Mounika and her family live in Mothinagar area in India, near the Orphan’s Promise Prabath Nagar Community Development Project center (CDP). She is a bright, beautiful girl, but only studied through 7th grade due to family problems. She dropped out of school and later married when she was just twenty years old. Mounika is a home maker, cleaning the home and taking care of her family.
She and her husband have one young son, who is two, and they live in the Warangal district of Telangana State. Mounika’s husband works as a car driver and the income he earns is just not enough to make ends meet. Mounika worried about the financial problems they were facing and the stress it placed on her marriage. She often felt depressed. She tried to find work many times, but she couldn’t find a suitable job and no one wanted to employ her since she had a small child. She dreamed of a day when their financial struggles would end and they could live the happy life she always hoped for.
One day, Mounika heard about the CDP center at Prabath Nagar from her neighbors. She didn’t realize it at the moment, but her situation was about to change. She immediately reached out to the center and as she was talking to the staff, she learned that Orphan’s Promise and the CDP Center were offering a seamstress and tailoring course, free of charge, to help women like her earn additional income for their families. This was exactly what she needed! Mounika enrolled herself and joined in the newest class. She attended the sewing classes regularly and found that being a seamstress came to her quite naturally. She picked the skills up quickly and graduated from her class in just six months.
Today, Mounika is a different woman. She is proud of the skills she learned at the OP Community Development Project and she sews very well. She started working at home, practicing her skills by stitching clothes for herself and her son. Slowly she started getting orders from others and began earning income with her newly developed skills. Her depression is now gone! She has found a sense of purpose and she lives with hope that better days are ahead of her. When she started sewing, she prayed that this class would improve her situation, and it certainly has done just that.
Mounika’s husband is very happy that she is able to use the talents she learned at the CDP Center, and the families financial struggles have been greatly reduced. They are now confident they can provide a good life for their young son, and the strain on their marriage is gone. They are both very grateful to Orphan’s Promise for making these things possible. Their shame has been exchanged for confidence and they are proud of the lives they are living.