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18 March 2004
Seeds of vision
A gift of seeds has blossomed into hope for a solo mother.
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Making leaf plates
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Married at 15 and widowed two years later, Baula Das had little to look forward to in life.
With no husband to provide for her she returned to her father’s home where, six months later, she gave birth to her daughter, Mina.
To help her family, Baula would go to the nearby forest to collect leaves. Restaurant and stall-holders buy disposable ‘plates’ made from stitched-together leaves. Sometimes leaf collectors sell direct to the restaurants, but often they supply middlemen, so they make little profit.
“My daily income was not enough for even two meals a day,” says Baula, remembering those difficult days.
Help came when Mayurbhanj ADP registered Mina, then two-and-a-half years old, in its child sponsorship programme. The following year, the ADP gave Baula peanut seeds worth about $NZ60. (She contributed about $4 to the cost of the seeds.)
She leased some land to grow the peanuts, and in 2003 made about $530 profit. She banked some of this for Mina’s needs, who started school this year, and will re-invest money in growing peanuts and sabai grass (used for making rope and paper).
Baula says her new source of income gives her the confidence to face day-to-day life boldly. “Before I didn’t have a vision, but now I have a vision for me and my child.”
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Mayurbhanj project profile
MAYURBHANJ STORY ARCHIVE
2008
Snippets
Back to school
Eliminating alcohol
2007
A camp of change
Snippets
2006
Well beyond expectations
Avian influenza
Seed idea
Change of direction
2005
Snippets
A hand up not a hand out
Gone Fishing
2004
The hard word
Snippets
Seeds of vision
Let us help
2003
Stop the wedding!
Love those trees
Tractor keeps students on track
Women break taboos
Snippets
Girls' school completed
Village plants future
Coaching centres
One success inspires another
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