From Farmer to Facilitator

As a newly-wed it was an uphill task for Reshma Dondu Rao at Village Varap working at the paddy fields all day. During the harvest a hefty share was taken away by the village landlord leaving behind very little for this family to survive on. Like many others in the village this family was caught in the vicious cycle of money lending and a debt trap that kept increasing its tenacious grip at every harvest.

With the intervention of Aid for change’s partner organization Sakav the village Self Help Group began to take root and soon the middleman was done away with. Villagers could now access easy loans on a minimum interest and a new hope glimmered. Today her former mud house has become a brick house with amenities like a colour television set and ceiling fans. Her three children study in college while husband and wife work together on the field growing rice, pulses and a particular variety of broad beans (vaal) for which this village is famous. For Reshma her two and half acre field is a bank and she considers her labour as a daily investment. With an inclination to know more and experiment she was among the first in the village to switch over to Systematic Rice Intensification method (SRI) for her paddy and today is at the forefront as an educator and speaker to promote organic initiatives like herbal pesticide and fertilizers.

Her recent experiment to hedge the farm with glyricidia branches and leaves has been effective in keeping away rodents and her next talk will encourage others to adopt this practice. Today she empowers other farmers with her experiences to improve productivity and is on her way to becoming financially secure. “Those landlords who used to fleece us now ask for loans from our self-help group as we offer lower interest rates than the banks,” she laughs. Meanwhile Dhondu Rao her husband is curious to learn more about a small tractor that the Sakav field worker is talking about. It costs 4 lakhs and would be a good collective investment for the village to plough the fields.

Father beats mother so I have to stay here

As a child Rohini and her brother have witnessed their mother being beaten by her father who she feels is mentally unstable. She hastens to add that her father has never beaten her or her brother, he just beats up their mother. Once the beating was so bad that her mother had fractured her skull, says Rohini. Fear of being hurt by her father kept her from trying to stop the beatings when they happened.

Being an intelligent student she is keen to study further but has to take the occasional break to work on the fields and raise money for the education expenses of her elder brother who is studying in the 9^th standard. He has been kept in the hostel at a village 100 kilometres away to prevent his father from visiting him and taking him away.

Today Rohini and her mother work to pay the expenses of the brother and Rohini studies when free time is available from housework. When asked where she prefers to stay Rohini is quick to reply that her home is at the village of her father and does not consider her mother’s house as her own. “Father beats mother so I have to stay here,” she replies. There have been times her father has locked food grains in a room and forced her mother to beg in neighbouring houses for food because he suspects her of giving away groceries and food grains to others. “He is bit crazy so does all this. If only he stops listening to others and stops beating my mother we could live together,” she explains.

Her uncle reveals that after consistent physical abuse his sister is not concerned about losing her life but worried that she may become disabled and unable to support herself and the children. That compels her to force on the hospitality of her three brothers.

After becoming a member of the village woman support group started by SPMM (Savitri Phule Mahila Mandal) in partnership with Aid for Change, Shakuntala could take recourse to legal action and protection from her husband. Her daughter is keen to study and particularly fond of learning Marathi and likes to sketch. While her school fees are free there are additional expenses like stationery and uniform costs that have to be incurred.

Her father has remarried and she is not too keen to see the new wife. All she hopes for is that all this should end like a bad dream and her parents come together. As the days go by, people in the village tease her that she is now eligible to get married but Rohini is irritated with this and clarifies this is an age to study and not marry. Juggling with studies and work she is thrilled to earn 1300 rupees with her last assignment at the cotton field.