Vidya More
Dharashiv (Osmanabad), Maharashtra
Vidya was married to Sahadev at a young age and had two children - Ganesh and Vaishnavi. To make ends meet, Sahadev juggled two demanding roles as a farmer and a jeep driver. However, it was difficult for him to make enough for his family and the pressures of responsibilities led him to fall prey to alcohol. He eventually had to quit his job as a driver, leaving the family to rely on his meagre earnings from farming. Financial difficulties led to him accumulating a substantial debt, pushing the family to borrow money for basic necessities. In a moment of despair, Sahadev decided to end his life thinking that this would bring an end to all his problems. He set himself on fire and moved towards his family to grab them. Vidya, shocked and scared, ran out of the house with her children and escaped. Sahadev, succumbing to his burns, left Vidya alone to cope with the loan and care for her children.
Initially devastated, Vidya faced the daunting challenge of survival and repaying the debt. “He chose death. I didn’t want my kids to face the same fate,” Vidya said on the heartbreaking circumstances. She learnt to farm the land which her husband had left behind after his death. She also took on tailoring jobs to support the family and, by working overtime, she was finally able to repay the entire loan. Then she set out on a mission to build a proper home for her children.
Due to challenging financial circumstances and the loss of their previous home in the devastating fire, Vidya and her children had relocated to a kutcha house constructed from tin sheets. When Habitat for Humanity India initiated its efforts to build houses in Sarola village for widows of farmers in 2017, Vidya was selected as one of the homeowners.
“My children had to keep going to neighbour’s house to study because of the lack of electricity. But they couldn’t sit there for long and had to keep cutting their study time short. When we were finally able to build this home, my daughter was in Class 10 and Ganesh was in Class 12. The children were extremely happy when we moved into our new home and were even more delighted to learn that they now have electricity in the new home,” she adds.
Vidya eventually became a member of the Self-Help Group (SHG) in her village. After the COVID-19 pandemic, Habitat India helped Vidya and members of her SHG set up a dal mill enabling them to improve their standard of living. “We came together and started running the mill. Today, we make good profit and have even been able to purchase an atta mill to expand the enterprise,” she says. “Now, I am thinking about fixing my son’s marriage. We have come a long way. Everything started with a home. It has given us a new lease on life.”
