rickshaw ramblings

Pappu Devi, the secretary of the Laxmi SHG near Baap. She was the first woman in her SHG to receive a loan to open her own store. Here she is in her grocery store.

A brief bio of Pappu Devi:

Her husband does migratory labor in Jaisalmer (one district west of Jodhpur) where he loads and unloads grain sacks from trucks. He goes for 6 months at a time. He was very supportive of her opening her own small business.

Her family gets 4 months worth of food grain from her husband's family's landholding, and the rest of the year they must travel to the market to purchase food.

Her shop has been open for 3 months. Tea leaves, jaggery, sugar, oil and soap are her biggest sellers. She sells 4-5 Kg of suger per day on average.

She was the first woman in the group chosen to receive a loan because she is literate, outspoken, and was willing to take the risk of having to repay 1075 Rs/ month until her 10,000 is repaid.

In addition to running her store, Pappu Devi also takes care of her 4 children, 7 cows, sells milk, and does all of the domestic activity in her house.