Adopt-a-widow

When a farmer commits suicide, it leaves the entire family in a situation of distress. The widows not only just loose their husbands but also their means of livelihood and most importantly, they loose their hope.

Adopt-a-widow is about bringing hope to such widows by helping them start-up a small business for sustainable means of earning and supporting their families.

Problems Faced by Widows

Loss of Husband
No emotional/financial support
Very low/no source of income
Inability to feed themselves and children

SIF Initiatives/Solution: Help widows start a source of income

SIF investigates areas with high suicide rates and interviews the families of the farmers who committed suicide. We spend enough time with them to understand their socio-economic condition and also collect data on land area, loan amount and number of family members. We provide loans to these identified widows such that, they can start a small business as a continued source of income to support themselves and their children. Such businesses include sewing, grocery store, cattle farming etc.

Our Goal

Adopt-a-widow is an ongoing project. We will continue to visit the areas with high suicide rate and identify widows to donate money to them such that they can have a sustainable livelihood.

Our progress

We have been identifying widows every year and giving them hope by means of loans to start or expand their source if income. We have helped 65+ widows so far and will continue to work towards it. Here are details of some of the widows that received help from SIF.

We have been working with our partner RRDS to provide livelihood support to widows. We helped following widows in 2018.

Name and Address: Nalagatla Indra Sena , w/o Late Balasubramanyam Gradda Gunta, Kottur, Alluru Mandal SPSR Nellore.

Details: Milch cow was provided to her by SIF. The cost of the cow was Rs 40,000. This has helped her earn Rs 4000 per month and sustain livelihood.

Name and Address: Muppinaini Jaiyamma w/o Gangader Rao Konduru Satram, Manunolu mandal.

Details: Milch buffalo was costing Rs 40,000 provided to her through RRDS. This has helped her earn Rs 5000 per month and plans to purchase one more buffalo with her income.

Name and Address: Nadampati Gita w/o Late Sambaya, Balayapalli Post and Mandal, SPSR Nellore.

Details: SIF provided her Rs 40,000 for cut piece business through which she is able to earn Rs 5000 per month. She lived with her son Mahider – 8years, studying in 1st standard and daughter Jayavardhini -7years studying in L. K. G).

Raj Janagam is founder of UnLtd Hyderabad which is an incubator for Social Entrepreneurs and network of social change makers in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Raj worked with SIF closely to search and identify on the ground working NGOs to help widows. Raj and SIF finalized with REDS (Rural and Environment development society) to identify and help widows on the ground within Andhra Pradesh & Telangana region. Raj and REDS worked together to identify affected widows from Ananthpuram Dist. in Andhra Pradesh.

Anasuyamma_2-1024x768 Name and Address: Sridevi, Inaganooru, ODC Mandalam, Anantapur

Provided Support:1 buffalo

Cost – Rs. 40,000

Expected income – 54,000 per year

Sugunamma_4-1024x768 Name and Address: Ramula Naik Chandranayana Palli Tada, Talupula Mandalam, Ananthapuram

Provided Support: 6 goats

Cost – Rs. 30,000

Expected income – 30,000 per year

After year long effort, SAM (South Asian Moms) was able to raise funds to support 6 ladies.

Nirmala Kohchade, from: Jalka, Maregaon, Yavatmal, Maharashtra needs assistance to buy seeds for 2015 season
Maya Kanake, from: Nimni, Zari will be given goats
Savita Bhoyar, from: Yevati, Ralegaon would like to start flour mill business
Meena Madavi, from: Marathwakdi, Kelapur would like to start goat grazing business
Laxmi Ade, from: Aakpuri, Yavatmal wants to start noodle making business
Jyoti Dhole, from: Kotha village in Kalamb, Maharashtra would like to start noodle making small business.

Smt. Vandana Kisan Bontawar

Name	Smt. Vandana Kisan Bontawar
Age	30 Years
Address	At. Telang- Takli, Po. Umari, Tq. Kelapur, Distt. Yavatmal
Name of Deceased Farmer	Kisan Nanaji Bontawar
Farmland	5 Acre
Son/Daughter	3 daughters - Puja (Std- X) , Ashvini (Std-VII) , Rutu (Std-VII) 1 son - Gajanan (Std-VI)
Date of Suicide	10- May- 2008
Business	Goat Rearing
Progress	4 goats donated to her and now she has 10 goats

Smt. Sandhya Narendra Batak

Name	Smt. Sandhya Narendra Batak
Age	29 Years
Address	At. Khutapuri (Manikwada) , Tq. Ner, Distt. Yavatmal
Name of Deceased Farmer	Narendra Shivlal Batak
Farmland	6 Acre
Son/Daughter	2 sons - Kshitij & Ruturaj
Date of Suicide	25-Oct-2009
Business	General Store
Progress	Now her monthly income is Rs. 3500/-

Smt. Vijaya Sudhir Padhen

Name	Smt. Vijaya Sudhir Padhen
Age	34 Years
Address	At.Po. Mozar , Tq. Ner , Distt. Yavatmal
Name of Deceased Farmer	Sudhir Jagannath Padhen
Farmland	5 Acre
Son/Daughter	2 sons - Pratik (Std-VIII) & Bhushan (Std-V)
Date of Suicide	30-Dec-2006
Business	Cloth Store
Progress	Now her monthly income is Rs. 4500/-

Smt. Sunita Gunwant Jadhav

Name	Smt. Sunita Gunwant Jadhav
Age	38 Years
Address	At. Konghara , Po. Umri, Tq. Kelapur , Distt. Yavatmal
Name of Deceased Farmer	Gunwant Baliram Jadhav
Farmland	4 Acre
Son/Daughter	3 Daughters - Ajita (Std-XII), Tammana (Std-IX), Laxmi (Std-IV)
Date of Suicide	16-Feb-2014
Business	General Store
Progress	Now her monthly income from her small business is Rs. 4500/-

Smt. Sunanda Subhash Dhenge

Name	Smt. Sunanda Subhash Dhenge
Age	45 Years
Address	At. Po. Mangladevi, , Dist. Yavatmal
Name of Deceased Farmer	Subhsh Anandrao Dhenge
Farmland	3 Acre
Son/Daughter	2 sons - Amol (Std-XII), Rajesh (Std-X)
Date of Suicide	22-May-2011
Business	Floor Mill
Progress	Now her monthly income is Rs. 4000/-

Your donations at work – June 2013

Shrimati Geeta Shrawan Chincholkar (Age 37) from kopamandavi Taluka Kelapur District Yavatmal is the widow of deceased farmer Late Shravan Gangaram Chincholkar who hanged himself on 8th March 2007 due to debt & sterility. she has a daughter Laxmi (Age 6).Till date she hasn’t received any type of government aid. We provide a technical & financial assistance to start a goat farm. Now her monthly earning is Rs. 8000-10000/-

Shrimati Vandana Kisan Mohurle is from sonbardi. Taluka in Kelapur District of Yavatmal. Her husband Late Kisan Laxman Mohurle had committed suicide by consuming poison on 06th Nov.2011. she has a daughter Vrushali (Age 12) & a son Lokesh (Age 10). she has 2.5 Acre of land & did not received any type type of government aid. We provided her financial help to start a vegetable shop. Now her monthly income is around Rs.6000-8000/- and she is doing well now.

Shrimati Vandana Anil Shende (Age36) of Bhadumani Taluka in Kelapur District of Yavatmal region is a widow of deceased farmer Late Anil Kodaji Shende They have two sons Gaurav (Age 10) & Ashish( Age 6). Her husband committed suicide by consuming poison on 23rd Aug 2006 due to debt of money lenders & Bank. Now she has 3 acre of land and did not received any type of government aid. We provided financial & technical assistance for goat farming. Now she has increased her goats, built the shade for them and now her income from this business is monthly Rs.8,000/-to 10,000/-

Shrimati Laxmi Sanjay Ade Shrimati Laxmi Sanjay Ade(Age 38) from Akpuri Ta. Ghatanji Dist. Yavatmal is a widow of deceased farmer Late Sanjay Ukanda Ade having a son Kiram (Age 8) & a daughter Roshan (Age 6). Her husband has committed suicide by consuming poison due to debt of bank & money lenders. she has 3 Acre of Land but it is in the name of her father in law. Till date she didn’t received any type of Government aid.We Provided her noodle machine for the business a noodles (Shevai). Now her monthly earning in season of noodle business is Rs. 8000-9000 and she is doing well because of it.

November 2012 – Visit to Yeotmal (Maharashtra-India) to help the victim families

Articles on SIF’s visit to Yeotmal region in Vidharbha, Maharashtra to help the victims from farmer’s family.

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Article on SIF’s visit to Yeotmal region in Vidharbha, Maharashtra to help the victims from farmer’s family.

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January 2012 – Fundraiser

We planned our first fund raiser which was a grand success. The event titled ‘Rhythm ‘N Raaga Presents “Sargam 2012” a Live Concert’ was held at UALR Stella Boyle Auditorium, Fine Arts Building, 2801 S University Ave, Little Rock AR 72204 on Saturday, January 7, 2012 from 5:30 PM – 10:00 PM. Rhythm ‘N Raaga is a local musical group formed here in Little rock which specializes in South Asian music and we were very fortunate to tie up with them for this event. The minimum goal for the event was $2600 in order to help 4 families identified by Wainganga Sanstha.

The 4 families were that of Mangala Betawar, Nirmala Shende, Geeta Chincholkar and Vandana Shende that were identified to be genuine. We ended up raising close to $5000 due to the generous donations by the people of Little rock.