We love sharing stories of the women who, as part of a skills-training program, sew together PUNJAMMIES®. The Sudara Stories series highlights a few of these strong, amazing women. Today, we are honored to introduce Munny.
Munny’s Story of Hope and Freedom
After Munny lost her father at a young age, her mother became a commercial sex worker; The income wasn’t enough, though, and her mother struggled to make ends meet. Due to their financial struggles, Munny’s family forced her to marry at the age of 14; her husband died a year later.
Without a job or other source of income to provide for herself, Munny moved back to her mother’s home and immediately searched for a way to contribute to family finances. The pimp where her mother worked learned of Munny’s job search and told her about a place hiring in the big city that paid well — enough to send money home to help her mother, too. He even offered to help her get to the city through a few friends he knew were traveling that way. She didn’t want to leave her mother again, but felt like she did not have any other options at home.
During her trip to the city, Munny found out that the pimp had lied to her and her mother. There was no job in the city, the people she traveled with were traffickers and they planned on selling her to a brothel owner. Thankfully, Munny was able to escape from her traffickers before they reached the brothel. And, through the help of a local-NGO, she heard about one of Sudara’s partner sewing centers.
Munny is taking classes in both sewing and cosmetology and is scheduled to graduate this year. She told us that her goal is to continue her sewing skills by working in the garment industry.
Thank you for continuing to invest in and empower women like Munny to create a new life for herself. Read more Sudara Stories here. And, find the PUNJAMMIES® we named in honor and celebration of her here.