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| Uttarakhand
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Case
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Education,
By Demand...
Nasma, a 17 year old village girl, has a
story that can inspire thousands of other
Indian children, both boys and girls.
Nasma comes from an extremely orthodox
Muslim family in Sikanderpur, in Uttarakhand.
The eldest of her siblings, she was the
only one dreaming of an education. Of
sitting in a classroom, learning as much
as “Miss” could teach her.
But she had few hopes of realising her
dream, given that no one in her family
had been to school.
When she heard about ACF’s Non-Formal
Education (NFE) centre in her area she
approached the instructor without telling
her family. Desperate to attend classes
she asked the NFE instructor to convince
her parents, who agreed after
much persuasion.
Nasma has now been attending her classes
regularly and even topped her class tests.
The promise of a bright future, full of
opportunity, beckons. As they say, a journey
of a thousand miles begins with a single
step.
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Labourers
to Entrepreneurs
In Roorkee, Uttarakhand, Gulshana, who was
35, was illiterate and due to her poor financial
condition was forced to work as a labourer
on other people’s fields. When making
ends meet was such a struggle, she constantly
worried about
the future.
She attended one of the community meetings
held by ACF on self-help groups and felt
that she may gain from joining such a group.
In consultation with ACF’s field team,
she chose to not only become a part of an
SHG, but, to take the lead in establishing
a new SHG in her location. She explained
the benefits of forming SHGs to other women
in her locality and motivated them to join
in. After much motivation and encouragement
a group of women came together to form the
Ashiana Ambuja SHG.
They group began monthly savings and after
about four months were able to set up a
bangle shop in the village. This shop is
doing well and from the money received from
the sale of bangles, the group members are
paying back the small loan they took.
Subsequent to becoming a member of an SHG,
Gulshana’s life has changed for the
better. She is able to earn enough to support
her family and pay her monthly instalments
on the loan. She has stopped working on
other’s fields completely and is even
thinking of establishing her own small enterprise
at home. |
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Meeting
Mutual Needs
In village Baleki, Uttarakhand, Sami the
son of Majuafar was found to be polio positive.
Like him, there were many other young children
who were at a risk of catching the crippling
disease due to their parents’ ignorance.
Parents in the village had groundless misconceptions
about polio immunization and would often
hide their children when the government
personnel made the rounds during the Pulse
Polio drives. Some families didn’t
allow the health department persons to enter
their homes. This attitude of the villagers,
made the government campaign a daunting
task. On one hand, the personnel needed
to ensure health for all the children by
implementing the Pulse Polio campaign and
on the other, they couldn’t fight
with the parents to do so. Knowing the reputation
of ACF in the villages, the health department
felt that they could partner with the Foundation
to successfully implement this campaign.
ACF personnel along with a few local leaders
made home visits to the families that were
resisting the campaign.
Mujaffar’s family was also visited.
Long discussions ensued and eventually the
family was convinced about the essential
nature of the polio vaccination. The family
allowed the government personnel to administer
the polio drops to Sami. Other families
too were convinced in a similar manner.
In this way the village guaranteed for itself
a healthier future. |
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What’s the buzz about?
Balvant Singh Saini was a small farmer from Gee Sayeedpur village. Tired of juggling his meager finances, he got in touch with ACF, praying for a break through. Assessing his situation, Team ACF suggested that he begin bee keeping. It did not require too much investment and the returns were good. With ACF promising him technical support, Balvant’s confidence was fortified. He knew that with the right technology, he was sure to get good returns from his venture. The only challenge he faced was raising the initial investment money. His meager savings were grossly insufficient to meet the Rs.30,000 cost. A bank loan provided him the start-up money but at the back of his mind, he wondered if he had in fact multiplied his troubles.What if the bee keeping didn’t work out? He would be left with a large debt and no way of paying it off.
Soon after beginning bee keeping, Balvant realized that his fears were unfounded. His family was supported him in every way possible and the market for honey was readily available, taking care of all marketing needs. The profit Balvant made from bee-keeping, he wisely ploughed back into it. This way he expanded and bought new bee boxes. When he calculated his profits at the end of the year, Balvant was astounded to learn that he had generated a whopping Rs.270,000! He had paid back his loan and now all that he earned constituted his income.
As the money from bee keeping keeps pouring, the financial condition of Balvant’s family continues to improveand the days of deprivation fade away from their memory. The story of Balvant and his bees is indeed one of sweet success!
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When
Life Steps Up for Poorna
Poorna Kashi, a resident of village Khubbanpur,
Uttarkhand, was suffering from a chronic
disorder. Acute anemia, pain in the uterus
and an irregular menstrual cycle had been
troubling her for a while and was taking
a toll on her family.
Her husband Shanker, took her to the
local ‘doctors’ several times,
but they were quacks who couldn’t
diagnose her problem properly, and the
repeated visits just cost Poorna and Shanker
time and money without curing her problem.
As much as Rs. 1,500/- was spent with
no improvement.
Shanker was a migrant labourer, and the
regular visits to the doctor made it difficult
for him to keep up with his work, draining
the family’s income even further.
The couple later learnt about the ACF
mobile health van through word-of-mouth.
Poorna visited the doctor there and was
finally diagnosed accurately and given
a suitable treatment, with follow up to
make sure she recovered properly. Poorna
is happy and healthy now and so is Shanker,
who can go to work without worrying about
his wife. |
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