New Beginnings Are For Everyone

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”- Anonymous

Radha’s family was enrolled in the Family Strengthening Programme (FSP) when her husband was suffering from a very rare yet life threatening disease i.e. Plastic Anemia.  For Radha, the stress of re-paying the money taken as a loan for her husband’s treatment always overpowered her strength to fight her unfortunate circumstances. Emotionally vulnerable, she was not even in the position to look after her four children, which eventually led her two children to drop out of school altogether.

Desperate to make her ends meet, she worked as a daily wager as per the availability of work in the nearby area, but sadly her limited earnings were not enough to cater to the needs of her family; she earned INR 2000/- per month.

This family was then identified in the Kheda Village (Nuh) and eventually enrolled by SOS India’s FSP in October 2013.

Living Condition of Radha’s family

The family of six lived in a small single room, which made it even worse for them to live in especially in the rainy season. When inspected, the family did not have cooking vessels and also lacked basic cooking items like rice, dal etc. among many others. None of the family members had proper clothes to wear or even a sheet to spread on the floor while sleeping. Additionally, it was also discovered that the children did not have access to three proper meals in a day.

Support/Services/Facilitation provided by the FSP

  • Education: Post FSP intervention, children who had dropped out of school have resumed studies again; SOS India provides for their school and tuition fees. Books, stationery and uniforms are also part of the support offered. Now, all children are performing well and regular monitoring is done to keep a check on their progress.
  • Health & Nutrition: Nutritional support (rice, flour, pulse, sugar and mustard oil, as per requirement) was provided to the family by the FSP. Additionally, an extensive medical checkup was done for all family members. We are happy to share that with SOS India’s intervention, Radha’s husband has successfully tied up with the Nalhar Medical College and District Hospital Mandikheda for additional assistance with regard to his disease.
  • Capacity Building of Caregiver Radha: SOS India provided the basic training required to help enroll Radha in a Self-help group (SHG). As a member of the SHG, she now actively contributes to the savings at home and also takes care of the monthly installments to be paid regularly. She is a committed member of Gulab SHG Khedla. Additionally, she also completed six days of animal husbandry and insurance of animal training, which was facilitated by the FSP. She was also made part of the livelihood Promotion Training Programme, which also included awareness sessions on diet and nutrition, health and hygiene, immunization of children and child rights.
  • Livelihood: The FSP provided support of INR 8490/- in the year 2014. With a combination of her own savings and a loan of INR 5000/- from her SHG, Radha and her husband opened a shop of electric items. While Radha earned money through tailoring and stitching, her husband was now too contributing through the money earned from his shop. In 2017, Radha and Kishan (Radha’s husband) were supported with two sewing machines along with an electric motor through which, she started her own Tailoring Center to train women and girls from different communities. With the help of this development, Radha’s monthly income increased up to INR 7500/-.

She also started making cloth bags as part of a tie up with the Mewat Development Authority (MDA); she received INR 200/- meter cloth for the same. We are happy to share that this programme has been started jointly by the Red Cross Society and MDA Nuh under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, making Nuh polythene free.

  • Psycho Social Support: FSP regularly visits Radha’s family to monitor how the family is doing. Advice and counselling is also given by SOS India to enhance livelihood, improve food habits of children, understand the need for the family to have a savings account, educate Radha and Kishan about the importance of education in the life of children.

Today, Radha and Kishan live happily with her four children. They are now able to look after them and cater to their needs efficiently. The FSP intervention in Radha’s family not only gave them hope for a better future but also gave them a fresh lease of life.

SOS India is very proud of them for overcoming and winning over their challenges! We wish them all the best for future.