for the children. Now they have seen how the weavers weave
the cloth. They also learnt about the weaving machine. The children
asked so many questions, e.g. how to insert the thread, how to
operate the machine. After knowing how the weavers struggle to get
a small amount of money, children started appreciating cloth and
dresses as valuable!”

Sharing by Lekshmi and Ilakkiya of 7^th standard: “We enjoyed this
project very much! The weavers' place is situated in Vadasery near
Raja Mandapam. We learnt many things about Thari Nesavu (Handloom).
Nesavu is made from Achu tree. Our teachers took us to the Nesavu
koodam (the place where weaving is done). We understood many
things from this project. We thank our principal and teachers for giving
this chance to see this programme.”

It's great to see that students were able to relate what they learnt
about weaving in their lessons to what they saw in practice during
their field trip! Such activities instil the importance of small-scale
industries in the children, so that they grow as inclusive citizens
who see the value in every section of the society. It also helps in
children appreciating the importance of cloth, and the process in
which dresses are made!