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Asha Handicrafts gave Bicycle to Farzana to ease her commute

Farzana Begum is a native of ‘Kekri’ a tiny village in the Indian state of Rajasthan. Due to society pressures, that discouraged girl child education, she dropped out of school at the age of 8. Having no say at all in the matter, little Farzana, stayed home learning household chores at a very early age. As soon as she turned 18 years old, she was married to her husband Anvar, with whom she has 3 children. Not having received a formal education herself, Farzana works hard to send all her children to school.

Farzana, a housewife and mother, dutifully looked after the home and family’s needs. With the onset of the pandemic & later lockdowns, her husband lost his job. With no income & her husband’s futile search to find another job, Farzana was forced to step out to give financially for her family & household expenses.

Farzana was fortunate to find employment just before the nationwide lockdown with Asha’s artisan group working in handcrafted felt ornaments. Farzana worked diligently and learnt this incredible craft, working 8 hours a day, stitching and filing to hone her skills. Her daily wages give the economic stability her home needs. Farzana has been creating exquisite, artistic felt articles for the last 3 years.

Asha Handicrafts Association always looks for ways to better the lives of our artisans. It soon came to our notice that Farzana had to walk 45 minutes to & from work, daily. Seeing her plight, Asha knew that our intervention needed to ease her commute.  

Farzana has been given a Bicycle with which she reaches work in just 15 minutes and is so grateful for this provision. Cycling to work not only saves her time & energy, but is also a safe, healthy activity that works in building her confidence to keep looking ahead towards a brighter tomorrow. Her only dream is to educate her children and empower them to flourish and survive. Team Asha perseveres to develop new solutions towards the real change.

“Life is like riding a bicycle. to keep your balance, you must keep moving.” – Albert Einstein