Ms Sheeba Paul talks to ecancer about alternative livelihood training programme for rural women who are employed in the tobacco industry in India

With 25 years in the hair extension industry, Exodus Exports empowers underprivileged women, without formal education, by providing them with job opportunities.

It trains women who leave the tobacco rolling industry with an alternative job opportunity to create wigs, thus, improving their working conditions and reducing their chances of getting cancer at a later stage.

Collaborating with the Cancer Institute, the initiative enhances training and community ties.

The focus on rural women builds their confidence and dignity, enabling them to aspire for better lives and education for their children.

The wigs made by this industry are given to women with cancer who lose their hair during chemotherapy.

Ms Paul talks about how such a business model can be used by other low-middle-income countries to provide an alternative source of income from working in the tobacco industry, which can be detrimental to the employees' health.