Emancipated out of deprivation

Anita Devi was like many other girls born in the Musahar dalit community of Bihar. At the young age of 17 she was married and gave birth to four children. Her husband was an agricultural labourer, but agriculture was a not a source of livelihood which was regularly available.

Anita’s children were also suffering from severe health ailments. Adding to the misery was her husband’s addiction to alcohol, which also led to domestic violence. The family condition was falling with every passing day.

Caritas India through its Micro Project of “Sustainable Livelihood Enhancement of Musahar in Rural Village” Nari Gunjan intervened into the deplorable condition of Anita Devi. She was motivated to take up a small piece of land and started self- agriculture on it. This was a life changing decision for her, she started producing paddy, wheat, gram, masoor and onions. In a year she started producing 60 quintals of onion, through which she earned Rs. 1,50,000/-.

Along with sustaining herself the produce of her self – agriculture was a source of supply to her household also. This resulted in her children never going to bed empty stomach. Their health condition also improved, and the family started living a healthy life. Currently, along with self-agriculture she is involved in many other activities such as pig rearing, poultry farming etc.

The “Sustainable Livelihood Enhancement” project of Caritas focuses not only support the livelihood but also bring sustainability of the whole family.