Asha Mahawar

Spreading Wings

Asha grew up in a family of 8 people, living in a single room apartment in the Old City of Jaipur. Her family was burdened with ever-increasing debts and faced eviction by their landlord. Her lack of confidence in social settings and family pressure forced her to drop out of school. She fought with her father to be able to learn stitching so that could help her family financially, but her father did not allow the women of the house to step out.

Her family was thrown into abject poverty when her father fell sick and was unable to work. She wanted to work to help her family, however her fear of venturing out in the world on her own prevented her from doing so. Her ray of hope, like many other women, was when someone told her about PDKF. When she visited the PDKF office, she saw the ladies working happily, noticed the safe working environment and joined instantly.

Asha has been coming to PDKF for almost two years and is a skilled member of the team. She has overcome her social anxiety and is now the most popular among the ladies at the Foundation. She has been able to get her sisters engaged and paid for the repairs of her house. While working at PDKF, she also saved enough money to support her parents with expenses for her own wedding. After her marriage, she has come back to work at PDKF.

For Asha PDKF was an escape from her unfortunate situation, her place of education where she learnt life skills and most importantly, it is her family. She says, “ I have seen myself blooming here, I feel content and satisfied with my journey at the Foundation and never want to stop coming here.”