Thomas Doe
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Rupan Sandil
“I used to focus on the problems, but now, I started looking for solutions. When my group members would complain that there was no water for irrigation, I would use the Packets of Practices (PoP) mobile application to show them how to use stored water and waste water.”
Rupan Sandil is not new to stepping up to fulfil her responsibilities. For over two decades, she has been running grocery shop from her home in the village of Duiya in Manoharpur block of West Singhbhum, Jharkhand. For over two decades, her shop has clothed, fed and helped shelter her family from all odds. Every single expense for the household is borne from the earnings of this shop. But for a few years now, other enterprises coming up in the area have hampered her sales.
Rupan is a mother to two daughters and a son. Her eldest daughter is married, the younger one is in college and her son is now looking for a job. Rupan’s family owns 70 decimals (0.6 acre) of land, but they are not able to cultivate all of it since cannot hire enough labourers. So in addition to her shop, her family started growing paddy, wheat and mustard to feed themselves.
As business suffered, Rupan’s family was identified as one of the ultra-poor families in the area and in 2014 she joined the Durga Self-Help Group (SHG). Her easily identifiable leadership skills enabled her to become the community resource person (CRP) soon and started motivating the other women in her village to save regularly for a better future.
“I encourage early morning SHG meetings. Say between six and seven. That way, everyone can go to work after. It helps to keep regularity without disturbing the members’ daily routine,” she says.
Things were not yet looking up for her family. But change was about to come. In 2016, Rupan was selected as a participant for M-Powered, a project run by Trickle Up and TATA Communications that uses mobile connections to promote women’s economic development. Rupan received a smartphone as a participant and her world opened up. She not only found ways to access more information through her phone, but also grew in confidence. This new attitude was going to help her turn her life around in a significant way. Owning a smartphone did wonders to the self-esteem of Rupan and the rest of the members of her group.
It became easier for Rupan to regularly connect with the other members and as meetings regularised, savings also increased for the group. “I used to focus on the problems, but now, I started looking for solutions. When my group members would complain that there was no water for irrigation, I would use the Packets of Practices (PoP) mobile application to show them how to use stored water and waste water,” she says. “Then I thought to myself that this was the ideal time to turn around my business. I took out a small loan from my savings group, invested in my grocery shop and expanded it to sell food items as well. Being situated on the road-side, the passers-by now often visit my shop for a quick meal or snacks and business has picked up again!”
Rupan is now even more confident that it is possible for women of her village to escape the cycle of poverty. “When we join SHGs, we start recognising our capabilities. Will power is what we need to get out of poverty and to give a bright future to our children. There is a turning point in everyone’s life. It takes time. For me, it took six months to come up with the correct solution for my shop. Once I took the right decision, there was no turning back,” she muses.
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