Let women do the talking!
And I mean it!..
All of our time we have been hearing sad news of farmers committing suicide because of drought or famine! Ever heard that the women of the hamlet saved the farmers from committing suicide. And with their will and wisdom they had the turnover of the village over 1 crore and they are generating jobs.
Well this is the story of an ordinary village having extraordinary courageous women of Hinglajwadi in Maharasthra where women do the talking and men take pride in it.
Few years back like any other village committing suicide by farmers was a common sight for them.
The plight of the lady of the house worsens as she has to pay the debts and a family to feed. Eventually she is forced to work in farms and her children drop out from the school. But the women of this village took the command in their hands and were determined to overcome the suicides.
They came up with a remarkable business model.
They asked for a small piece of land from their husbands. Initially they were reluctant to give them but later they agreed. Women started growing things which require less water like pulses and vegetables and instead of purchasing the pesticides from the market they used organic pesticides. It reduced their cost of growing the crops. They grew enough for their families and they started selling the surplus vegetables. Instead of growing cash crops they started poultry farms, goat rearing, dairy business and beauty parlors. They went to government officials to take the aid which government grants to farmers. They did everything possible to make their business model a hit with limited resources. Their happiness and courage multiplied 10 times when their own man started coming to seek advice from them. Now no man commits suicide and even if their is a deficit of rainfall they have enough to survive. Even money lenders are out of there job now.
This is what real women empowerment is. If women is given the power they can bring happiness even to a dead land.
