The Bethania Foundation India ^TM’ Mannavanur WEP embraces these women and provides them refuge and help. Through the loving care of the staff, they are given support, encouragement and hope for improved futures. By learning how sew, embroider and weave, the women become wage earners, which changes their status within their families. In the Indian culture, the wife moves in with the husband’s family and often becomes subservient to the husband and mother-in-law. With the prospect of earning some income and the confidence gained at The Bethania Foundation India ^TM WEP Center, their family status is improved.

Mannavanur village is an agrarian area outside of Kodaikanal. Most people work in the fields, and many of the people at Mannavanur are day laborers picking up piece work when they can. The village has a strongly Hindu culture, and our center is next to a Hindu temple, in a valley surrounded with terraced gardens and agricultural fields. The village is very poor, and a high incidence of spousal abuse (husbands that advocate suicide for their wives) exists. The WEP has serves as a refuge for many of these women who seek help. Learning to sew and produce marketable products gives new life and hope to these women as they seek to bring value to their lives. This program is housed in a building owned by a local charity group. While learning a vocation at the center, their children often attend the nearby Mannavanur Day Care Center.