“When Ambuja Foundation approached me to implement the internet saathi project, I was not very sure. Forget the internet - women, including me, didn’t even own a smartphone!

“I got polio when I was a child and struggled to walk – forced to walk on my knee which made everyone treat me differently. I felt I was a burden in the family as I couldn’t help my father in our field and wondered how I’d ever get any other opportunity in life with this condition.

“Just 1 year back, Kukudsath was as ordinary as any other village. We had a lot of problems and were wondering where should we begin?

“20 years ago, we grew one crop of groundnuts a year – the crop was always poor because the groundwater we used was saline. Salinity had crept in 15 kms from the coast and we even struggled to find sweet water to drink. A government pipeline delivered drinking water to us from 30 kms away, but by the time it reached us, we had no idea of the water quality.

“We noticed cases of stomach and digestive ailments coming into the Health Clinic so we decided to test the water.

Since childhood, I saw my father struggling to make agriculture profitable. I was very sure that I could do better. That with my hard work and skill, I’d earn more. But somehow, it never happened …

“In West Bengal, Mandals are known to be cultivators. So despite earning my trade as an electrician at ITI, I turned to the 30-acre family farm to work hard and build a business.

P.K.Laheri is one of Ambuja Foundation’s longest standing Board Members, and has had one of those careers where the mind simply boggles at all that was seen, heard and been a part of. He served as the Chief Secretary of Gujarat for 3 years and was the Chairman and Managing Director of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited, Gandhinagar – responsible for the development of one of the largest water infrastructure projects Gujarat has ever seen. Oh to have been a fly on the wall …

“I was one of 7 children and growing up, there were many days where my parents couldn’t provide even one meal for us all. So at the age of 10, my father sent me to Baishnabnagar to work as a child labourer on a dairy farm.

At just 18 years of age, Beant is no stranger to social work. She got her first taste of it at the age of 11 as an Adolescent Peer Educator, and was hooked! As the primary driver of Ambuja Foundation’s Women Empowerment Programme in her community, Beant is a busy teen – juggling social work duties, studies in Tally, household chores and of course – all important time with friends!

Hem Raj, a 37 year old farmer, faced one big obstacle in his farming enterprise – getting his produce to market! With no road out of his village, the only way to sell goods, was to ‘walk it out’ – loading produce into baskets that they lugged up hills to the nearest bus stand. It was back breaking work and by the time they reached the market, produce was severely damaged.

The women of Bhadrapali mean business. Once restricted to their homes, today every woman in the community is an SHG member, and earns their own income. This ‘women’s movement’ has caused a wave of change, with the women transforming the community into a ‘Model Village’. Juggling a multitude of tasks, these women are a force to be reckoned with!