08 Mar International Women’s Day
For International Women’s Rights Day, we share with you the success story of Meena, a woman we support through our Self Help Groups. Meena became financially independent and can now support her family through duck farming!
“I am happy to be a member of the self-management group. It has completely changed my life, now I have a special identity in the village and people know me by name.”
Meena
Like every other villager, Meena could not think beyond the four walls of her house until she became a member of her village’s self-management group. Her husband is a farmer and they have two children. They have a small plot of land where they grow some vegetables. It was very difficult for them to meet the family’s needs and they had no savings to meet unforeseen needs.
During a visit to her village, the social worker Birajmani met her and gave her information about the self-management groups. By becoming a member, Meena learned several things such as the importance of saving, maintaining the group record and accounting. She regularly managed to save 10 rupees a week and after being trained, she decided to start her own duck farming business.
She therefore took out a loan of 12,100 rupees from her group to pay for the production unit (one-time membership fee – 1,100 rupees – and 11,000 rupees for 500 ducklings, or 22 rupees per duckling). This first loan was his first step towards economic independence.
With her own income, she was able to buy quality food for the ducks and built them a shelter in her house, using bamboo and plastic sheets. After a few weeks, she no longer needed to go to the market to sell her ducks, the buyers came to her themselves. Out of 500 ducks, she sold 432 (at 300 rupees each) and 55 ducks died. Among his ducks, 13 laid eggs, which allowed him to increase his income. The sale of a cane allowed him to repay his entire loan to the self-management group. “I am happy to be a member of the self-management group. It has completely changed my life, now I have a special identity in the village and people know me by name.” She also said that duck farming is a very interesting and profitable business.
Meena has become a financially independent woman, which allows her to save money to finance her children’s education and other family needs.
Her business has become a source of inspiration for many people like her in her locality.