Essar Foundation, in collaboration with EBTL Hazira, organised a two-day exhibition and sale of various handicrafts on 5th and 6th September 2015 at the Nand Niketan Essar Township. The handicrafts are made by women self-help groups (SHGs) from remote villages in Surat. The exhibition commenced in the presence of Captain Subhas Das, CEO, Essar Bulk Terminal Limited, Hazira.
For some time now, Essar Foundation and Essar Bulk Terminal Limited, Hazira, have been supporting women SHGs to strengthen the community enterprise, Shakti Foundation, which is run by women from the tribal areas of south Gujarat.
The initiative aims to bring about a change among rural women by showing them ways of becoming self-sufficient. The women can begin to look at life differently as they earn a better livelihood for themselves and their families. Today, more than 500 tribal women are associated with community-based enterprises in various activities, like making agarbatti, papad, khakhra, Warli art and handicraft, and are earning a supplementary livelihood.
The SHGs make papad, khakhra and other food items using hygienic practices and locally sourced ingredients. Incense sticks, Warli art and handicrafts are made by individual beneficiaries at their home and are sold with the assistance of both Shakti Foundation and Essar Foundation.
