Association Coup de PouceThe Coup de Pouce association offers basic sewing training for girls with a view to enlarging their professional skills. The project aims to establish social and professional independence.
The adventure began in the summer of 2005 during the construction of a small house for the project in the village of Thondamanathan, north-west of Pondicherry in the south of India. An enthusiastic professional seamstress took up residence on one part of the house with her family and one month later the first training session was held in the main hall. The group welcomes 6 young girls between 15 and 20 years old who began their 6-month training programme with a small daily wage of 20 rupees a day. This was followed by 6 months of practical and working on orders from the outside. The earnings from these orders enabled them to buy a pedal sewing machine.
Afterwards it was proposed that they work on orders wage-free for 6 months so that they could afford to buy themselves a sewing machine. At the end the girls have to take an exam over 3 days to see how much they have learned and to see where they need to improve. They receive a certificate when they pass. The training allows them to work at home, or in factories or in clothes shops.
The girls are chosen according to the family revenue, absence of a parent, degree of scolarity as well as the food ration card. The structure is run by a full-time teacher and by a part-time supervisor who comes in to check that all is running efficiently, attendance and the purchasing of necessary materials. She sends a weekly report to the association in Switzerland. A machines supervisor and the president of the Indian association also make up the team.
Coup de Pouce is scheduled to open a new centre in Auroville for the women of neighbouring villages.
Calcutta Espoir wished to support this association by investing in materials for a new centre in Pondicherry.
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