Hyderabad, October 28, 2022…..Fifty poor, Covid Widows, divorcees, petty traders, street vendors, and self-employed given away tools, implements, sewing machines to regain their last livelihood due to various reasons. This function was held in Goshamahal Baradari Masonic Building on Thursday. It was organised on the eve of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of Lodge Secunderabad 211, a primary unit of Freemasonry.
Mr. Anish Kumar Sharma, Most Worshipful the Grand Master of Grand Lodge of India who is the head of Freemasonry in India and Mr. VG Madhusudhan Right Worshipful the Regional Grand Master, Regional Grand Lodge of Southern India, the head of its South Indian operations graced the occasion and presented the tools.
If we have suffered with covid for two years, this is the year of gratitude. Our target is to help 500 small business people to give fillip to their profession. We have helped 275 so far, shared D. Ramchandram, who coordinated the activity.
Tools and implements to discharge professional duties worth Rs 3.06 lakh were presented. It is the 8th round of the Gift-a-Livelihood. Gift-a-Livelihood is an initiative to support petty traders, street vendors, small businessmen, and women restarting their businesses.
The beneficiaries include somebody who wants to set up a Tea-Stall; Bangles Store, stationery Shop, Isthri Shop (pressing clothes), Tailorshop, Tiffin Center or a carpenter, electrician, carpenter, scooter mechanic, a plumber who needs tools or a homemaker who wants to do tailoring work from home earn extra money to support the family, etc
The 50 beneficiaries include 18 women from Rudrur village in Nizamabad District (200kms away from Hyderabad). Some of these women comprised widows who lost their husbands during the covid, or divorcees, or young girls who wanted to support their families financially. A 45-day tailoring class is being run for them with the support of Wow Villages, a rural tourism promotion vlog. After completion of training sewing machines are handed over to them
Freemasons Janardhan, Suresh Bhalerao, Sudhir Bhalerao, K. Dilip Appa Rao, D. Ramchandram, Harish, Dr Gridihar, Sagar, and others have participated in the program.
The beneficiaries have come from various parts of Telangana