Supporting two schemes to help urban slum-dwellers:
1/ Providing training and micro-loans for productive, market-driven enterprises
2/ Supporting a training scheme to impart livelihood skills in the construction industry
• Shivia started supporting the micro-finance work in October 2010.
• To date, over 2,000 members have received loans and training.
• Work predominantly with women (85% are female).
• Work with Hindus and Muslims - Hindus generally come from the lowest castes.
• 50% are engaged in “cloth tailoring”; other common enterprises include vendors/traders in food and general goods (15%), iron work (10%) and grocery shops (20%).
• Most slum-dwellers are reinvesting their profits to expand their businesses. Others send remittance to their families to support their livelihoods back home in the rural areas.
• Shivia started supporting the construction livelihood training scheme in December 2012.
• To date, over 600 graduates have completed the training
• The scheme is to help slum-dwellers who are in irregular, “odd jobs” to gain skills in masonry, carpentry, electrics, and plumbing and earn higher wages as well as more regular income.