Lakshmi* is a woman who lives in a village outside of Bangalore, along with her parents and siblings (four younger sisters and one younger brother). Her parents are very poor farmers. They own a small piece of land inherited by their ancestors. Theses farmers depended on the rains for their farming. They grow raggi (a grain which is the main food in the state of Karnataka) in their field, they used the grains that they grew as their food. During the time when there is no rain they used to do other small jobs to earn their living. They worked for daily wages to support their family, and Lakshmi was also a part of the family’s income earner. When Lakshmi was 12 years old she was involved in a bus accident and lost her leg. She could not afford decent health treatment and unfortunately she lost her leg.
Even though Lakshmi had lost her leg she did not want to give up, she wanted to still help her family since they had gone into debt paying for her treatment. A couple of years later she got an artificial leg fixed, Lakshmi then started doing small jobs here and there to support her family. During this time Bangalore City Mission began working witih her village to start a vocational training centre for the women to teach them some job oriented skills with which they could start small scale business on their own. Many women were a part of this training and Lakshmi also wanted to be a part of this program, like the other women she also wanted to learn and did not look at her disability as a block. She was very determined to excel. After her course in tailoring she started earning from home by making cloths for the people in the village.
Bangalore City Mission also started a self help group in which the women where encouraged to save 25rupees a week. Lakshmi was also a part of this group and she started saving money with the income she earned through tailoring.
Looking at her determination the other women in the self help group chose her to be the leader of the group and went on to name their group as Jyothi Mahila Sangha (Light women’s self help group). After two years of saving sas a group they had enough money to begin taking small loans.
With her loan, Lakshmi went ahead and bought two lambs and also used a part of that money to get her sisters married. She bought the lamb for a very small price and then sells them on for a high price when they are grown. Lakshmi is now also earning through her tailoring and also making candles and other handicrafts and sells them.
Having seen poverty and hardship all her life Lakshmi, with her determination and through the help of Bangalore City Mission has made a great change in her life. She is now easily earning around 150 rupees a day and is leading a very self sufficient life.
*All names have been changed for sensitivity and privacy