By Sumilla Devi | Sewing Centre member
This is a transcript from an interview held with Sumilla . We have changed the name but nothing else , These are her own words (unedited)
Greetings everybody most respected persons,
May I introduce myself .
I am Surmilla Devi and I live in a village in South Bihar , in India. I do not understand fully but I know the culture is very different in other countries, but here we must be obedient to our husbands and ask permission to leave the house. My husband treats me well, I have three children but I have little freedom. This is beginning to change.
Do you know what is the reason for this change? I am learning to sew.
But I am not learning to sew alone. I am doing so right here in our village with 30 other women. And together we can form a community that is much stronger than the one.
Did you think the sewing centre was only about learning to sew?
This of course is useful and can give us a very important source of independent income but the centre is about far more than that. It is about companionship but also strength in unity that allows us to stand up for ourselves and gain more freedoms for all of us. If one husband gets drunk and beats up his wife he will get a visit from ALL of us and we will make sure that this does not happen again.
Thanking you for helping us to change things for the better, every time a kind person thinks of us and donates something for our centre we are informed and we clap and cheer!
You are all kind persons to think of and help us,
Sumilla
Links:
By Diya Kumari | Sewing Centre member
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