Economic empowerment for tribal women -Role Models

We wish you a fantastic start to your new year 2020! Happy to share our latest newsletter which gives news from across our projects! Click here to know more http://animedhtrust.org/newsletter/2019dec/newsdec2019.html

Our project Role Models in Year 2 of the project have been engaged in income generation activities and seeing steady rise in their incomes.

In December , when our outreach M&E Coordinator - Sara visited them across the 15 villages, she had this to report:

1. Maini has planted brinjals, beans, pumkin and tomato each in separate fields. She earns rupees 7000 thousand per month by selling vegetables.

2. Niru runs dairy and grows vegetables. Every day she sells 25 litre milk in the market. One litre cost rupees 50 and earns rupees 37,500 per month. By selling vegetable she earns rupees 3000 thousand per month.

3.Kashi  has planted paddy, beans and brinjals

4. Babli has planted grams and brinjal

5. Shewanti has planted brinjal and preparing soil to plant some more vegetables.

6. Gulbi is growing Sanba and Pulses 

7. Radhu grows vegetables such as pumkin, maize, bitter guard raddish etc

8. Saku works on both Vegetable and dairy. Daily 10 litre milk. 1 litre milk rupees 50 and earns 15000 per month. Vegetables such as pulses, bean and sweet patato are grown on her organic farm.

9. Santi has 10 Gir cows in her dairy and gets 30 litre milk. 1 litre 50 rupees. She earns 45000 thousand per month.

10. Sangita has 2 Gir cows in her dairy and gets 8 litre milk. 1 litre 30 rupees. She earns 7200 thousand per month.

11. Sumitra grows vegetables and has planted sugarcane. She earns 7000 thousand per month.

12. Muni has 5 Gir cows in her dairy and gets 14 litre milk. 1 litre 50 rupees. She earns 21000 thousand per month.

13. Lucy 's cow is unable to produce milk, Baby cows expired.

14.. Kalpana has two cows and get 8 litre milk every day. 1 litre 50 rupees. She earns rupees 12000 per month.

15.Pushpa grows vegetables such as brinjals.

16. Sakuntala runs dairy and grows vegetable (sanba and pulses: She has two cows and get 8 litre milk every day. 1 litre 50 rupees. She earns rupees 14400 per month.

17.Meena runs dairy and grows vegetable (Brinjal and pulses: She has two cows and get 7 litre milk every day. 1 litre 50 rupees. She earns rupees 6300 per month.

18. Somi runs dairy and grows vegetable ( Wal and turi(pulses); Cow is pregnant with seven month so she can’t give milk.

19. Bunny runs dairy (cow is pregnant so doesn’t give milk) and grows vegetable(Brinjal and pumpkin).

20. Munni runs dairy, gets 14 litre milk and earns 12600 per month.

21. Savita sold one cow and one cow is pregnant.

22. Kamu grows vegatables such as pulses and sanba.

23. Kalpna has dairy business, 8 litre milk per day. 1 litre 50 rupees. Earns 9600 per month.

24. Radha vegetables such as brinjal, pulses, radish and applied for poultry under government scheme.

25. Ranjana earned 5200 by selling vegetables such as radish and pulses. Planted more vegetables.

26. Saku growsvegetables such as Chiili, tomato, pulses and brinjal.

Here's wishing all our champion Donors a very Happy Diwali! Diwali is the widely celebrated Indian festival and we pray that this festival of lights dispels darkness, ignorance and evil from the lives of our beneficiary women and girls!

We started this project with your outstanding support in November 2018 and the year that passed has been eventful for Animedh Charitable Trust (ACT) as well as for our beneficiaries all over!

Throughout the year, the number of women undergoing vocational training under ACT for dairy or poultry or organic vegetable farming increased beyond 100 and final count was a stupendous 129 women! They were also given continuous mentorship and they went for numerous exposure visits so as to get them started on their income generation activities. As the women worked hard, we also understood that there were a lot of social injustices against them in the family, community and society. We chose an integrated approach by training 20 resource persons among them to become mental health counsellors and enabling their empowerment and sustainable livelihoods.

From among these 129, we identified 40 women that demonstrated higher income generation and enterpreneurial spirit. We also identified 2 full time supervisors - Sarita Bhusara from Warli community and Lata Mahala from Konkana community to hand hold, monitor and gulde the women to make market linkages over the next 3-4 months to enable increaseiin incomes upwards of INR 15000 each month sustainably. They interviewed the beneficiary women on last year's performance, sales, profit, savings, etc. and ascertained their interest in continuing further. The purpose behind this was to make them the role models within their village and communities and motivate others through their success. In the adivasi communities of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, there is a tendency to follow a proven path towards success and we are confident that many other women will emulate our champions and overcome financial, cultural and social hurdles and become financially empowered. Here are some of the inspiring stories:

Savita of Talavali village (Rudana District). expressed that after the project she has become self sufficient and doesn't need to ask her husband or in laws for money. She also expressed that their financial constraints had reduced and they were more comfortable now than ever before.

Mid way through the project, Dhaklu of Kherdi villafge (Aamboli District) discovered that she had cancer and was able to use her earnings from dairy farming for the cancer cure and medication, hospitalisation, etc.She will now sell her cows as she is unable to tend to them due to her illness. She felt that she would not have been able to survive without the treatment that she could afford thanks to her dairy income, 

Many others like Mina, Kalpana, Radhu, are part of Year 2 and are earning more than INR 10,000 and will continue to strive for higher earnings and greater goals like their children's college education, buying a two wheeler, etc and moving towards prosperity. 

It is thanks to your donation support and encouragement that the project has witnessed so many transformations among the vulnerable population of women, youth and children in Dadra Nagar Havel communities. We remain grateful for your support. 

Last but not least, ACT along with 2 of our Embroidery artisans Rukhsar and Rubina from Mumbai were invited by our Garment Partener to Milan, the Fashion Capital and were honoured on stage as the real heroes behing the brand I Was A Sari, which won the Green Carpet Award of Sustainable Fashion for respnsible disruption! It was a Milestone day for all of us and women everywhere that have overcome all kinds of adversities and excelled through their skill and grit and the world noticed and applauded!