Theresa Lasrado is a resident of Mallenahalli Gram panchayath of Tarikere Tq Chikkamagaluru.  She lives in a small house with her husband Leo Lasrado and two children Sujith studying in class X and Saniya studying in class IX.Theresa and her husband are daily wage laborers. Their income is meager and there was a perennial challenge of making ends meet  for the family. At this juncture in the year 2010 the animator of CMSSS visited her house and introduced the concept of self-help groups. Theresa’s initial reaction was “how do I make time for this, when we are already struggling to earn our daily bread.” Constant visits and motivation helped her to join Sumathi SHG and started with a weekly savings of Rs.25/-. Almost after one unconvinced year and reluctant participation in SHG meets she was in dire need of Rs 2000 for her children’s education. Though her savings in the group was only 1300/- at that time, she was given a loan of Rs.2000/- by her group. This changed the way she looked at her SHG which was till now just a ‘group’ but now she saw the ‘self-help’ aspect of it. She put in her 100% efforts to actively participate in meetings and training of the SHG and was keen in learning things.  She started asking questions to the resource person in the training. By 2015 she was elected as the president of the SHG.

In the year 2015-16 a project for Good Governance was implemented in Tarikere supported by Manos Unidas was a great experience for all the women of Tarikere Taluk such as attending grama sabha and ward sabha meetings besides  visiting the  panchayath and government departments.  Theresa  participated  in all the activities and programs conducted by CMSSS and  she was able to  avail governmental facilities. The confidence of Theresa saw new direction and she decided to be self-reliant. Through Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) she constructed a cowshed. She has borrowed a loan of Rs.50,000/- from bank and  purchased a cow to support her  family.  This not only adds extra income to the family but also helps in other ways. Besides selling milk, she prepares curds and ghee for her household. She has repaid a loan of Rs.26, 000/- and is confident to repay the remaining loan. She has a small kitchen garden where she grows vegetables for her household requirements and uses the manure from her cowshed for her kitchen garden. She and her family members have not only found source of income, but a means to cut their expenses and the path to self-reliance.

Very hard working Jayamma from Mudbagilu gave her two daughters in marriage and got them settled in their life. Just when every parent thinks her responsibilities were over, Jayamma’s responsibility was not over yet. Now her 70 year old husband depended on her. Independent and hardworking as she had always been she took this responsibility. She was ageing and knew that very soon she would not be able work as in her younger days.  She was looking for options for livelihood to sustain her family. 15 years back she had joined Kaveri SHG and started a meager saving of Rs 10 per week. She was attending the trainings in the SHG on income generation activities. The savings and this knowledge came to her aid.  She invested Rs. 10,000 from her savings in 2015 into an Areca nut nursery. She invested her time in her new kids and very soon she started earning some profit. In two years with a loan of Rs. 25,000 in from Jeevan Jyothi federation and she planted pepper nursery along with Areca nut. Today she earns a steady profit of Rs. 35,000 in a year which is carefully saved for their future.

Today, Jayamma guides and motivates other members in her SHG to plan for their future and also helps many to take initiative in self employment. Though she is advancing in her age she is very young and inspiration for others.

Sundaramma is a brave fighter who is fighting since her birth to be an independent woman.

She started this fight with her own disability. Added to that was the utter poverty in her family, followed by desertion in marriage and dispute in the family. These taught her how to fight in the race of life. Though visually impaired She went up to 2^nd PUC with steadfast determination and firm belief that education will be her anchor. Because of this belief today she is an Asha worker in Koppalu and Bandihalli villages. She says that spreading awareness about health and nutritious food in these villages gives her fulfillment.

Sundaramma is a member of Spoorthi SHG and says that the SHG has changed her life.  various training on leadership, self employment, availing government entitlements, awareness on human rights and especially on women rights has empowered her and other women in social, economical and political field. the confidence she gained helped her to fight for her land from her family, availed disability pension, availed free housing from Government and educates her children in English medium school to set a better future to them.

Sundramma is also a self employed and has a poultry farm where she is employing 2 other women, earning daily profit of 1500/-. She is grateful to CMSSS and Spoorthi SHG for the timely guidance and all the assistance in helping women to be independent.