Empowering India's Rural Poor through Poultry

Over the years we have collected numerous stories about the impact of our programmes.  In the majority of cases they involve a mother who is desperately trying to earn money to help provide for her family.  Sometimes she needs to buy shoes or uniform so her children can go to school; sometimes she might need to get medicines for a sick relative; maybe she just wants to be able to choose some more nutritious food from the market for the whole family. But this is not always the case.  We have come across many people in the villages whose children have grown up and have had to move to the city in search of work.  Sadly, not all of them are able to send money home to help look after their elderly parents, so they are left to fend for themselves with little prospect of an income.

This is exactly what happened to Anjali.  She’s in her 60’s and her husband who suffers from severe asthma is now in his 70’s and is no longer fit enough to get work in the fields. Their children have moved away and sadly have not been helping to support them financially at all. But Anjali is a resilient and resourceful woman. She heard about Poultry Development Services and kick-started her new life as the bread-winner by raising chickens and selling eggs. Then, with some of her income, she turned her room into a little grocery store. And now she’s added goat-farming to the mix by graduating to our Goateries programme and has taken two female goats from us to start her next enterprise.

The last time I visited Anjali was in July during a field visit to our project areas near Kolkata - it was the middle of the summer monsoon season.  We negotiated the flooded pathways of the village and finally reached Anjali’s tiny home.  She herself is tiny too but she feels so empowered by her achievements she was standing tall and proud.  Her efforts are literally keeping their heads above water!

Thank you for supporting inspirational women such as Anjali.

The team at Shivia.