Who said housewives cant be active?

BANGALORE: “The lightning thought of doing something useful and meaningful with the spare time we housewives have, always bothered me and encouraged me to take a stride forward,” says Sa Na Sreelakshmi, one of the founder members of Minchu IDEAS, a Bangalore based non-profit organisation, working with women, children, senior citizens and environment.Although the organisation has four wings catering to the above mentioned areas, it came into being with the sole motive of utilising the surplus time women have, after their routine job. Minchu IDEAS was born in the year 1995 as a brainchild of a bunch of housewives and professionals with the aim of coming up with a forum for women to invest, implement and use their talent in building a cordial society.“Women have a lot of time left after their daily house hold jobs which goes unutilised. We came up with this organisation so that the knowledge we housewives posses, could be channelised and used in a more productive way,” says Sreelakshmi.The organisation with over 50 housewives working as volunteers was recognised in the year 2002 when it was registered under Karnataka Society’s Act 1960. “Our initial journey was very difficult and the only support we got was from our family members. But we were determined and wanted to give back to the society,” says Sreelakshmi.Minchu IDEAS identify the hidden talent within women and encourage and train them to use it in the best possible way. “Since housewives are very comfortable with household work, we try to relate the syllabus taught at schools with the household jobs. We also organise recharging workshops which rebuild the confidence and make them believe that their contribution towards society is valuable,” she says.Women once trained, are sent to the government schools across the city, where they teach underprivileged children. Apart from encouraging women towards using their spare time fruitfully, the organisation also works towards the betterment of children, senior citizens and environment.“We visit government schools and provide the underprivileged kids with different methodologies on how to make their studies easier. We also have an educational adoption programme, whereby, we encourage people to adopt a child and meet his or her educational needs,” informed Sreelakshmi.The organisation also works with senior citizens and educate children on the importance of plantation and conserving our environment.