Description

Nineteen-year-old Nisha holds a bundle of incense she has hand rolled. She and three other women spend long days sitting on the ground hunched over a smooth surface, rolling thousands of incense sticks. Their fingers often get cramped and stiff from long hours of repetitive movements. They earn just 10-12 rupees for every 1,000 sticks. As members of the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA), a trade union for poor, self-employed women in the informal sector, Nisha and her co-workers receive health check-ups and other benefits.