What is now echoing in the sky is the clinking of the bangles and laughter. Fifty one Kudumbashree Resource Persons from Alappuzha district were on aboard, realizing their long-cherished dream of a flight journey. They got that much-awaited opportunity after four long years. The handbook published as part of Gender Self Learning Program (GSLP) of Kudumbashree Mission gave wings to their dream to fly. 

GSLP is a well-devised project under Kudumbasree Mission. They cater for an overall women empowerment and focus on thematic areas like ‘Women and Workplace’, ‘Women and Health’, ‘Women and Mobility’ and ‘Women and Entertainment’. The third Module was based on the theme ‘Women and Freedom of Mobility’. The handbook published on the fourth module on ‘Women’s Status, Equality, Justice’ further ignited their wish into a vehement desire. The chapters such as “Who am I?”, “What do I have?”, “My Needs” etc., inspired them greatly.

The Kudumbashree workers boarded the Air Asia flight to Bangalore at 1.30 PM on 6 February 2019 and thus fulfilled their dream journey by air. After a two-day stay in Bangalore, they will caught the return flight. They made use of their own income from working as 'Resource Persons' to meet their own expenses. Krishna Teja, the sub-collector of Alappuzha, flagged-off their travel to airport. This journey can be seen as a fine example of Kudumbashree Mission's fruitful endeavors in women empowerment and it adds another feather to their cap. The accomplishment of these people is an inspiration to each and every woman to come out of the four walls of kitchen and reach out to the world outside; to grab the opportunities to fulfill their dreams and pursue their passions.

Gender Self Learning Programme could be regarded as the first social educational process that would have direct implications on rights and entitlements of women in grass roots. Unlike conventional women empowerment programmes that adhere to awareness classes, gender self learning programme aims at facilitating neighborhood groups on discussions that reflect on discrimination, violence and inequality. Each woman represented in the network is regarded as a participant, information provider and knowledge creator.

Kudumbashree area development societies (ADSs) bagged a national award from the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs for increasing their income through sanitation and waste management activities under the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM). Maruthadi ADS in Kollam Corporation and Kanakkanchery ADS in Perithalmanna, Malappuram district, are the ADSs which bagged the award. Shri.S. Harikishore, Executive Director, Kudumbashree Mission and the representatives from municipality and officials received the award at the programme held at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on 15 February 2019.  

Ninety Kudumbashree women are the  part of sanitation and waste management activities under the Maruthadi ADS. They are  producing compost out of the organic waste. They had also been supporting the  implementation of green protocol in events held in the area by completely avoiding the use of plastic. The women were earning Rs.6,000 a month through this.The women dealing the sanitation and waste management activities in Kanakkanchery  ADS makes Rs 5,000 a month. 

The selection committee comprising of Shri. S. Harikishore, Executive Director, Kudumbashree Mission, Smt. R. Girija, Director, Urban Affairs, Shri. Binu Francis, Former Urban Programme Officer selected  the 16 applications received from the urban local bodies and sent it to the Union Ministry. On receiving the applications, officials of the Quality Council of India visited the 16 ADSs and submitted detailed reports to the Ministry. The first prize is Rs.2 lakhs,  Rs.1.5 lakhs, and Rs.1 lakh are the second and third prizes respectively. Kudumbashree is the nodal agency for implementing NULM in the state.

Kudumbashree Gender Resource Centre has been opened at Ettumanoor of Kottayam district of Kerala to ensure welfare, personality development, and self defense of the women.The gender resource center was inaugurated by Smt. J. Mercykutty Amma, Minister for Fisheries, Harbour Engineering and Cashew Industry. Government of Kerala. The aim of the Gender Resource Centre is to make avail the different facilities of women empowerment in one platform.

Through this programme, Kudumbashree  Mission aims at  making women safe from all  atrocities. Kudumbashree Mission also plans to facilitate this programme more effectively by formulating a gender coordination committee including lawyers, doctors and police circle inspectors. The Gender Resource Centre functions at the Kudumbashree building near the Ettumanoor municipality office. There are a lots of programs available like fitness classes, counseling for girls and mothers and library. 
The yoga classes are made available to women free of cost. Fitness classes and library are functioning in the first floor of Kudumbashree Mission office. Twenty five lakh was the total expense of this program.

The Gender Resource Centre has now became  a role model and Ettumanoor Muncipality became women and child friendly by the launch of Gender Resource Centre.

For motivating the aspiring photographers and to propagate the activities of Kudumbashree Mission through photographs, Kudumbashree Mission launched Season 2 of ‘Kudumbashree or Nerchithram’ Photography Competition. Kudumbashree Mission which envisions at eradicating poverty through women in Kerala had successfully completed 19 revolutionary years.

The contestants should submit photographs that would reflect the 18 priority projects of Kudumbashree Mission.The entries should reach Kudumbashree Mission office on or before 5 PM, 15 March 2019. The jury comprising of renowned photographers and officials of Kudumbashree Mission will select the winner. The Award for the Best Photographer will be Rs 20,000. The second prize and third prize will be Rs 10,000 and Rs 5000 respectively. Rs 1000 each will be issued for 10 entries as consolation prizes.

Entries may be send to the mail id kudumbashreeprcontest@gmail.com or may be sent in CD Format to the address, The Executive Director, Kudumbashree State Mission Office, Trida Building, Medical college P.O, Thiruvananthapuram-695011. The name, address, mail id and contact number should be mentioned alongwith. A short note on the photograph should be attached along with. More details of the notiification is available at Kudumbashree website- www.kudumbashree.org

The first season of ‘Kudumbashree or Nerchithram’ was conducted during November- December 2017 and was a grant success. More than 500 photographs were received and it is on following the success of the competition, that the season 2 of the competition is being launched.

Kudumbashree handlooms right from the looms of Kudumbashree women of Kuthambulli and Karimbuzha (weaver villages of Thrissur and Palakkad districts ) were staged at the 'Runaway Show' (Fashion show) at the World Bank Conclave held at New Delhi. The show was curated by eminent floor managers and 7 designers known wide across Delhi has crafted wardrobes for the show. Kudumbashree handlooms were the show stopper of the 'Runaway Show'.The show staged the milky white cotton non woven, golden fibres infused non stitched clothes of Kudumbashree as the inaugural exhibit.

7 renowned female models carried the gracefully designed handcrafted unique crafts of Kudumbashree women across the ramps in all charm and glam which won all hearts of the renowned audience including country heads of UN houses, ambassadors, secretaries of the ministries etc.  

World bank South Asia Regional conclave is organised on “Building Community Resilience - the role of the state and women self help groups organised by world bank, supported Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) and National Rural Livelihoods Mission.  Kudumbashree Mission is participating as an associate partner. Participants from the south east Asia region countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Pakistan etc are participating in the conclave.  The show was distinguished in its form that the apparel used were designed and hand crafted by women of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan etc.

Kudumbashree Mission is also participating in the producer market place- “product exhibition” at the world bank front lawns conducted in conjunction with the event. Kudumbashree is exhibiting honey, cashew, handlooms, spices, chocolates, biennale branded pickles toiletries etc  from different units across Kerala which were severely affected by the recent floods. Products from 5 countries and leading NGOs are also on the display.
 
Mr. Sajith Sukumaran, Chief Operating Officer, Kudumbashree National Resource Organisation has spoken as a panelist in the session titled “Emerging strategies, opportunities and private sector partnership models in non farm sector for at risk communities”, where he has pitched on the differences of private partners employing and private partners collaborating on proper defined business terms that cater women entrepreneurial capacities and also the Kudumbashree experiences in facing and moving across recent floods, how the community worked in rescue, relief, rehabilitation and now in rebuilding.

Kudumbashree Mission started displaying the products of Kudumbashree's micro enterprises in Amazon.in and had also its first order has been received. The first order for Kudumbashree's products was received from Himachal Pradesh. Kudumbashree products are produced by Kudumbashree women's micro enterprises units, which are widely accepted by the community because of its ethnicity and purity. As the demand for Kudumbashree products are increasing day by day, Kudumbashree Mission had also started finding new marketing platforms for fulfilling real customer's requirements. through permanent markets, nano markets, kiosks etc. Kudumbashree Mission had also launched an online portal called www.kudumbashreebazaar.com for marketing the products.
 
In the initial stage of selling Kudumbashree products through Amazon.in, Kudumbashree Mission is planning to display 100 products as trail basis. Kudumbashree Mission have also  started an exclusive office in Thiruvananthapuram for handling amazon order and customer care services.  Convergence with amazon.in made possible through a project called 'Amazon Saheli' which was developed for promoting India’s rural women micro entrepreneurs. Handicrafts, beauty products, handloom, toiletries, soaps, cleaning substances, ayurvedic products etc are the main categories of products displayed.

Kudumbashree shines at Bharat Parv, the event organised by Ministry of Tourism to exhibit the cross links and layers of Indian culture cuisine and crafts at Redfort, New Delhi from 26-31 January 2019. The event celebrates the rich cultural, ethnic, cuisine diversity of India and exhibit India's richness of cultural diversity before world and thereby promoting the tourism prospects of India. 

Along the with traditional art forms and handicrafts, Kerala's ethnic range of cuisines are presented by the Cafe Kudumbashree units, promoted by Kudumbashree Mission before the global and national gathering visiting the venue. In association with Kerala house and the Tourism Department, Kudumbashree Mission has set up a stall at red fort to exhibit the culinary skills of  the Kudumbashree women. Two units, viz., strawberry cafe unit from Idukki district and Natturuchy cafe unit from Kasargod  district serves ethnic cuisines of central Travancore and Kasaragod. It is for the fourth consecutive year that Kudumbashree is participating in Bharat Parv. Cafe Kudumbashree units had made sales of Rs 1,26,160 and Rs 92,920 in  Bharat Parv 2017 and Bharat Parv 2018 respectively.

Associating with the Institute of Hotel Management Catering & Nutrition, Pusa, New Delhi, Kudumbashree women would demonstrate their culinary skills with one starter dish - kozhukatta, one main course dish - Kudumbashree special dum biriyani, and one dessert - nakshatra payasam in conjugation with vegetable halwa in front of the crowd at the live cookery demonstration.  Cafe Kudumbashree food court is receiving wide appreciation and very good responses from the masses gathered to view the celebration of India's culture.

Kudumbashree Bazar Village Souk, the first of its kind Kudumbashree Bazar is opened at Thiruvalla,Pathanamthitta. The same was inaugurated by Shri. Mathew.T.Thomas, MLA on 24 January 2019. Kudumbashree Bazar Village Souk is the one stop shop where all the products of Kudumbashree micro enterprises in the district would be made available. Apart from making available the Kudumbashree products under one umbrella, Kudumbashree Bazar Village Souk also aims at promoting organic food thereby ensuring clean and healthy food for the public. Kudumbashree Bazar Village Souk is located near the Municipal Stadium at Thiruvalla in Pathanamthitta.

A Kudumbashree cafe which sells cooked organic food is arranged at Kudumbashree Bazar Village Souk. Arrangements for converting paddy into rice is also set up at Kudumbashree Bazar Village Souk. The Kudumbashree members at the LSGs will be in charge of the functioning of Kudumbashree Bazar Village Souk is set up in 2000 sqft. Kudumbashree Bazar Village Souk comprises of juice parlour, puttukada, ready to cook, ready to serve, stocking/ delivery counter, space for organic food items, curry powder, rice powder, vegetable items, garments, bags, tailoring, beauty parlour, organic items, bakery, rice shops, fish stall, cafeteria and billing. Kudumbashree Bazar Village Souk will extend an opportunity for the micro entrepreneurs in the district to market their products. Kudumbashree Bazars will soon be opened in other districts as well.

'Skill Voyage' and 'Best Practices', the books published by Kudumbashree, Kerala SRLM was released at DDUGKY Regional Review Meeting. Smt. Alka Upadhyay, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) and Shri. Charanjith Singh IFS, Joint Secretary (Rural Skills), Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) released the books at the Regional Review Meeting held at Hotel Sahara Star, Mumbai on 24 January 2019.

The Best Practices of Kudumbashree SRLM was presented by Shri. S. Harikishore IAS, Executive Director, Kudumbashree Mission during the review meeting. The 'Best Practices' book comprises of the details on inclusion, convergence, ensuring quality of PIA (Project Implementing Agency) deliverables, interventions benefiting candidates, IEC-reaching the stakeholders, project strategy and execution. 'Skill Voyage' includes articles written by the state level functionaries, on varied topics relevant to the implementation of the programme. The topics explored in the articles include policy level decisions to enhance the quality of PIA deliverables through social audit and rating of DDUGKY Centres and grading of PIAs, benefits of pursuing Qualitative Appraisal by Kudumbashree rather than entrusting the task to an external agency, successful convergence initiatives, web based monitoring and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), community based tracking of DDUGKY candidates and other new initiatives, policies, and improvements and finally the impact and sector wise achievements are detailed.

Kudumbashree Thrissur District Mission  developed a website for Snehitha Gender Help Desk, Thrissur, in collaboration with  the Department of Media Studies, St.Thomas College, Thrissur. It is as part of convergence activities of gender team of Kudumbashree Thrissur District Mission that the website is launched. www.snehithathrissur.net, the website of  Snehitha Gender Help Desk, Thrissur was launched by Shri. S. Harikishore, Executive Director, Kudumbashree Mission at District Co-operative Bank Hall, Thrissur on 14 January 2019.

The website consultancy service is provided on voluntary service basis. Mr. Joseph, Assistant Professor and Ms. Keerthana, Multimedia 6th Semester degree student are giving technical support to Snehitha for website related works. Thrissur Snehitha Gender Help Desk is also planning to add online login facility in this website for operating Snehitha services. 

In Snehitha website home page we can catch 'what we do', 'who are we', 'field activities', 'gallery', 'services', 'events', 'toll free number 18004252573' and 'cover photos'. Under the 'what we do' tab the services extended by Snehitha is narrated such as counselling, service providing, shelter, rehabilitation and field level activities. 

In the counselling part,  details about individual counselling, couple counselling, marital therapy, family therapy, tele counselling, premarital counselling, child guidance and career counselling are included. The service providing part contains the details about mediation, legal aid, legal clinic and  networking with other department and institutions. In the shelter part, the services being provided to Snehitha inmates and inmate engagement activities  are described.The Rehabilitation part narrates about  livelihood orientation, livelihood trainings, 20 days EDII Program and e-job assistance services. In the field level activities area the Snehitha out reach activities such as community counselling, Gender Resource Centers (GRCs), Block Level Counselling Centres(BLCCs), Snehitha Calling Bell, Campaigns, Nattukkoottam, Gender Sesitization workshops, Group Counselling programs and Model Gender Resource Centres etc are explained.

By launching the website www.snehithathrissur.net,  Snehitha Gender Help Desk, Thrissur has made a leap in extending the gender related assistance to the common women in the district.