An accident that happened in 2014 made Showkath leave him wheelchair bound. After the incident, he struggles to make the ends meet after the incident. Now with the support of his family, he is now able to make the ends meet and he is dedicating his gratitude to his school teacher who helped him to learn how to make umbrellas and one special thanks to a Social Media Community who supported him very much.
Like Showkath, nearly fifty physically disabled persons across Kerala are now earning a living by making umbrellas. A Facebook page called ‘Umbrella by Differently Abled – Kerala (sic)’ has been helping them market and sell their products since last year.
“I always wanted to lead a life with my own hard earned money. After the accident, my spinal cord got injured and I was bound to a wheelchair. A school teacher from Palakkad showed me how to make umbrellas and helped me to connect with others who make a living similarly. He is the one who created the Facebook page so that we can market our products effectively,” says Showkath
Like Showkath another woman was also helped, she was the native of Kollam. Partially paralyzed from an attack of polio when she was a child, this has allowed her to be self-sufficient.
“Before turning into making umbrellas, I used to take tuition classes for school children. However, I had to discontinue because my house would get flooded during monsoon, and the kids couldn’t come,” she shared.
In the initial stages, they used the Watsapp group to find the customers and sell their umbrellas till the creation of the Facebook Page.
The team now has about 50 people across the state. Umbrellas are priced from Rs 300 to Rs 350 apiece.
“We get most of the bulk orders during monsoon season. This is a problem we continue to face, because on other months we have to depend on something else to make money, says Latha
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