The Covid-19 crisis is expected to have a lasting economic effect on many low-income communities across the country, especially in rural India. The lockdown led to a halt in the main source of livelihood for many families in villages, making survival tough. Most people struggled to find an alternate source of income and lack of training or knowledge became a big hindrance.
DEF’s digital resource center in Thikkavanipalem village in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatanam district stood up to the dire situation and under the initiative’s livelihood pillar conducted digital trainings and workshops for the local population which helped them earn a decent living amid the pandemic.
Tirupathi, our digital foot soldier in started to map the area to help train local women in mask making so as to enable them with skill and resources. He then met D. Laxmi, a 45-year old tailor and sole earner in a family of four. Our center coordinators found that like many others, she had no food in the house to feed her family. She belonged to the fishermen community and prohibition on going out into the sea had left her husband without any scope to earn a living.
Acting on the importance of Digital Intervention, connectivity and entrepreneurship opportunities, Thikkavanipalem’s digital foot soldier Satya Rao started training local women on how to stitch masks with minimum resources. The team was initially provided with cotton, string and other materials required, thereby helping reduce their expense and offering motivation to lean.
