Empowered Resilience

OUR AIM IS TO EMPOWER WOMEN SO THAT ONE DAY THEY CAN RUN THEIR OWN KITCHENS, AND THEN WE CAN TRAIN NEW SET OF GIRLS, SHARES FAREESA KHAN FROM SAFA, A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE THAT STARTED LUQMA - A CLOUD KITCHEN AND CATERING RUN BY WOMEN FROM MARGINALISED SECTIONS OF THE SOCIETY

- RAJESHWARI KALYANAM

Sultana was in her 30s when she was suffering the abuse of her alcoholic husband, she along with her two daughters was forced to spend two days without food, and had to survive on water, and when her husband tried to kill her daughter – she turned her back on him. She went to her mother and took shelter. She was free, but the struggle to survive continued and without proper education there wasn’t much she could do until she discovered the cooking classes conducted by SAFA. Today, she is a home chef and earns her livelihood. Asiya, who was widowed at a young age, and had to face trauma, humiliation and harassment; Saleha who was deserted by her husband 18 years after their wedding leaving her to poverty with her three beautiful daughters, and accused of being a bad wife and mother – all of them have one thing in common – they found refuge in the cooking classes by SAFA, and are now playing an active part in running their kitchens, and earning enough to support their families and educate their children. Dar-ul-Shifa is one of the oldest parts of Hyderabad, and the area gets its name from the 16th-century hospital, which was later converted into a place of worship for the Shias during the Nizams time.