It’s all too often that we hear stories of people who are burnt out by their work. It’s not always even a story really, but it happens in our daily conversations with others! Maybe this is how you feel in your own job. Going to work seems like an inconvenience. You aren’t finding fulfillment in your work. It leaves you feeling exhausted, stressed, and so, so bored.
Well, this may be how many of us in the United States feel about our daily office jobs. But for Anita in Kethohalli village in southern India, her feelings towards work are much different.
Anita has a daughter, Sanjana, who is in seventh grade, and a son, Sudeep, who is in second grade. They all live together in Anita’s brother’s home. The home is a single room with a small kitchen. Anita’s brother’s family lives on the ground level of the room, while Anita, Sanjana, and Sudeep stay in a short mezzanine level right above. They climb a ladder to get up to the heightened level. Everyone shuffles around each other to navigate through the small home.
Anita had married a man named Ravi, but he abandoned her and their kids after a few years. Suddenly she became a single mom who had to provide for her two kids with no source of income. This was tolling on Anita. She cared for her children, but couldn’t provide any physical care for them. She had only completed schooling through tenth grade, and she had no job skills.
Anita’s friend Swetha recognized her situation and wanted to help. Swetha excitedly told her about The Hope Venture’s Vocational Training Center in Sugganahalli. She could complete a free eight month tailoring course! She could learn how to sew, and to design clothes for people to wear.
This sounded great to Anita. What an opportunity to get useful skills for a job! Except there was one problem: the tailoring course was held in the village of Sugganahalli, which was easily over an hour commute each day. Anita was determined to get the skills training, though. She found a bus route that could get her there and faithfully commuted each way through the hectic transportation system in Bangalore.
Anita was excited and determined to complete the training. Her devotion to commuting to the training center each day – despite the long journey – shows her passion and desire for learning and providing for her family.
Now she has a job doing tailoring work. She feels dignified as a woman, and proud of her craft. She is able to provide for her and her kids as a single mom. Anita can be excited to go to work each day. She doesn’t dread putting in the hours, creating new garments and things for people to wear, because the opportunity she has to go to work provides hope for the future for her family.
