Sew A Future

How we got started...

 

In 2010, when Ruchita Zaparde was visiting India with her family, she had a chance to meet Asha, a 27-year-old widow from a rural village, and her two young daughters. Within a month of her husband’s death, Asha was kicked out of her in-laws’ home and suddenly had nowhere to go. She started working on a farm as a laborer during the day and stitched clothes by hand at night to earn a living. That year, the crop yield had severely diminished, and her children had quit school so they could hold small jobs to make ends meet. While fighting tears, Asha told Ruchita how she dreamed of sending her children back to school. She did not want them to be relegated to lives like hers.

 

Ruchita knew she had to do something. After returning to New Jersey, Ruchita fundraised at her school and on her next trip, gave Asha a sewing machine. Within a year, Asha had a steady source of income and her daughters were back in school. Ruchita quickly realized that there were many more women like Asha, and Sew A Future was born!