Thomas Doe
Social WorkerNulla totam rem metus nunc hendrerit ex voluptatum deleniti laboris, assumenda suspendisse, maecenas malesuada morbi a voluptate massa! Hendrerit, egestas.
Nulla totam rem metus nunc hendrerit ex voluptatum deleniti laboris, assumenda suspendisse, maecenas malesuada morbi a voluptate massa! Hendrerit, egestas.
Urmila Tiriya
“Using this new M-Powered mobile phone, I am able to connect to government services and obtain a job card. I used the PoP app to learn how to cultivate chili peppers along with other members in my self-help group, and began cultivating in her backyard.”
Like most other girls in Jharbeda, a village in Odisha, India, Urmila Tiriya was married at a young age. Now, with her husband Suresh, she has two children, Madhuri and Gorbari. Before her children were born, Urmila lived with her husband and in-laws performing chores. “But,” Urmila says, “for me, life had different plans.”
Before the birth of their children, Suresh supported the family as a laborer at a steel plant an hour away in Rourkela, the nearest industrial city. But, once Gorbari was born, Suresh fell ill and could no longer make the journey to work. Without Suresh’s income, the family could no longer meet their basic needs. “We seldom had two full meals a day,” Urmila recalls.
Because of her family’s cirucmstances, Urmila was selected to participate in Trickle Up’s mobile pilot project, M-Powered. As part of the program, she would learn how to create and sustain a livelihood with the help of her coach and a mobile phone loaded with a special app to guide her on her journey out of poverty. She was also connected with a group of other participants from her village in a Self-Help Group named Maa Jharbera SHG. In December 2016, our coaches helped Urmila to make a three-year plan and gave her INR 3,000 to jumpstart her livelihood.
Urmila bought two hens, a hardy breed that lays a large number of eggs. Initially, caring for the hens and their offspring was tough because she had no experience rearing poultry. But with the advice and support of her coach, Urmila soon turned two hens into eight hens and cocks, and 50 chicks. “Using this new M-Powered mobile phone, I am able to connect to government services and obtain a job card. I used the PoP app to learn how to cultivate chili peppers along with other members in my self-help group, and began cultivating in her backyard,” says Urmila.
Today, Urmila is proud of her hard work and quick to show off the source of her profits, a backyard alive with chickens and chili plants. She even says her ability with maths has improved because she must calculate her profits every month and inform her coach of her progress. “I was always weak in math; I could never get the tables correct,” she told us, and with a sly grin, continued, “I remember I would always get sick just before the maths exams.” Now, however, she feels more confident with her tables and is earning a steady profit. “I earn around INR 8,000-10,000 a month,” Urmila says, fetching feed for her chicks, “My children go to school. I chose that both my daughters should learn maths well so they can be independent in life.”
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