Arati Devi Sada is a participant of the Breaking the Bonds programme who is now running a small egg-selling business. She lives with her husband on the outskirts of a tiny village in Siraha. Prior to joining the programme, Arati had never been to school before she attained basic literacy and numeracy skills through the Accelerated Learning Programme and transitioned into the livelihood programme where she received vocational skills training along with life skills lessons.
On completing the training on duck rearing and egg production, Arati received 14 ducks from Street Child. With the help of her father-in-law, she built a small hut for the ducks. She feeds and cleans the ducks daily. She sells 6-9 eggs per day for Rp 25 each and makes a monthly income of Rs 3,000-5,000. She also saves Rs 500-600 every fortnight which she deposits at a local cooperative. “With the profit I make from selling the eggs, I buy groceries for my family which I could not do earlier. Now if someone is sick at home, I have the money to buy medicines. It makes me proud that I can support my family financially and we don’t have to borrow money from anyone,” shares Arati. She has also bought five chickens with the income she generated by selling eggs.
If she makes enough profit, she plans to rear more ducks and increase the production of eggs. When asked why she choose duck rearing particularly, she explains that she has a baby to look after and managing other business would require her to go to the market but with duck rearing she could balance her time. Like Arati other participants receive counseling and guidance from the facilitators before choosing their desired enterprise, along with studying other factors like the market and sustainability to make the most suitable pick for the participants. Now Arati feels happy to have chosen this business because not only is she making an income and supporting her family she also has time to care for her infant.
“Earlier I did not have my own identity, I was my husband’s wife or the daughter-in-law of my husband’s family but today people know me by my name because I run my own business. This makes me feel proud of how far I have come, and this would not have been possible if it wasn’t for the dedication of my teachers and the support I received from the BtB programme,” says Arati.