Area of Focus: Women’s Empowerment
Location: Ahmedabad, Gujarat
NGO: Resource Center for Training and Development (RCTD)
Chapter: AID-SanDiego
Budget: $5000

The mission of Resource Center for Training and Development (RCTD) is to promote and strengthen the organizations of the marginalized communities for their socio – economic empowerment.

The mission of Resource Center for Training and Development (RCTD) is to promote and strengthen the organizations of the marginalized communities for their socio – economic empowerment. RCTD  caters to the needs of women survivors, widows of the Naroda-Patiya carnage in 2003 in this initiative of providing training for livelihood generation (tailoring) and empowering the women and the girls who were affected.  RCTD supports women associated with HIMMAT  in building thier capacities to strengthen thier livelihood security. RCTD also supports these women in addressing the issues they face in the society. HIMMAT as an organisation does not receive any grant/fund from RCTD but women associated with HIMMAT are supported by RCTD.

The group also supports and enables art education for girls. Four of the girls from the group won an art fellowship by Drishti Media Collective. As a part of this initiative, they enacted street plays and held public discussions on this issues of water, literacy and gender rights through their art work.The art works done independently by the girls came together in an exhibition of over a 100 displays which opened in Khoj Studios, Delhi in 2006.Last year the same exhibition opened in February in Ahmedabad and continued through other cities in India under the title “Narratives of Strength and Survival” .

The women now hope to further their brand, learn about fair trade and market better their khadi cotton products, as well as build and reinforce relationships with other organizations which work on gender rights.  The art education program serving the girls is also coming along by developing many skills and connecting the girls to the wider communities through art.
The livelihood part of the project serves a core group of 20+ women who are now working on a 3 year loan to pay off industrial sewing machines which the project was able to purchase this past year. From the proceeds of their stitching orders which they receive directly and indirectly from export houses and retail chains like Fab India, they will ultimately be able to purchase the machines, as well as contribute to the expenses of their workshop center.  They have also expanded their business and are now attending events such as world social forum held in Mumbai, arranging various exhibitions, and working on new orders from consignments to places such as PeopleTree, Delhi; Sanatkada, Lucknow; Green Shop, Ooty; Gramshree, Ahmedabad .