A Story of Change About How a Specially-Abled Women Entrepreneur Turned it All Around | CARE India

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A Story of Change How a Specially-
Abled Women Entrepreneur Turned it All Around
This story is of a brave individual who chose to
display sheer resilience in the face of
discrimination, social stigma, and countless
obstacles that life threw her way. Born as a
dwarf due to a genetic condition, Ms. Anitha is
a 23-year-old who earns her bread by working for
four hours every day at a local canteen. With
her father passing away, Anitha shouldered the
responsibility of her mother. Although Anitha
completed her high school education, she could
not find promising employment opportunities,
limiting her capability to earn and support
herself. It goes without saying that specially
abled girl children and women are at the
receiving end of more discrimination and
exclusion from society when compared to men. In
an effort to battle the issue head on, CARE
India has launched several initiatives that
provide rural livelihood to specially abled
women from marginalised communities. One such
initiative is our EDP training. Anitha joined
the EDP training, after which she spent the
initial few sessions brainstorming various
business opportunities that she could possibly
pursue. Ultimately, she decided to go ahead with
the imitation and artificial jewellery business,
since she could make the ornaments at home all
by herself. Through the womens entrepreneurship
development and training programmes, CARE India
offers end-to-end support to early-stage
entrepreneurs. Starting from ideation and early
stage support to scale-up support, the programme
is offering holistic help to foster women
entrepreneurship in the country. As part of the
early-stage support, Anitha received 70,000 INR
worth of materials to get started. Through her
exemplary work ethic and love for craft, Anitha
evolved as a household name in her village for
renting or buying artificial jewellery. She even
rents out her ornaments for festivities and
functions such as marriages,
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earning up to 1500 INR per day. Anitha also
started making daily-use artificial jewellery
with a 40 percent margin. On top of updating
her product line and introducing new ornaments
occasionally, Anitha finds smart ways to promote
her products and jewellery rental services. One
such idea includes circulating images of her
products on WhatsApp among the people in their
village. She is also reaching out to people from
nearby villages, distributing catalogues of her
work in an attempt to increase her sales. Two
months after starting the business, Anitha is
earning an additional 4000 INR each month apart
from what she makes at the nearby canteen. Anitha
is now hopeful that she can take good care of
her mother while expanding her business along the
way.
I never thought I would get help to start a
business. But now, I have got the confidence to
face life and take care of my mother, says
Anitha. She also hopes to set up a shop right in
front of her house to showcase her ornaments and
improve her business prospects. About the
Programme CARE Indias EDP programme is a
training programme that is designed to help
people from marginalized communities start and
grow their own businesses. The programme covers a
wide range of topics, including business
planning, marketing, financial management, and
leadership. The EDP programme is open to all
people from marginalized communities, regardless
of their gender, age, or educational background.
The programme is free to participate in, and all
participants are provided with the necessary
training and support to help them start and grow
their own businesses. A recent study found that
90 of the businesses that were started through
the programme are still in operation after five
years.