Sasikala Nagarajan lives in the village of Neeliyampatti with with her husband, her three children: Deepika (12), Saran (7), and Chandru (6), and now, her chickens. With a loan from Milaap, Sasikala bought chickens to start a poultry farm. I met Sasikala at nearby bus stop, and after a brief conversation, she squeezed onto a motor scooter with two other women for the short ride to her house.
Sasikala with her chickens
Unlike other poultry farms in the area, Sasikala only has variable chickens, which she said are “much healthier than broiler chickens.” When I asked what she does with the chickens at night, Sasikala showed me a small basket and made a smothering motion. I tried to imagine all 20 of her chickens under the basket, which was not even one meter in diameter. I must have looked horrified, because she burst out laughing, explaining that only the baby chickens go under the basket. Sasikala makes an extra two to three thousand rupees a month, which she uses to buy gifts for festivals and pay for her children’s school supplies.
Sasikala and her three childrenMilaap has a new feature! Now you can "Fundraise" for a cause that you care about on Milaap.To try out the new feature, visit: http://www.milaap.org/projects
