Hardships only made these women stronger
Written by
Pragati Sharma
Publish date
09-Apr-2015
A few days ago, I tried to find a good ground for a jog in Raybag, but life in a village is a far cry from that of a city life. Here there are no gyms or parks or carefully maintained grounds for health conscious folk; but during my visit to Majaltti village to meet with Yallavva, I was able to see something which has been in front of me from past two months but I never paid any attention to it. Here there is no need for such artificial constructs, the lifestyle itself is sufficient to provide for any exercise one may need.
Majaltti is a very small village located in the Belgaum district of Karnataka and former Devadasis living here joined together with their fellows from a nearby village Vadral to form a Self Help Group. They walk for 6 kilometers back and forth on weekly basis just to conduct SHG meetings. All the members in Majaltti SHG are agricultural laborers; they have to walk around 5 kilometers on a daily basis to reach their workplaces, and after that they work for 8 hours straight in farms doing physical labor. Along with all this, these women also take care of all their household responsibilities such as cooking, cleaning etc on their own. When I realized all this, I had a new found admiration for our Milaap borrowers. I was not able to meet with Yallavva, but I did get a chance to meet with Basavva and Gangavva, other members of her group.
Gangavva Kamble wanted a regular source of income, so she bought a buffalo to expand her already flourishing buffalo rearing business. Although it was costly and she had to add Rs. 30,000 on her own, she has no regrets. She now has 3 buffaloes, and 2 of them are pregnant. When I asked her what will she do with all these buffaloes, she said, “Now I have a lot of options. If there is any urgent need, I can sell one of them otherwise I earn good amount by selling milk.”
Gangavva Kamble wanted a regular source of income, so she bought a buffalo to expand her already flourishing buffalo rearing business. Although it was costly and she had to add Rs. 30,000 on her own, she has no regrets. She now has 3 buffaloes, and 2 of them are pregnant. When I asked her what will she do with all these buffaloes, she said, “Now I have a lot of options. If there is any urgent need, I can sell one of them otherwise I earn good amount by selling milk.”
Basavva Kamble bought 2 goats with her loan amount for Rs. 8000 each. The investment has already proved beneficial for her as she had an operation a few weeks ago, and was able to sell 2 kids her goats had for Rs. 8000 and pay for her medical expenses. Her goats are again pregnant and this time she is hoping to earn more and save it.
Basavva and Gangavva had to face a lot of struggles in life, but their will to survive surpassed every hurdle. Today also, they do hard labor every single day, but they are free and independent and lead a dignified life. That is all they ever wished for.
