All these years, Pratibha, her bedridden husband and their son consciously lived, rather struggled to live within the means of a minimal income they got as rent from their ancestral property. The only possibility of some extra income coming in was from the savories – like puliogare mix, chakli and sambar powder – that Pratibha sold once in a while. Life was about maneuvering the difficulties of everyday life and feeling miserable about the gloom it carried. But time had to change.
Pratibha happened to attend the Buzz training that sparked hope. She felt the urge to look at her life from a different prism. She felt she cannot allow life to go on passively. Pratibha felt she could actually unleash her own potential as an excellent cook. With a renewed spirit, she went back home to make her small-time cooking initiative into a full-fledged endeavor. She went out actively looking for customers and regular orders. Soon her products became popular and her kitchen was bustling. Orders increased and she is now supported by two other women in her kitchen. She’s no longer worried about their financial situation. And this also meant that it was time for the social worker in her to awaken.
She has always been wanting to do something for her community but was bogged down by her own problems. When she established control over her own life, she started stepping out and offering her support to the community. Today, with her own life transformed, she is working as a volunteer with Buzz as a Community Anchor. She supports the behavioral change of hundreds of women like her. She is also a popular voice in her own community. She and the women of her locality are fighting for the closure of a bar that is becoming a nuisance for the residents. She’s a leader to whom the community reaches out to solve its problems.
We cannot afford to have leaders like Pratibha getting bogged down by the difficulties of their lives. Buzz is in the process of nudging many more leaders like Pratibha – 3000 rural women leaders and counting.