#21: God's blessings in various colours

Renu Dhawan(2nd from right) and her team at Akshdha

Meet Renu Dhawan, a dedicated social worker from Ambala, who always wanted to work for the upliftment of underprivileged women by making them financially independent. “Initially, I tried to help these women avail the benefits of Government welfare programs. These programs were intended to provide basic training and pay them to attend and learn. After much application filling and rounds to govt offices, I realized that these programs were more of a sham. The trainer had no expertise and the participants didn't get full stipend as well,” she says. On complaining, she was told to back off by the officials. To counter the disappointment, she began teaching the interested women at her home. She would teach them to create small patches of embroidery or a necklace and pay them for their effort. That is how the foundation of her organization Akshdha (God’s blessings) was laid 3 years ago. Akshdha now employs 5 permanent women who are now the breadwinners of their families. It also has 3-4 temporary workers who work on ad-hoc contractual basis. Now Akshdha has clientele not only in India but also in Dubai, USA and Europe.

Renu’s work, significantly features serendipity and faith. She believes that God is looking after Akshdha. So she always prays to never let her forget her mission. “A year ago,  Akshdha got an order to make 1000 pouches from a leading luxury Italian brand when I did not have enough work to give to my workers. Akshdha, has now graduated to manufacturing a fine range of designer necklaces, bead strings, artificial jewellery, elegant pouches and a host of other wedding accessories,” she shares.

“Not being professionally trained in fashion, it feels good to be able to come up with lovely designs that are appreciated by people around the world, at the same time making the employees of Akshdha independent and successful gives me a high,” she adds.

Akshdha is coming up with new products every month. “In the near future, I see Akshdha making more classy and high-end yet affordable products for women in the time to come,” she ends.

(Apart from Akshdha, Renu is also the founding member of Aastha, an active NGO that is dedicated towards child upliftment. She is also a member of the Marriage Disputes Cell, where she has worked hard to raise awareness for issues like domestic violence and racial in-discrimination. Being a qualified yoga teacher, she has taught also yoga to over 10,000 people by organizing free camps in colleges, villages, hospitals, deaf and blind schools, and even in leper’s colonies.)