IMPACTS

Valar2010 MBT's interventions aim at promoting community ownership rather than community participation. It strongly believes and practices the dictum that if you empower a man, only he is empowered. But if you empower a woman, her entire family is empowered. Empowering women is no longer a women's issue, it's a societal issue which needs to be addressed with utmost importance. Women empowerment is typically accomplished in two distinct ways: one by providing education to the girl children and two, by providing employment opportunity to woman. Magic would happen if both are combined. Valar2010 MBT Sirkazhi programmes aimed at housewives to promote empowerment in a unique and in a sequential manner. That is, when the woman is employed, she is empowered. When she is employed and empowered, educating the girl children becomes a clear possibility and a happy reality.


CASE STUDIES

The cases chronicled here provide compelling evidences that women can be agents of socioeconomic change in Rural India.

NameMember ofBusiness InitiativePresent Income
Ms. Baladevi Valar Kaaliyamman SHG Petty Shop Rs. 75,000/Year
Ms. Thilagavathi Valar Jayam SHG Household Plastic Items Rs. 80,000/Year
Ms. Vinodhini Valar Jayam SHG Milch Animal Rs. 72,000/Year
Ms. Rizwana Valar Athipoo SHG Fancy Store Rs.1,50,000/Year

She has bought electronic goods like Refrigerator besides renovated and expanded her shop. She is very confident in saying that because of this income she is not borrowing from their neighbours and leading a happy, respectable and contented life which could have remained as a dream without the helping hand and microcredit from Valar2010 MBT.

This business initiative has impacted her in many ways - increased awareness and exposure, confident and self-reliant life, able to support her daughter by buying books for her competitive examination, bought jewels for her daughter and leased 2 acres of agriculture land, helping her husband for spending towards agriculture activities and taking care of his medical expenses besides managing her family expenses at ease.

This income helped her to get electricity connection to her home and bought television too. She feels that cattle bring her prosperity and happiness to her family. She is very grateful to Valar2010 MBT for the support and exposure which helped her to gain confidence and leading her life hopefully!

Through this income only, she is supporting her children's school fee of Rs. 15,000 per year; bought some sovereigns of gold; and presently start constructing her own house as well. She thanks Valar2010 MBT for the help and the hope that it has created among many rural women and it symbolizes like a banyan tree supporting rural women through its microcredit programme moving onwards and upwards and the beneficiaries like her are like its prop roots spreading widely!