Asmita’s mother Binda, works hard to keep her children fed and clothed. Day-to-day life has been made even more difficult since her husband committed suicide a few years ago.
She believes that a stint as a migrant worker took a toll on his health and he never really recovered.
To service the loan that he left behind when he died, Binda had to take her son out of school and send him to Malaysia to find work so he could send the money back to his family. That money supply has dried up as her son has struggled to find work.
Binda lives in a hut on government-owned land. She earns a meagre living working on a farm but fortunately half of the wheat that she grows she can take home.
The fact that she is a Dalit and a widow means Binda and her family are automatically stigmatised.
“My children are called orphans and I hear people laughing at them. They see me crying sometimes and try to make me feel better.”
Binda believes the skills she is learning at the farming groups she attends regularly will benefit her as she is developing better ways to grow more vegetables and crops.
Growing non-seasonal crops will help the farmers earn more.
Since she has been part of our project, the number of goats she relies on for both food and income has increased from three to nine.