SuiDhaga
20 women in Boral, Kolkata learning to build financial independence through tailoring. Our first project, in partnership with AIM Foundation.
Active
📍 Boral, Kolkata
AIM Foundation
SuiDhaga - Kolkata Tailoring Programme
Free tailoring and embroidery training for 20 women in Boral, a low-income district in southern Kolkata. A five-month programme that turns donated materials into a livelihood.
20
Women enrolled
5
Months of training
€3,500
Total budget
4
Payment milestones
Live fundraising progress
Updates automatically as donations come in · Goal: €3,500
The Story
A neighbourhood where women want to earn - but the path isn’t easy
In Boral, a low-income district in southern Kolkata, social norms, safety constraints, and the absence of nearby job opportunities keep many women close to home. India’s female labour force participation sits at around 25-30%. In Norway it is 62%. In areas like Boral, it drops further still.
The women joining SuiDhaga are not passive. They are homemakers who want financial independence, mothers who want to model something different for their daughters, women with interrupted education who never got a second chance. Many already have basic stitching skills. What they lacked was structure, materials, and a market pathway.
In peri-urban Kolkata, most women prefer custom stitching for daily wear - blouses, salwar suits, alterations. Festival and wedding seasons create consistent demand. Local boutiques outsource basic stitching regularly. The market is there. SuiDhaga taps into it: five months of structured training, a certificate, exposure to real orders, and a genuine pathway to earning from home.
Dharma funds the materials that make this possible: fabric, thread, buttons, accessories. Every donation goes directly to the women. Nothing else.
What Happens After
The results from two years in Kasba.
AIM has run SuiDhaga in Kolkata’s Kasba area since 2023. Women who complete the programme typically earn ₹3,000-7,000 per month. Many go on to the advanced course, where earnings can exceed ₹10,000 per month. They keep coming back to the centre - not because they have to, but for the community. And their daughters are more likely to pursue education and training of their own. What starts as a sewing course becomes something generational.
Payment Milestones
Four instalments. Full transparency.
5 months of training, 4 payments, tracked across 7 months. Each instalment is released only after progress is verified.
1
Month 1
Training begins. Materials purchased and distributed. 20 women enrolled at AIM’s Boral unit.
€800
2
Month 3
Mid-point review. Attendance and progress checked before the next payment is released.
€800
3
Month 5
Training complete. Certificates awarded. First round of outcome tracking begins.
€800
4
Month 7
Second round of outcomes reviewed. Final payment released. Third-month report published here.
€800
Our Partner
They run it. We fund it. Together we track it.
FCRA Certified
AIM Foundation - Associated Initiative for Mankind
AIM Foundation has been running community programmes across Kolkata since 2016. Every single person on the team works voluntarily - alongside running their own businesses or jobs. That says a lot. Beyond SuiDhaga, they run education programmes, free eye clinics, and menstrual hygiene education for the communities they serve. They saw what women in Boral needed and built something that works. We fundraise. They deliver. And we track outcomes at 30, 60, and 90 days - reporting the honest results, not just the wins.
From the Field
Updates, stories, and honest reports from the programme
Everything published about SuiDhaga - field reports, updates, and honest accounts from the programme as it unfolds.
Want to know when the results come in?
We publish outcome reports as they come in — first, second, and third month. No spam, unsubscribe any time.
Get updates
Give a woman a path forward
€25 covers her first garments. €50 covers several pieces. €120 funds most of one woman’s entire course - 30 types of clothing, a certificate, a pathway to her own income. Every amount goes directly to materials. Nothing else.