Thenmozhi, 35, has two sons and a daughter, 17, 13 and 9. Her husband is an alcoholic and abandoned the family. They live in a small thatched shed. She could only admit her children to the government school where the standard of education is quite limited. “Though my children wanted to be as neatly dressed as their other classmates I could attire them just moderately to cope with the limited income.

As a deserted woman having 3 children, my feeling was one of frustration, but once I joined other women of my village to form a Self Help Group I became a different person. Indeed, I grew in determination. Somehow I gained my guts to face life. I began to give no importance to what others say. It didn’t bother me. All my concentration was to bring up my children and set an example to the people around.” She dreams of sending her children to higher education and building a house of her own.

In 2005 Thenmozhi sold her limited pieces of jewelry and got her first loan from PAT to put up her petty shop. Her oldest daughter sometimes looks after the shop while she does farming to supplement her income. She wants to expand the petty shop into a grocery with the purchase of raw materials and equipment. Eventually she believes she can employ two people in the business.