Turning veggies into pickles, and women into entrepreneurs

One of the first requests that we received upon arriving in Hyderabad, was a plea from the local LDS Branch President to find a way to empower the poorest women in the branch. Many of these women are the sole providers in their home, but lack the education and skills needed to work at a job with a liveable wage. Despite these difficulties, these women and their children are active contributors in the branch, often at great sacrifice.

Working through the Relief Society, we were able to identify and bring together those with the greatest need. At our first meeting, we asked each woman what her skills and talents were. It actually took a bit of prodding as these women didn’t feel that had anything marketable to contribute. But it was fun to help them discover just how their skills could be turned into an income-generating venture.

After a sifting process, the women together decided on making (drum roll)… pickles! Yes, that’s right. They felt that pickles were something they could make better and cheaper than the going pickles in stores.

Pickles in India are unlike anything I’ve tried before. Definitely an aquired taste… which I am actively aquiring. They pickle most vegetables and many fruits. A load of salt and oil mixed with exotic delicious spices and chilis to make quite the flavorful celebration in one’s mouth.

Next, we came together to decide on a name. We threw around Telegu names such as Surya (sun) and Maradalu (sisters), some iconic names such as Obama or Mona Lisa (envision the logo as Mona Lisa holding a pickle- so many possibilities!), but ended up on following the pattern of many NGOs here and forming a rockin’ acronym: WEE (Women Empowered through Employment) Pickles. Next, Casey on our team designed a lovely logo. And thus, the birth of India’s latest and greatest pickling venture.

Here are the two main women producing the pickles, Rani

and Kumari,

at our inaugural sale. We tied gold bows on everything from the bottles to our hair, to make it “auspicious” (my favorite India-specific word meaning an event that is “important, favored by fortune”).

Working through the finances...

Roopkala (not pictured) is a very educated and wise woman who has been wanting to find a way to help her fellow branch members, and so has joined and was voted as our fearless group leader. She is absolutely essential to the sustainability of the project, so we are so grateful to have her on.

Within the first week, all 17 bottles of the vegetable pickles sold right out of their home, leaving only 12 chicken pickles on the shelf.

Here.... WEE..... go.....