Stories of Change

Laxmi Thombare, Jalna, Maharashtra

In Chandai Thombari village of Jalna, Maharashtra, where most livelihoods follow familiar and uncertain paths, Laxmi Thombare chose to step into something different. Her early life was shaped by responsibilities

Geetha Anthikkadu, Wayanad, Kerala

๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‹๐š๐ง๐, ๐‹๐ž๐š๐๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‚๐ก๐š๐ง๐ ๐ž In the green, rain-washed landscapes of Wayanad, where farming is both a way of life and a constant struggle against a changing climate, Geetha Anthikkadu has

Sunita Kumbhar, Dharashiv, Maharashtra

Sunita Kumbhar did not begin with opportunities-she began with responsibility. In Kumbhari village of Dharashiv district, Maharashtra, her life took shape around early marriage, unfinished education, and the daily struggle

Daivshali Magare, Jalna, Maharashtra

๐Œ๐จ๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐๐ž๐ฒ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐’๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐จ๐ง๐š๐ฅ ๐”๐ง๐œ๐ž๐ซ๐ญ๐š๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ In Longaon village of Jalna district, Maharashtra, her family depended on her husbandโ€™s photography work, which was limited to weddings and events. During off-seasons, especially the

Jaymala Bhatlawande, Dharashiv, Maharashtra

๐…๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐‹๐จ๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐‹๐ž๐š๐๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ: ๐‰๐š๐ฒ๐ฆ๐š๐ฅ๐šโ€™๐ฌ ๐‰๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐ž๐ฒ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐‘๐ž๐ฌ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ž In Shelgav Diwane village of Dharashiv district, Maharashtra, Jaymala Bhatlawandeโ€™s life took a difficult turn in 2021. After the sudden loss of

Sunita Metre, Bidar, Karnataka

๐’๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐š ๐Œ๐ž๐ญ๐ซ๐ž: ๐„๐ฆ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฐ๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐–๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง, ๐‚๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‚๐ก๐š๐ง๐ ๐ž In Kamalanagar Block of Bidar district, Karnataka, Sunita Metre is transforming lives in Holsamudraโ€”turning everyday challenges into opportunities for women through sustainable farming, dairy,

Panika Kumar, Gayaji, Bihar

๐…๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ƒ๐ž๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐‚๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐‹๐ž๐š๐๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ In Orial village of Gaya district in Bihar, Panika Kumariโ€™s journey shows how rural women can become leaders of change when given the right opportunities.

Shanta Raja, Wayanad, Kerala

๐†๐ซ๐จ๐ฐ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐…๐จ๐จ๐, ๐‚๐จ๐ง๐Ÿ๐ข๐๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ž, ๐š๐ง๐ ๐‘๐ž๐ฌ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ž Shanta Raja, a small farmer from Kottathara Panchayat in Wayanad district, Kerala, has been managing her farm independently for the past eight years. After the

Nikita Janjal, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Maharashtra

๐…๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐„๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ˆ๐ง๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ข๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง Women farmers in Chinchpur village of Sillod block, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, Maharashtra, are building more climate-resilient livelihoods with support from Swayam Shikshan Prayog. Nikita Janjal began

Sheetal Eklare, Nanded, Maharashtra

๐Ž๐ซ๐ ๐š๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐–๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง, ๐„๐ฑ๐ฉ๐š๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐  ๐Ž๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ In Shevdi village of Nanded district in Maharashtra, when only four self-help groups were active, Sheetal Eklare saw both a challenge and an opportunity. Women were

๐‰๐ฒ๐จ๐ญ๐ข ๐Š๐š๐๐š๐ฆ, Parbhani, Maharashtra

๐‰๐ฒ๐จ๐ญ๐ข ๐Š๐š๐๐š๐ฆ ๐จ๐ง๐œ๐ž ๐›๐ž๐ฅ๐ข๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ ๐ก๐ž๐ซ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฆ๐š๐ข๐ง ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ She had to leave school after the 10th standard. After marriage, with her husband physically disabled, responsibility became her constant companion.

Asmita Patil, Latur, Maharashtra

๐…๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐–๐š๐ ๐ž ๐‹๐š๐›๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ญ๐จ ๐Ž๐ฐ๐ง๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ: ๐€๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐š ๐๐š๐ญ๐ข๐ฅโ€™๐ฌ ๐‰๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐ž๐ฒ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐„๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ž ๐š๐ง๐ ๐‚๐จ๐ง๐Ÿ๐ข๐๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ž In Bhada village of Latur district, Maharashtra, Asmita Patilโ€™s journey reflects the quiet determination of rural women who