Zuliebens Success Story
JAYANT SHROFF
Given proper support and encouragement, there are millions of women who can stand on
their feet. Share and Care Foundations womens empowerment programme is
designed specifically for such a purpose. Zulieben is a shining example.
I met Zulieben for the first time in 1999 in her hut outside the city of Bhuj in Kutch. It was a simple dwelling made of thatched walls, cow dung-coated mud floor and a roof made out of palm leaves. This space included the family sitting area and kitchen as well as the bedroom. Zulieben and her husband Kaasambhai have two children 10-year-old son, Anvar, and 8-year-old daughter, Nabila. Both children go to a nearby municipal school in the village. They are first generation learners. Kaasambhai worked in an iron reclamation foundry while Zulieben managed the household, working odd domestic jobs when available. Neither Kaasanbhai nor Zulieben can read or write.
No livelihood
Kaasambhai was a good father but had a habit of drinking. When drunk, he got into arguments with Zulieben and abused her. The children were not happy with the situation but were helpless. Zulieben has no alternative but to tolerate Kaasambhais unacceptable behavior as she could not leave him because she doesnt have enough means to support her children. Because of the way in which Kaasambhai treated Zulieben, she was not respected in her family and society.
Besides, Kassambhai wasted a lot of his earnings in drinking and smoking leaving very few funds for sustaining a normal family life and providing proper nutrition and education for the children. Zulieben was illiterate but came across as street smart with a lot of wisdom, ambition and initiative given proper encouragement. Given a loan, Zulieben would like to start a business of making bricks. If I can earn some money, I will first take care of these children and then work towards normalizing our lives so that we will not have to worry everyday about our next meal, she said.
Zulieben is not alone in her pitiable life saga. She represents an estimated 200 million village women in rural India whose talents are untapped. Share and Care Foundation firmly believes that this talent not only needs our support but it requires our focused attention to eliminate the gender gap, utilize the talents, provide self-respect and improve the future of millions of children like Anvar and Nabila. Share and Care Womens Empowerment program is specifically designed to encourage the millions of Zuliebens to either start their own small business or to acquire some skills to become economically independentand stand their own ground. Our Womens Empowermentprograms are implemented in partnership with several local NGOs.
Self help
Zulieben is a member of one such self-help group, AMBA. She got her first loan of Rs. 5000/- from AMBA in 1999 to start her business of making the bricks and selling them locally. When I re-visitedZulieben in 2001, I got a hearty welcome from her and Kaasambhai. During my first visit, I did not meet Kaasambhai, but I could see that his behavior was completely changed from what I had heard two years earlier. He now allowed Zulieben to lead our conversation, supporting her occasionally.Their dwelling had improved and I was told that both Anvar and Nabila were doing well in school and had been reading books. They even joined extra classes to learn English for computer education. In addition, they both aspired to pursue college education.The climax of this visit was when Zulieben talked about her successes and future challenges. Even though she was hugely successful in her business, she was not satisfied with this level of achievement. She talked about her plans to expand the business in the next two years, explaining that due to the construction boom in the area, she could not keep up with the demand under her current manufacturing capacity.
Success story
I was amazed at Zuliebens understanding of maximizing utilization of the fixed assets in order to improve the margin. She was talking about improving the inventory turns with the same level of fixed assets. Her personal story of success reinforced Share and Cares resolve to encourage as many Zuliebens as we can until we collectively reach the estimated 200 million women whose lives can be enriched through self-empowerment.
During the past 24 years of its operations, Share and Care has realized this opportunity in contributing to Indias real development. Women are learning computer skills, tailoring, embroidery work, stitching, masala-making and many more skills to either acquire employable skills, start their own small business or form co-operatives and self-help groups for their own development and their rights. Share and Care has already witnessed a phenomenal positive change in the lives of these women and their families.
Based on this experience and others like it, Share and Care has decided to sharpen its focus on this program. Some 3,800 women of AMBA have gotten an initial loan of Rs. 5000/- to Rs 10,000/- to start their own business. These loans are given without any collateral and they carry an interest rate that they could not get from the regular bank. The loans are recovered in monthly installments with full recovery within 3 to 5 years. AMBA is now fully managed by its members like Zulieben who also qualify new loan seekers.
Wont you join us in this most cost effective program by pledging your support for 100, 50 or even 10 Zuliebens?. For more information about Share and Care Foundation and its program, please visit:www.shareandcare.org
About the author :
Jayant Shroff is a successful, retired telecommunication executive with 35 years of rewarding career. He worked in such important fields as Research and Development, Product Management, Marketing, Sales, Manufacturing, Quality, Performance Improvement and Process Management. He has more than 25 years of experience of managing a New Jersey-based charity with a mission to educate needy youth and empower unskilled women in rural India. A recipient of several patents, he has published technical papers and has considerable corporate management experience.
Source : Catalsyt Publication : Issue No 6 : June 2007