|
|
|
|
Diversified
Agriculture |
Case-IX
Sweet Success |
 |
Beneficiary's
Background |
| |
This
is the story of a woman, Smt. Hari Kumari, of village Kailora
of Hathras district, who covered the distance of being an
ordinary woman to a successful entrepreneur. Like other women
of Kailora village, Hari Kumari was also contented with her
life as a housewife. Her world was limited to the four walls
of her household, living with the perception that women should
remain confined to the chores of household, despite the fact
that resources were not enough to support her family consisting
of three sons and a daughter. |
|
Emergence
of Idea and Action |
| |
Hari
Kumari came to know about Aseed when Aseed's staff members
were going from door to door for generating awareness about
the concept of micro credit. Aseed, at that time, was trying
to promote micro credit as an alternative to the local moneylender.
Like many other women, Hari Kumari also got attracted towards
the idea as the economic aspect was attached to that. It was
explained in detail with the classification that the members
of the SHG were in charge of their money. Once the doubts
were cleared, women shed their inhibitions and participated
activity in the formation of SHG and teh necessary rules.
The field workers tried to promote the talent leadership quality
of the women in the whole process to make them responsible
towards their own group. Hari Kumari took the decision and
joined one such group and participated actively in bringing
together the women like her. She was now a part of the Aseed
family. She started enjoying the life outside her house. She
managed to spare the amount decided by the group and was saving
in the group regularly. |
|
Generation
of Support |
| |
The
organization by that time gained linkage with teh local agriculture
department under the DASP scheme. They started promoting micro
enrepreneurship to combat poverty. When Hari Kumari was motivated
for this sort of work, she hesitated. It was a big decision
for her as till now she had always stayed behind the four
walls of her house. But her enough strength to take the plunge.
With the efforts of the District Coordinator of Aseed, like
may other women, Hari Kumari was also sent for training of
food processing at the agriculture department. The desire
to support their family income attracted many women towards
these courses. They were given the required information about
the processing of food items. When the training was completed,
Hari Kumari faced the very first hurdle for setting up her
own micro enterprise and that was money, but her association
with the SHG did not go in vain. The group, which was brought
together with the efforts of Hari Kumari and Aseed, came together
to give her loan for starting her own work. The group by this
time was linked up with the local bank and she was able to
get the money. She started with processing of rose petals
to make Gulab Sharbat (a type of Squash). |
|
Recognition |
| |
Under
the guidance of the Aseed staff, Hari Kumari started selling
her products in the local markets. Her sharbat soon became
popular among the people. Her family members also joined her
in the venture and they took the sharbat to the nearby cities
like Aligarh and Agra. With the collective efforts, she was
able to grab orders for the supply of sharbat to a few stalls. |
| |
She
is now a well-known name in her village. She has not forgotten
her SHG group. She is still associated with the group and
is a role model for fellow women. She has set an example of
how women can earn without going out of the house and become
an economically empowered woman entrepreneur. |
|
