Empower deserted women and widows in rural India

A husband after 2 years of married life and birth of a girl, doubting her fidelity just looks at his wife with scorn and suspicion and suddenly says, "leave my home, I do not want you here".

 Although nothing new in this behavior, that day something snapped inside his wife, Babytai.

She roared back, "who are you to ask me to leave? I myself abandon you as my husband".

Picking up her only daughter, she stormed out of her husband's house, went back to her parents village and started a lonely but valiant struggle to fend for herself and her daughter.

Friends, here I would like to bring it to you notice that for many persons like Babytai a New Year resolution is not for things like "I have to shed some weight" or "I will start getting up earlier at 5.00 am" and so on.

To continue living is a resolve to be completed and that too with fight for getting enough food, education, and other basic amenities for herself, her daughter & parents.

So, the husband got deserted. Babytai, without wasting time in crying over spilt milk, threw herself into earning money in whatever way she could understand.

Taking cue from Chetana-Vikas, she took loans and started diversified small businesses.

• She established a kitchen garden and sowed short duration vegetables to sell to every one. She also has a section of flower garden to sell flowers on festivals.
  
  
• Started a small shop to sell stationary, artificial jewelry and glass bangles etc.
  
  
• Although a 4th standard primary pass out, she applied for a license for selling kerosene, with help of Chetana-Vikas guidance.

          Till date, her reputation is of distributing kerosene fairly to needy families and with care and concern which is a 
          contrast and a far cry from corruption ridden distribution through government licencees.

• Indian households make designs in front of their homes which is a time consuming affair. She started another business by selling dry coloured powders to use in such designs.

Babytai, now 49, an unexposed, uninformed person living in interiors of India is actually running a business conglomerate albeit small.  Whatever profit she earns from one activity is used to push the other activity. All this after she earns her needful daily expenses.  She deliberately keeps a low profit margin to draw customers to her business.

Village people have come to know of her as a resolute and a resourceful woman who has many ideas up her sleeve. She has a nose for business where no one has thought of any. She has used the money provided by you all to enhance the carrying capacity of her small business and also investing in getting a tap connection to irrigate her
small garden.

Her respect in villages has increased and she is called in as a mentor for many actions in the village. These developed facets of her personality are a different story altogether.
Chetana-Vikas invites her many times as a Resource Person for other village women who wish to be entrepreneurs.

Friends !  We hope the festival season has gone well for all of you.

We want all of you to have a New Year Resolution of directing at least 10 of your friends or relatives to this Global Giving Page to help hidden diamonds like Babytai.

<http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/empower-deserted-women-and-widows-in-rural-india/,>. 
We are also accessible on <https://www.facebook.com/pages/Chetana-Vikas/162861643736214.>

We ensure and assure that your money goes exactly where intended and to people who really need it.
A BIG THANKS  for all that has been already done by you.

Through Global Giving, our New Year resolution is to help atleast 50 women this year.
We await your numbers in your New Year resolution.

A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR !

Niranjana, Other Team Members & the Rural Women who have brought all of us together.