International Women's Day | Celebrating M.Kumari
To Celebrate International Women’s Day, we are featuring some of the amazing Women that are involved with our charity.
M.Kumari joined a Women’s Self Help Group (WSHG) over 20 years ago. Since then, she has become a cluster coordinator and is employed by CRUSADE, through SOTE donations, to oversee a number of women’s groups. She has also been a fundamental asset during the COVID crisis, acting as a doctor’s assistant and a source of reassurance and information for the local people.
We are privileged to have her local knowledge, strength, and commitment. Cluster coordinators like M.Kumari are vital to our projects. We rely on their unique insight to best support the needs of women in the villages. Salt of the Earth support hundreds of WSHGs and without women like M.Kumari, this scale of support would not be possible.
Inspiring and supporting rural Women.
It would not do justice for us to state that M. Kumari is an impressive woman.
Aged 44, she has been a Cluster Coordinator for 18 years. Her responsibility is to recruit women, form new WSHG’s, and oversee Women’s Self Help Groups in Tamil Nadu. It is also M. Kumari’s responsibility to maintain group savings accounts and often sees her as the direct link between the banks, the local Panchayat, and the people. As cluster co-ordinator, she currently oversees 57 groups in six villages and provides advice and support to 855 members.
M. Kumari left school in the 10th Standard to get married. She had no qualifications and had little hope for a life outside of the home. Irregular low-paid work earnt her an average of Rs.800 (around £8) a month and she struggled to feed her children.
In an attempt to build a support network, M. Kumari joined her local WSHG group over 20 years ago. Since then, she has been trained in book-keeping and first aid and is now a full-time paid member of the CRUSADE team. Now, she earns Rs.10,000 (around £100) a month and tells us that she no longer struggles to feed her children and helps to pay for their education.
M. Kumari tells women in her groups that: “We must show each other that together, we can solve our own problems”.
For women wishing to start up a new business or break free from a cycle of unreliable income, M. Kumari is at hand to provide support and advice. Recently, some Women’s Self Help Group members came to her with the idea of starting an embroidery business. CRUSADE are connected with a local company that supply loans to the rural poor at fair and maintainable rates. M.Kumari connected the women with the company, helped them complete the loan application, and ultimately obtain the amount that the women were hoping for. The women’s’ business is now doing great. The women have not missed a loan return payment and have been able to put money into a savings account. Due to the success of their small business, the women have been able to break free from daily agricultural work and have a new found confidence.
Another group asked for support with starting up a duck rearing business, in which M. Kumari stepped in and helped them get off the ground. The duck rearing is also going well, and these women have also managed to break free from irregular ‘coolie’ work in the fields.
When asked about what she is most proud of, M. Kumari tells us that she is proud to have empowered women to construct their own homes. Previously, this was not something that was common in rural villages. Over the years, she has seen many children attend higher education and is pleased that mothers have the opportunity to be granted obtainable bank loans.
M.Kumari thanks Salt of the Earth supporters for their continued generosity and thanks the CRUSADE staff for spotting potential in her that she previously never saw in herself.
“This is my first proper job and my last job. My life runs through CRUSADE. When I first joined my group, I was quiet and shy. Now, I have a voice that even the men listen to.”
M. Kumari acting as Doctor’s assistant at elderly women’s health camp.
M. Kumari checking local women’s blood pressure during COVID crisis.
