Self-Help (Microfinance)
This project was established in October 2009 to help these women, by providing them with a means of saving money and having access to loans, thus enabling them to create small enterprises of their own and work towards financial independence. Women are given financial and business management training.
Currently the programme includes around 85% Dalit women, many of whom are widows, whose husbands have died working in the stone quarries, a common but dangerous occupation in the area.
This self-help project is a leading example of the power of microfinance in India. This process of extending small loans to individual borrowers who have traditionally lacked access to credit, has become one of the most popular anti-poverty strategies throughout the world and has proved effective in empowering communities and is easy to set up and sustain.
There are 10 groups in Setrawa and 3 groups in Jodhpur.
“My husband runs a shop in the market. We thought that if we ran a shop from our home simultaneously we would be more successful. I approached Sambhali for a loan as it was interest-free and we have 4 children to raise. With their help, I started the new shop and am now in business with my husband. My children go to the (Setrawa) Empowerment Centre for extra English. I am very happy.”
