This woman has enabled 30 women to start mini kitchen gardens in her village!

Tasina is determined to ensure women maintain sustainable livelihoods. The Buzz Green program which she completed in January 2023 ignited this spark in her. 

Tasina lives with her husband, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law and six children. Her home and yard lacked greenery and relied heavily on plastic usage and wasteful water practices. Tasina’s family would use plastic cups and plates on a daily-basis and never reused water, relying on fresh water for everything. 

Tasina had completed the Spoorthi Fellowship a few months prior to completing the Green program and wanted to push herself towards more change. She says, “The Spoorthi Fellowship inspired me to get a job and today I’m the Seva Prathinidhi within my Self-Help Group (SHG).” She asked the Buzz Field Associate Pavithra if she could be a part of any Buzz program and to her excitement, she learnt about the Buzz Green program. 

In a display of resourcefulness and determination, Tasina organized the training space for the Buzz Green Program herself when the original location became unavailable,  “I was determined we had the program soon.”This initiative not only facilitated the training but also established a lasting venue for future community gatherings and sessions for the Buzz team.

The Buzz Green video on conservation impacted the perspectives she holds today. She has adopted eco-friendly practices, commencing with the cessation of plastic usage. Inspired to cultivate a greener environment, she established a thriving kitchen garden adorned with a variety of flora including jasmines, brinjal, flowers, bananas, lemons, leafy vegetables, ladies' fingers, and aloe vera.

Tasina has found the quality of produce from her garden to be incredibly good because she only uses cow dung as a natural fertiliser,  avoiding harmful chemicals that degrade soil quality. Additionally, she ensures the well-being of her poultry by providing them with wholesome food, prioritising their health as well as her own by eschewing leftover masala food in favour of nutrient-rich alternatives like ragi and godi. The added bonus of starting the kitchen garden is that she saves a minimum of Rs. 200 per month which was otherwise spent on buying produce from the town market. Her dream is to expand her garden to a business.

Realising the potential of the kitchen gardens, she has trained 30 other women in the village to initiate their kitchen gardens! These women, under her guidance, have begun cultivating flowers and leafy vegetables, propagating sustainable practices within their own households. She gathered these women under a tree and personally spoke to some others who didn’t attend, taking them through the process of starting and maintaining a kitchen garden. 

Buzz Women’s philosophy is ‘local for local’ and Tasina is enabling just that!