Sometimes Things do Work Out

Literacy India and the budding coder
May 25, 2022
First Step For Change
May 25, 2022

Sometimes Things do Work Out

Livestock farming plays a significant role in the Indian rural economy. Goats provide a valuable source of livelihood and pathway out of poverty, especially for women. It is now a crucial part of the Agro-Based Livelihoods programme. Women, landless agriculture labourers and marginal farmers rear 2-3 goats as supplementary income. Literacy India project karigari supports livestock rearing as a Livelihood option for a landless tribal community at Indore village Manoharthan Rajasthan and in several villages of Purulia District, West Bengal.


Sometimes Things do Work Out

Nandu Bai is a 35-year-old woman who lives in the Indore village of Manoharthana block Jhalawar. She has two children and a husband in the family. Her family collects dry wood from the forest and occasionally works on farms. There is no sustainable / permanent livelihood opportunity for the community.

In our survey and assessment, Nandu Bai expressed her interest in goat rearing. She managed her goat breeding for two years, and now she has five goats. Goats also are a source of milk for the family. Till now, she sold two male goats worth 10000/ each. For an impoverished family who just managed their lives in extreme poverty, this earning was sunshine in their lives.

Literacy India encourages women to be part earning members of their families.

41 Years old Jaleshwari Sing Sardar tribal women village folk of Lowakui took goat rearing as a primary source of her livelihood. Earlier, she had no identity, just a woman who would be busy doing household chores. Her husband works as a daily wage earner. They have four daughters and one son, and soon, they realised the burden of household expenditure. Livestock rearing was an easy option for her. She, like Nandu Bai, managed a good amount of income with the sale of goats she bred; she now has an identity that contributes to family income.


Sometimes Things do Work Out

Women’s empowerment is essential for the social and economic growth of the economy. Women empowerment is not just about teaching the skills to earn money. Still, it also includes promoting a women’s self-worth, their ability to make their own choices and work towards securing a better future for themselves and their families.
Rabia Bibi, the mother of two children and four, lives in the Wadachiwadi area of Undri in Pune and relies on her husband’s income, who works in an interior designing firm. Rabia had only done her schooling till the 8th class and had never considered taking a job to contribute to the monthly income. However, when a neighbour informed Rabia about the Karigari program, she decided to enrol.
As is with any new project, it took Rabia some time to settle into the new routine. The concepts were new, and she was unsure about her tasks. With time and the help of her teachers, Rabia started to pick up the skills and became more confident in her work. She also attended the two sessions held by MasterCard about how women can be financially stable. As a result of these entrepreneurship-focused workshops, many women started taking an active interest in concepts and were eager to clear their doubts. Rabia’s husband lost his job when the 2nd wave of COVID-19 hit the country, and the lockdown was activated. Equipped with newfound confidence and skills, Rabia decided to take matters into her hands. She started a small business of stitching and alterations from her home. Her clients were her friends and her neighbours. She began with simple alterations but soon took more oversized orders that contributed significantly to the family’s financial stability.
Today Rabia thanks Literacy India for giving her the confidence and the skills to help her family.