Monday 15 July 2019

JEEVIKA Changing Lives of Rural Women in Bihar - Success Stories



1. Urmila Devi is today a member of ‘Shivguru Shambu Self Help Group’ of Kranti Village Organization (VO) of Panchang Community Level Federation (CLF).
She has three children of whom two are boys. In 2012, she started working in the Koderma mica mines. Koderma is a district in Jharkhand bordering Nawada. She would leave her home every morning at 8 AM travelling with 10 other men workers. She would return every day at 8 PM always feeling insecure during commuting back at night.
This hard work of Urmila Devi, spending the day in mica mines, brought her Rs. 150 to 200 per day.
Change came for Urmila Devi in 2013 when she attended a Self Help Group Meeting held by Jeevika which her husband initially disapprove. However, she went ahead and borrowed Rs. 10000 from the SHG, having decided to start her own business. With this money she started a poultry business. In the business she reached breakeven point but could make no profits as she faced the problem of chicken dying of diseases.
However, Urmila Devi did not give up. She took another loan of Rs. 10000 to buy a stitching machine to start a tailoring shop of herself. She can stitch blouses, frocks, skirts and other garments. Offering economical prices to her customers, she is easily able to earn Rs. 100 a day. Although her earnings per day are lower than what she earned at the mines, her work now is not hazardous and is able to earn better on an average. She also can tend to her family and do household chores and lives a better, happier and a healthier life now.
Jeevika has put a smile on her face.

2. Pooja Singh joined Jeevika in 2013 and became the member of Astha Self Help Group
She became Community Mobiliser (CM) of Kranti Village Organization in the same year at the age of 18.She completed  her studies till 8th Grade before joining Jeevika and due to family problems she couldn’t pursue studying further anymore. She performed house chores and won’t go outShe was married off at 17 for no apparent reason. She then completed her 12th in 2016 when a CM told her to carry on her studies. She couldn’t afford medicines and pay for operation. Alsoshe could not bear expenses for her kids’ education.
She took Rs. 10,000 from Self – Help Group (SHG) for poultry, 15,000 for cow and 35,000 for the poultry cage. With Rs. 800 for one cage, she made 300 cages and got 540,000. 
Pooja became Book Keeper in 2014 and carried out CLF Formation in 2015 and named it Panchang.
Two reporters came from media channel and interviewed her. She faced criticism and her husband initially disapproved of her stepping outside the house. But her Mother-in-law supported her.
She has led CM Exposures in SHG’s and VO’s and assisted District Magistrate visits and Health and Nutrition and Sanitation visits in November 2018. Kranti VO, the VO that she is the CM of, was visited by the external visit team State Rural Livelihood Mission (SRLM) from Mizoram.
She, through her work worth appreciating, has earned her name in Jeevika and is very popular among her peers.

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