Koshi Tee - Honey

Determination To Work

Severina Fernandes is 55 years old and currently a tailor with Pragati Cooperative. She has had to overcome numerous obstacles: physical, geographic, emotional and social.

Severina is hard of hearing, and her speech can be unclear. Because she found it difficult to hear and understand her teachers, she failed 6th grade and left school. This did not deter her. She liked to sew and after joining Nirmaan Collective her skills and commitment to work earned her the position of full‐time tailor.

After her parents passed away, Severina and her siblings moved to a suburban area to escape the constant flooding of their old home. It was too far for her to continue at Nirmaan, but she worked with the MarketPlace staff to find a way to continue working. Arrangements were made for her to work for Pragati Cooperative remotely.

"I am glad I can continue to work and enjoy what I like doing, sewing," she says. "It is difficult to travel and also expensive and I was not sure it would be possible. But everyone helped and things are working out."