Nayanalata Behera

“My mother and I would have probably died out of hunger if Bandhan had not come in as a guiding force in our lives. I wholeheartedly thank Bandhan for reposing trust in me, and instilling confidence to pave the way for my secured future.”

Nayanalata is an inspiration. She has lifted herself from abject poverty to being self-sufficient. Most importantly, she has built a dignified life for herself. However, fate has not always been kind to her. Since her early days, her life was dotted with one mishap after another. She was born into poverty and used to live with her parents and brother. The family’s single source of income was lost with the demise of her father. To make matters worse, her brother deserted them, shortly after. All of a sudden, the responsibility of managing the household fell on her shoulders. She was not at all prepared for it. Given their dire financial condition, she picked up work of a daily wage labourer. She also started cultivating vegetables at home and sold them in the market. However, they were barely able to sustain themselves. It was at this juncture, that officials of Bandhan’s THP programme rightly recognised her need for guidance and support. They conducted multiple rounds of counselling and mentoring her. To help her gain financial independence, Bandhan extended asset support to her, as part of the My mother and I would have probably died out of hunger if Bandhan had not come in as a guiding force in our lives. I wholeheartedly thank Bandhan for reposing trust in me, and instilling confidence to pave the way for my secured future. unique THP initiative. Using the grant assets, she set up a utility store with a variety of items such as biscuit, snacks items, toffee, chocolate, soap, shampoo, among others. Besides the grant, like other THP beneficiaries, Nayanalata was also entitled to a consumption stipend until her newly set up store started generating income. What was a gamechanger for Nayanalata, was the handholding training, appropriate guidance, consistent motivation and mentoring support that she got from Bandhan, apart from the grant. The staff held regular sessions on confidence building, enterprise expansion and market-linkage avenues, which proved immensely helpful for Nayanalata. It improved her interpersonal skills and decision-making capacity. Thus, through the programme’s systematic course of 24 months, she is now a transformed woman; in fact, she is a capable entrepreneur. Besides her utility store, Nayanalata has also developed alternate sources of livelihood; she purchased one cow and started a secondary business of a fruit shop at the market. These have enhanced her income and secured her financial position further. With her steady income now, she has opened a savings account in a bank.