A villager in Assam in North East India has started collective weaving business with 12 other women to financially support their families amidst coronavirus pandemic.

Barsi Musahary and her group produce quality Gamosa (traditional towel) Mekhela and Sarees (traditional wrap around for women) and earned Rs 2,000 during September 2020.

Barsi and other marginalized families were supported by Tezpur Social Service Centre (TSSS) under the Caritas India FARM NE III Covid response project. People were supported for poultry, nursery, nutrition garden and weaving.

Barsi grew up in a poor family of seven members and was dependent on a small plot of agricultural land which was not enough to feed the family. “I dropped out of the school to assist my parents in agriculture as well as household chores. At the age of 15, I started working as domestic help for a family in Dimapur in Nagaland since 2001.”

Barsi Said: “During my stay in Dimapur, I got the opportunity to learn the art of weaving at my house owner’s place. They had a weaving centre and I took the time to get close to the looms and learn to weave as much as I could. I used to spend my free time in learning the art.”

In 2004, Barsi got married and went to Meghalaya with her husband to work as labourers in the coal mines and then settling down in their village to practice agriculture. She always had a vision of doing things close to her heart and the icing in the cake for her was to follow her passion and earn.

“I took the job of a weaver in the weaving centre in Udalgulri district of Assam almost 136 km away from home in Jerusalem village in Biswanth district of Assam. I used to earn Rs 150-200 per day and could also save some money for the family,” says Barsi. Occasionally, she used to come to her hometown to spend quality time with her family. Everything was normal until the pandemic. Barsi could not go back to her workplace after the National lockdown. Pandemic has cost her dearly and made her almost bankrupt. Her husband is a hardworking smallholder farmer but due to lockdown, even he could not contribute much to the family.

Barsi was part of the group that was supported with loom and yarn to sustain. Being a seasoned weaver, she took the lead and brought 11 more under the group in her village. She volunteered to teach weaving to the group members for free.

“It was difficult times for me and family to have gone through the ordeals but now I am happy to see a ray hope knocking at my doors,” said Barsi. She added that she is very happy in sharing her skills with others so they also can learn and earn. As of today, Barsi’s groups is spinning the wheels of success. The group has 12 members out of which 4 members have been trained by Barsi. She also plans to train women from other villages.

One such woman has already been trained by here and its counting. It is expected that once the ongoing pandemic is over, Barsi would be in a position to train 5-6 women per month.

The group used 10 kg yarn supported by TSSS to produce different finished products which have a good market demand compared to the other such products. From 10 kg of yarn, the group could prepare 40 Gamosha which can easily be sold for 200-250 per piece. Similarly, from the same amount of yarn, the group can make Mekhela or Saree which can be marketed at Rs. 500 and Rs. 1500 respectively.

The amount could have been much more though, had there been no pandemic. Barsi and her group are saving from their earning to buy yarn. Barsi is planning to sell the products in the nearby markets. The quality of the products woven by Barsi is far better than what is available in the markets. Barsi applies her experience to ensure quality control with a vision to hit the market with products that are unique and different from the rest.

“Barsi has plans to ferry her products in the nearby markets and villages in the days to come. By the time the market is back to normal, we expect this group would have a monthly income of anywhere between Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 given the fact the hand-woven products are always the first choice for people who buy,” informed Mridul Boro, a FARM Team member from TSSS. With the amount expected to be earned by the group, women like Barsi would earn more than what they were earning before and the best part would be that this time they don’t have to go out of their villages for a livelihood.

Caritas India takes pride in empowering and promoting such women leaders who come forward to be part of the change involving the community and become the changemaker of their development.