"The slums"... Yesterday I visited a foundation called Speed Trust. Speed Trust was started by a French man who moved here to Chennai about 10 years ago. He founded this group to help underprivileged (mainly women and children). The foundation began by taking women off the streets and teaching them useful trades like this bag making. The bags were made of this plastic, gimp (remember those key chains we all used to make as kids) looking stuff. After they finished weaving them together they melted it down and put liners in the bags to create these wonderfully fun bags! I, of course, had to purchase some of these one of a kind bags! Another trade which was taught to the women was Auto-Rickshaw driving. The woman were taught to drive, received their drivers license a
nd then Speed Trust gave them an auto to use. As they earned money they would pay Speed Trust for the auto. This foundation is so empowering for wom
en, out of the 50,000 autos that are in Chennai alone only 20 of the auto drivers are women. Fifteen of those women began through speed trust. The other 5 or so were women who saw these other women drivers and decided "well if they can do it so can I" and told their husbands to get them an auto and teach them how to drive... now are out their earning double the money for their families. These women who
are now driving these autos went form earning 200 rupees a month to now 200-300 rupees a day! Not only does this program teach women these different useful trades but also educates children. They are sent to school during the d
ay and then after school they come to these classrooms (40-50 children in a room!!!) and do their hom
ework and afterschool activities in this building. The really neat thing about this program is that it isn't a charity, it teaches woman how to survive and make a proper living for themselves and children. The families are responsible for paying 10 rupees a month (about $0.25), which doesn't seem like much to us, but it makes them accountable for what they are doing, therefore the children show up everyday because the families are invested. The younger children in this program are also on the English track learning English in school. The program also just saw two young girls go to college in India! Check out the website for more info. or to help! http://www.speedtrust.in/index.htm
nd then Speed Trust gave them an auto to use. As they earned money they would pay Speed Trust for the auto. This foundation is so empowering for wom
en, out of the 50,000 autos that are in Chennai alone only 20 of the auto drivers are women. Fifteen of those women began through speed trust. The other 5 or so were women who saw these other women drivers and decided "well if they can do it so can I" and told their husbands to get them an auto and teach them how to drive... now are out their earning double the money for their families. These women who
are now driving these autos went form earning 200 rupees a month to now 200-300 rupees a day! Not only does this program teach women these different useful trades but also educates children. They are sent to school during the d
ay and then after school they come to these classrooms (40-50 children in a room!!!) and do their hom
ework and afterschool activities in this building. The really neat thing about this program is that it isn't a charity, it teaches woman how to survive and make a proper living for themselves and children. The families are responsible for paying 10 rupees a month (about $0.25), which doesn't seem like much to us, but it makes them accountable for what they are doing, therefore the children show up everyday because the families are invested. The younger children in this program are also on the English track learning English in school. The program also just saw two young girls go to college in India! Check out the website for more info. or to help! http://www.speedtrust.in/index.htm 
One of the major stories behind the women who are part of this organization is that they were either widowed or abandoned by their husbands. When a young girl goes into marriage she is essentially leaving her family and joining her husband's family. She no longer has contact with her family but if/when her husband dies or abandons her his 
family will turn their back on the wife, leaving her and her children often in the streets with no skills to help make a living for themselves.**Some of the children coming home from school as we were leaving. They were so adorable, not shy at all, walking up shaking our hands with the biggest smiles on their faces. The little girl in the first picture couldn't wait to see her picture and was making sure that I showed everyone!
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