LIVELIHOOD
“It pained me to note that I could not let my children do the things they wanted to do. I could not provide for the tuition fee for my younger son or arrange money so that my elder son could go abroad for work. My financial situation was holding my family back.” said Manju Kashyap.
38-year-old Manju lives in Pahanda village, Patan block, Durg district of Chhattisgarh with her husband, mother-in-law and two sons. Their primary source of income was goat rearing and contract farming.
Life for this high school dropout has been filled with struggles.
She heard about different training sessions called ‘Income Generating Activities (IGA)’ to enhance livelihood being conducted in her village. She went ahead and met CARE India coordinator, Nisha. She was identified as a beneficiary and set on the path to learning skills that will enhance her livelihood and change her life.
She learned the skills and methods of the model goat shed under HDFC Bank’s Holistic Rural Development Program.
Earlier Manju only knew traditional goat rearing. Through the IGA training, she learned the methods and benefits of the model goat shed practices; she adopted the improved methods of goat keeping. She has experience of two years in traditional goat rearing. After completion of training, now she is using improved practices of goat keeping, more aware of their hygiene, quality and knows the basics of generating income through goat rearing.
Today, she is a progressive goat keeper in the area and has also built a model goat shed. Now she is planning to help her son to start his own business. She is happy and satisfied with the help received and shared that if the program runs for a longer period, a lot of other farmers can benefit from the project like her.
CARE India and ‘HDFC Bank Parivartan’ initiative in Patan, Durg, Chhattisgarh began working in 2020 for improving the livelihoods of the people in the area.
