An International Women’s Day celebration, conducted by SRIA Musiri in March 2016 was attended by 128 of SRIA’s 750 members. Prof. Ramesh Babu and Prof. Ratika from the Government Arts College highlighted the role of women in the society, the rights of women, and the schemes available from the government along with trades and business techniques.
SRIA borrowers organized a mini exhibition to showcase micro …
Manju, 44, was born into a poor family with five brothers and four sisters. She was good at studies up to 8th standard, but poverty forced her to quit and work in the agricultural field. She worked four years to help her brothers continue their studies. Since she was very diligent, she was selected for a 4-month tailoring training given by the Government. She needed …
Sammiyammal broke out of her captive marriage when she became widowed. Her parents, being poor, could not give her a good marriage and wed her to an older man as his second marriage. He did not allow her to go out and work, but only to take care of him. He was untrusting, jealous, and always watchful of her.
After 19 years of marriage, Sammiyammal …
Alamelumangai was not good enough for her husband’s family. Her husband had been a child laborer since the age of ten, having run away from home to work in a soft drinks company in Chennai. At age 16, she met Katturaja, and they ran away to Chennai to work in the factory. When she became pregnant, they returned to the in-laws, who housed her husband …
Mariyammal comes from the village Pasupathykovil. In 1990, without asking her opinion, she was given in marriage at the age of 19 to Mahalingam, a drunkard. He worked as a bullock cart rider and earned Rs.200 per day. He spent Rs.150 on alcohol and gave the remaining Rs.50 (52 Rs = $1) to his wife for family expenses.
The couple soon had a baby boy …
Chitra, 33, comes from the village Thiyagasamuthiram. At the age of 17, her parents arranged her marriage, without consulting her, to 32-year-old Dhanapaul. Her husband, to the neglect of his own wife and children, has dedicated himself and his earnings to his six sisters. He has taken out loans at an exorbitant rate for all six of their weddings. In order to help him pay …