“I am a respectable woman in the village now. RL2I have a house and earn enough to meet my expenses”, says Jema Sagaria, a tribal woman of Binaguda village of Dandabadi Gram Panchyat. Some months ago when she was living at Panasput she did nott have a house and sold mudkis to school children to support her family of four. But the combined income of Jema and her labourer husband was insufficient to meet even their basic needs.
In 2005 for the first time CYSD”s PRAYAS Project intervened in the tribal village of Binaguda. By then Jema had moved from Panasput to Binaguda and was living in a cottage. Like many other villagers, she was a bit skeptical about the work practices demonstrated at the CYSD Prayas. But after regular interaction with the staff she gained confidence and inspired 10 women of the village to form a Self Help Group (SHG). Jema was elected as the secretary. After some months Prayas discovered that Jema had the aptitude to become an entrepreneur but lacked knowledge, skill and resources. They encouraged her to participate in various training and orientation programmes to enhance her managerial skills. She was also sent on exposure trip to other districts.
In 2006-07 Dharamgarh SHG decided unanimously to help Jema as she was landless. She received Rs. 5000/- from Koraput project of CYSD through the SHG and bought 5 goats, now grown to 11. Jema is now planning to educate all her children at the local school and maintain a life of self respect.
Taking inspiration from Jema, some other landless women of the same SHG have since received support from Prayas and got financial freedom to break the chronic cycle of poverty.
