The 50-year old lady of Ahhekhedi village in Guna, MP has been fighting odds since long. Her trial & tribulations began after she was married at a tender age of 13. At that time all she knew was that marriages are meant to be dressed beautifully as a bride. But the moment she entered her new home she was burdened with new responsibilities.

Her actual ordeal started when she became mother of seven & her husband was down stricken with major illness. With less income & a large family to support her family condition became worse to an extent that she was not even able to manage one square meal a day for her children. Being a female she was always cursed and blamed for all the ills & problems that surrounded her family.

At this hour of crisis, she was introduced to the concept of Self Help Group (SHG) by one our team members. In the beginning it was not an easy task for our staff to make her understand the importance of SHG. Initially Ramkali Bai was quite reluctant to join the SHG but later when we gathered few female villagers & took regular sessions with them, we managed to make her an active member of the SHG.

In due course of time she started interacting with other female villagers & soon she became the leader of the SHG. After successful completion of 6 months we linked the SHG with SBI Bank in Ruthiya which helped them to get a loan of Rs 25,000.

Ramkali Bai’s real journey started, - she took a small loan of Rs 5000 from the group & started a small grocery shop under a thatched roof. Slowly & gradually she started stocking items of daily use. She was wonderstruck when she saw her daily sales going up day by day. Confidence boomed and her spirit went high. Ramkali Bai thought; “Bhagwan ki kripa hai. Now, I can at least survive in this struggle-for-existence world”. She worked hard to make both ends meet & also paid off the entire loan amount.

The volume of her business has grown many folds. Ramkali Bai earns a profit of around Rs 1,500 a month. Her lifestyle has also undergone a lot of change. Today she is a proud owner of a grocery shop has four bigha’s of land & a decent income to support to her family. She is carrying out her life with dignity & is always appreciated by the society & even her family members.

Ramkali expresses her gratitude to GIDF for providing the timely morale & physical support. “GIDF’s timely support helped me rebuild my ravaged life and sustain my family. Today, I’m able to stand on my own feet,” she announces.