Extreme poverty often shatters people, breaks families and throws one into the gloomy world of uncertainty, a world difficult for many to escape from. However those who escape become example for others to emulate. Among the tribe of such determined people who pulled themselves back from the brink of total devastation is 25-year-old, Budhni Kacchap.
Now associated with a Self Help Group (SHG) managed and monitored by Jharkhand State livelihood Promotion Society (JSlPS) Kacchap’s life had never been a smooth journey. Battling against all odds she defeated poverty and now as Community Resource Person (CRP) and motivating others to fight poverty with determination and little bit of common sense.
Kacchap a resident of Roshan Banadag, a village under Angraha block, was married into a poor family in 2004 however her dreams of a happy married life turned out to be a nightmare. Married to a labourer with no additional source of income other than a small piece of agricultural land, Kacchap watched silently as the fortunes of her family dwindled. Properties were sold for the treatment of ailing father-in-law who succumbed to the disease in 2009 and circumstances forced her husband to migrate for feeding the family.
“I hailed from a poor family so my parents married me soon after I passed matriculation. My husband’s family was also poor and they struggled to make their ends meet. After the property was sold for my father-in-law’s treatment we were left with nothing,” said Kacchap.
Nonetheless, Kacchap accepted the challenge to survive and instead of crying over her fate learned the art of small savings and finally with the help of a SHG became self-reliant. The family which was once stripped-off its properties now owns a poultry farm and cultivates land by taking it on lease. “Now my husband doesn’t need to work as labourer to feed our family. I earn enough to repay the loan amount which I had taken to start business,” said Kacchap.
Interestingly, what started as means to bring smile back to the faces of family members gradually turned into a passion to motivate people trapped in poverty and situation which reminded Kacchap of ordeal she had to go through.
As a CRP, Kacchap has trained around 56 women associated with as many as 11 SHGs in two villages of Bundu in the span of 15 days and shared the survival mantra. “People do not know what wonder small savings can do for them. When I interacted with the women and shared my experience they became impressed. It is all about making people understand the right way to do something,” maintained Kacchap. Today as a proud member of SHG at Roshan Banadag she seems all prepared to travel across the State to inspire thousands of women living in poverty.