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CNTS, Senegal visit to SEWA, India
By Joyti Punjabi Vimo, SEWA and Seyni Mané Ndiaye and Annie Diouf, CNTS Women's Committee
A delegation of the national Women's Committee of CNTS, Senegal composed of Seyni Mané Ndiaye, representative of the informal sector, and Annie Diouf, responsible for projects, travelled to India to spend 7 days, from 16 -21 January with SEWA in India. This was the second part of the exchange programme between CNTS and SEWA. The first leg was a visit by SEWA to CNTS Women's Committee in November 2007.
The delegates were met on 16th January by SEWA Secretary General, Joytiben . A meeting was held to discuss and plan the activities and to share a brief history of the organisation and its formation in 1972 as a union for self-employed women in the informal economy who had had no income or work security until then. SEWA has a membership of nearly a million members who are in different sectors of informal economy work. We were introduced to the SEWA executive committee of 25 members who explained the different programmes that SEWA has formed in different sectors to meet its members' needs: insurance; banking for the poor; agriculture; health; textiles; co-operative management, audiovisual document-ation and research. The visiting delegation noted that not one of the people in leadership who are in charge of the programmes, was men.
A field visit was made based on the agreed plan. It included the following:
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Shop No 40 which is SEWA's shop for vegetable vendors. This is a wholesale vegetable shop and plays a significant role for rural producers as it links rural producers with urban vendors. The visiting delegation learnt how the shop was formed and how it functions.
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SEWA Ayurvedic Centre which promotes traditional knowledge and treatment and enhances employment opportunities for SEWA members. The activities are raw material purchase, marketing and selling by health workers. The Centre has launched 15 products in the market.
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The urban union related to head loaders. The union structures, strategies to organise the unorganised, campaigns and policy issues were discussed. One of the aspects discussed in some detail is the need for the union to negotiate and do work with Government.
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Health, childcare and insurance activities were seen in both rural and urban areas. The Saroda village was an example of how SEWA promoted a health cooperative. Members are provided with healthcare, childcare and insurance. The visitors also learnt how SEWA has collaborated with hospitals in Ahmedabad to secure a 'cashless service' which enables women to obtain reimbursement after 24 hours of sickness.
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SEWA's TB lab and medicine shops: Medicines are sold at a reduced rate at the heath co-operative to give affordable medical care. The shops also link patients with the other activities of SEWA, including referral care in different hospitals.
- SEWA's Trade Facilitation Centre (TFC) which is a garment production unit, and the marketing outlet Banascraft were visited. The TFC upgrades rural skills and artisans are provided with a market through Banascraft to sell their products.
On January 21, the last day of the visit, we visited Sabamarti where Mahatma Gandhi lived, called "Hridaya KUNJ" (hearth).
A meeting was held for evaluation of the visit of the CNTS delegation at which great appreciation was shared with the sisters from SEWA who had made the visit to India a lasting learning experience. On return it was the CNTS visitors' responsibility to report on the exchange visit to Mody Guiro Secretary General of CNTS and Fatou Bintou Yaffa Managara, President of the Women's Committee of CNTS. In summary, the visiting delegation see the visit as a very beneficial learning experience for women's informal economy organisation.
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