Our History
In the 80s, the match & fireworks industries of Sivakasi had many child labourers. An International Study in 1992 estimated that there were more than 100,000 child laborer's at Sivakasi. Children below 14 years were about 55% of the total workers.
In 1989, a fatal accident occurred in which a minibus owned by a fireworks industry, full of children aged 5 – 16 submerged in water on the causeway. 49 children drowned on the spot. This incident made SPEECH include the prevention of child labor as one of its major objectives.
Self Help Groups or Nanayam Groups
By 1995, SPEECH and community women in our working region joined hands to promote Nanayam Groups. Nanayam in Tamil has two meanings, "Coin" and "Dignity".
As well as taking up savings and credit activities, the Nanayam groups took up issues such as violence against women, exploitation by money lenders, and dowry harassment. They moved forward with concrete actions such as their collective marketing strategy.
The women launched Nanayam Credit Cards so that their members could purchase items at low cost and could access credit at any time. They opened a Nanayam Shop at Tiruchuli to sell essential items. It increased women's purchasing power and reduced bondage to the money lenders.
The members now prefer to educate their boys and girls in good schools, support their higher education and get their girl children married at an appropriate age.
