Make Women in Rural India Financially Secure

Dear Friends,

Hope you are well. Half of our monsoon period is over and we have not received any rains. It is a worrisome situation for us. A large number of people in villages were we work, are dependent on agriculture. If it doesn’t rain, the food security for these families will be affected. Therefore, we are hoping that the monsoon may come in its second half and we will receive adequate rainwater in our lakes and wells. We will keep you updated on it.

With this letter, I am sharing with you a story of Devli Bai who is a member of one of the Self Help Groups. Devli Bai has started her own brick factory with the help of the credit she was able to procure from her group. It is you support to this program, which is helping many more women like Devli Bai. You can find the story below my letter.

Once again many thanks for your continuing support to us. We hope to meet with you some day and show you some of our work in villages.

Thanks and regards,

Deepti

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Devli Bai is a member of the Self Help Group in Mohd Phalasiya village since 2002. Her husband Shanta Ram used to work as one of the laborers (brick carrier) in a brick kilning factory which was four kilometers far from their village. In 2008, the entire Self Help Group had applied for a government loan under the Swaranjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (also known as SGSY, is an integrated scheme for providing opportunities of self employment to the rural poor which may be individuals or Self Help Groups). The group received around Rs. 300,000 ($ 6,000) under the scheme and redistributed a loan of 50,000 ($1,000) rupees within their group members. Devli Bai was one of the members who received her share of $ 1,000. She took the loan to start her own business of brick kilning

Devli Bai makes 700 to 1000 bricks in a day and employ three people, thus contributing to local economy. Devli Bai herself works only three to four hours in a day and contributes rest of her time looking after her children and family.

Today, her family earns around Rs. 25,000 to 30,000 ($500 to $600) in a year. Though the income from this business is uncertain during monsoon, Devli Bai says she sees her income increasing every year. In future, she plans to increase production as there is a huge demand for bricks in her village and also purchase plastic sheets to keep unburned bricks safe from rain. This way, she will be able to keep expanding her family’s business.