One of Sakshara’s objectives is to help people acquire skills that help them generate income and sustain their livelihood. Sakshara volunteers provide crochet, knitting and other handiwork skills to women. Crochet is a good aid to help people acquire numerical skills which will help them in their daily life.  Classes are held at the Sakshara Learning Centre in Anchepalya in Bangalore, and it is rewarding to watch learners become proficient crocheters while also easily grasping basic mathematical concepts.

The women use these handiwork skills to make blankets, amigurumi toys, jewellery, masks etc. in woollen and cotton yarn. Sakshara compensates these women for their time and labour, enabling them to add to their income through their skills . In turn, we at Sakshara offer up these products for sale to the public, ensuring that the programme is self-sustaining. As an extension of this programme, and to meet a need, a project ‘Keep our babies warm’ was started to provide woollens for premature babies born in a hospital run by the Jan Chetna Manch in Jharkhand.  The Nool Koota, a group of ladies that came together to use their knitting and crocheting skills, volunteers to produce sweaters, caps, bootees and sheets for the newborn babies. The Nool Koota has also been helping to raise funds for Sakshara by contributing their time and skills to make products which are sold through Sakshara.