Single Mom Helps 100 Women Earn $250/Month Weaving Baskets

Behind Chennai's gleaming IT offices, women who clean those buildings spend their afternoons weaving plastic wire into sturdy, patterned baskets. For many, this second shift now brings in up to 20,000 rupees (about $250) each month, money that changes what's possible for their families.

The bridge between their skill and that income didn't exist until Siraj Khan built it. A single mother and teacher, Siraj was teaching children at a community center in Perungudi when she noticed their mothers working quietly in the next room. They'd learned basket weaving through local programs, but had nowhere to sell what they made.

Siraj knew that gap intimately. After her marriage ended, she'd raised two kids alone while earning degrees in English and working unstable freelance jobs. "I needed something more consistent," she says. That struggle taught her to spot what others overlook.

She teamed up with Elijah John Mathew, whose organization New LEED had been teaching craft skills in underserved communities for nearly two decades. Together they launched Thalir LEED in 2020 to connect these weavers with actual buyers.

The first exhibition was crushing. Siraj displayed 5,000 rupees worth of baskets. Not one sold. "We thought, maybe this won't work," she admits.

But they didn't quit. They studied what customers wanted, improved designs, and built relationships with stores and corporate buyers. Slowly, orders started coming. Then they kept coming.

Why This Inspires

Today, over 100 women weave baskets through Thalir LEED. They work flexible hours around their housekeeping jobs, sitting together in a space that feels like theirs. The income helps pay school fees, buy groceries, and build small savings accounts that didn't exist before.

What makes this work isn't charity. It's structure. The women already had the skill. They just needed someone to create the system connecting their hands to the market.

Siraj didn't rescue anyone. She noticed what was missing and filled the gap. The women did what they'd always done, weaving tight knots with patient precision. Now they get paid for it.

For women whose morning work keeps corporate offices running but rarely brings security home, those afternoon hours of weaving have become something more than a side income. It's proof that the skills they carry matter, and that someone finally saw them clearly enough to help the world see too.