Chetana - Vikas (Consciousness - Development): May 2012

Meet, 45 year old Manda.

A widow, barely able to sustain with earnings of Rs.30-50/day (up to 0.920 USD) is now able to earn
Rs.200-300/day (up to 5.520 USD).

Manda – a shy, demure daily wage earner from village Talegaon, has studied up to 7^th standard. Her world became totally a question mark when her husband died of renal failure, a few years ago. Her three teenaged children, who were till then aspiring for better education, suddenly had to think whether they could continue the education at all. But daunty Manda did not waste much time fretting and worrying. She realized that her meager earnings were not enough, for her family. She started with some odd jobs, took up a small loan to set up a petty shop. Due to inconsistent earnings and uncertainties, she could not keep it open and had to shut down intermittently. Moreover, there was no money to buy enough material to stock up. She even took up a contract of preparing porridge as mid-day meal at a government child care centre.

Her commitment and efforts to somehow improve her and children’s lives was noticed by the women of her village. With the program of helping widows like her gaining momentum at Chetana-Vikas , her case was brought to the notice of the Committee and she was provided an amount of about 110 USD. With this support, she bought stuff for her shop from a town 12 kms away, spruced up the small tin shop a bit and started stocking up on demands of villagers. She sells grocery items and stationary. Very soon, the continuity showed results. The shop is running smoothly and her life has become stable. With earnings increasing six fold, she is now on the road to recovery for a decent and better life. She plans to expand further.
Her kids could continue their education due to some support from her maternal home.

The Women Committee members are village women who are pioneers and are selected because of their capacities already shown. With consistent efforts, they have developed the knowledge, attitude and skills to help people like Manda. It is the precise and necessary information gained at trainings regarding available government schemes, legal aid, property rights and other related issues which allow these Committee members to take up or suggest concrete action for the needy women.