Amma’s Initiatives – Amrita SREE – Self Reliance, Education & Empowerment

The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami left widespread devastation in its wake.
There was also a spate of farmer suicides in the Indian state of Maharashtra
Homes were destroyed, children were orphaned and families were trapped in poverty, disease and despair
Amma consoled these communities and responded with immediate relief measures
For Amma, providing them immediate emotional support and disaster relief was not enough …Amma wanted to make these communities self-reliant and resilient
She wanted to give them an alternate source of livelihood when natural disasters disrupted their nature-based sources of livelihood With a vision to support their long-term rehabilitation, Amma started AmritaSree – a network of financially independent Self-Help Groups
Each AmritaSree Self-Help Group has around 10 to 20 members; a majority of them are women
In partnership with UNDEF and Government of India, the groups were given free vocational training using tablets and modern interactive technologies
After training, AmritaSree helped the groups obtain loans to start their own enterprises
As the groups started turning profitable, each member of the group would set aside a small amount weekly towards the group’s common savings
When the need arose is money was loaned among them at a nominal interest rate Loans are provided for personal use as well as for starting small industry units This eliminates the dependence on banks for their financial needs including medical expenses, marriages, education and childcare
Self-Help Groups use the interest-earnings towards building houses for homeless members
AmritaSree at a glance
IN 21 STATES OF INDIA
13,500 SELF HELP GROUPS
Rs.35 CRORES IN ANNUAL SEED FUNDING SKILL TRAINING FOR 50,000+ MEMBERS
250,000+ ACTIVE MEMBERS
From a modest start AmritaSree now has grown into a wide network with hundreds of thousands of direct and indirect beneficiaries
Seventy
years of showering the grace
Seventy Graceful Years

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