Self-sustaining lady with skill for income

SHILLONG, SEPT 28: Fifty-year-old Damit Pdakasiej- a mother of 3 girls and 4 boys-is a living example of how one can be self-sustaining and support one’s own family by learning skills that provides income.

Pdakasiej, who is from Syntein in Mawsynram, makes a living by weaving cane and bamboo handicrafts and market her products.

Of course she gets the necessary help from Don Bosco Museum- which promotes indigenous art and culture, tourism and alternate livelihood system- that supports initiatives taken by Self Help Groups (SHGs) and individuals such as Damit Pdakasiej.

Damit Pdakasiej is also part of a 20-member ‘Kenbah Kynmynsaw Handicraft and Multi-purpose Co-operative Society’ formed in 2007. Initially, members of the group were trained by government agencies. However, now  they stand on their own and support their families by manufacturing and marketing their products themselves.

When asked if the trade is sustaining, Damit Pdakasiej said, “In a day, an individual usually makes one big-sized handicraft or two small-sized ones. I earn approximately  Rs. 200, including the bamboo materials, in a day.”

She says she is generating an income and managing her family well and her husband Hodling Lapen is also a member of the society.

Damit Pdakasiej, who first learnt the art of craft-making by watching her mother, also passes on her skills to others by teaching participants attending vocational training programmes organised occasionally by the society.- By Our Reporter