With a dream of a better education for her children, Chandani Devi transformed herself from a homemaker to a leader and entrepreneur in Nalanda, Bihar.
Chandani Devi, from Murgawa village in the Nalanda district of Bihar, was married at a very young age and lives in a large joint family, who depended fully on agriculture for their household income. However, she started looking for avenues of income generation so that she could afford to educate her children better. As a member of the village Self Help Group, she was introduced to SSP during a meeting in 2020, where the leaders spoke about the importance of organic farming and the clean energy program that supported women’s entrepreneurship. Inspired by this, Chandani Devi reached out to the local SSP leader and decided to become a clean energy entrepreneur, or ‘Urja Sakhi’. She began to sell clean energy products like solar lamps and energy-saving LED bulbs as well as products related to women’s menstrual health and hygiene in her village and also in neighbouring villages. She used to set up stalls at meetings and local markets, conduct home visits and even travel with SSP’s clean energy van for awareness-raising and marketing of products.
By 2021, Chandani Devi convinced her family to start adopting more sustainable farming practices that included mixed cropping of both grains and vegetables and a shift to chemical-free farming methods using organic manure. She now oversees SSP’s Clean Energy Program implementation in 10 villages as a “Super Sakhi” and mentors other Sakhis (women entrepreneurs). While initially her family disapproved of her work, after she started earning a stable income of INR 4,000-6,000 every month and was able to contribute to household expenses, they slowly started to support her efforts and even agreed to help with childcare when she had to travel to other villages.
Today, her in-laws and husband include her in household decision-making and she is also recognised in the community as a leader and mentor. Most importantly, she is now able to support her children’s education.
Swayam Shikshan Prayog
October 7, 2022