Built small business india

We've seen time and again how empowering one woman has a ripple effect on those around her--in particular the children for whom she can create a better future. Trickle Up's West Bengal program is helping women who live on less than $1 a day build sustainable livelihoods. With the increased income from their microenterprises, participants can improve their families' quality of life in truly significant ways, such as feeding their family three meals a day instead of two, buying shoes for their children and sheets to sleep on at night.

Srimati Sardar, pictured, recently told us that since her participation in the Trickle Up program, she's had more influence in family decision-making. As a result, her husband is less wasteful with his money, and they are now choosing to invest their money in their children's future. It is Srimati who decides how to use the money from her Trickle Up microenterprise raising goats, and she is focusing on ways to provide a sustainable and improved quality of life for her family by reinvesting in rice paddy cultivation and saving for her children's future.

For Srimati, Trickle Up's support gave her the opportunity to take her first steps out of poverty--for both herself and her family.

Pictures:

• Srimati Sardar (JPG)