Business School for Rural Women in Maharashtra Photo Gallery

After taking Manndeshi's Electronic Literacy class, Kerabai now uses her mobile phone to contact her clients, suppliers and to determine market prices. Her phone helps connect her to the broader market despite her remote location and receive the best price for her products.

Mann Vikas intern teaching English

Reading and writing English is taught in our local schools, but the ability to speak English is rarely mastered. We feel this is an important skill and stress that our women learn to speak English. Mann Vikas utilizes our interns to aide us in this process.

Women learning how to make cotton bags

Low start up costs are crucial for the initiation of any micro enterprise. Here at Mann Vikas we teach skills to our women that can be easily turned into a business with only a small purchase of basic materials, such as cloth or a sewing machine. In this picture, the women are learning how to produce decorative cotton bags that can be sold at the local market.

Computer classes taught through our business school connect rural women to a globalizing world, endow them with marketable skills and confidence, and grant them access to a new medium of self-directed learning.

This financial literacy class, taught by the branch manager of our Vaduj bank location, teaches students the basics of savings, debt management, and bank services. These classes are crucial to teaching healthy financial habits and promoting the inclusion of marginalized, rural populations.

One of our clients, studying material for her financial literacy class. For many women, both young and old alike, these classes teach them the financial skills necessary to begin micro enterprises which bring secure incomes to their families.

A tailoring class at the Vaduj branch learns how to design and sew a handbag. Tailoring provides a steady and comfortable living.

Women participating in computer class

Given our rapidly globalizing economy, we feel it is imperative for our women to gain basic computer literacy skills. In this picture, you can see a few of our rural women learning basic computer skills that can help them find higher paying jobs.