Project Ujyalo Bhabisya - Case Study - Dev Kumari Uranw
Case Studies
Dev Kumari Uranw lives at West Kushaha-7, Bhola tole, Sunsari. She is married and almost 20 years old. Her husband's name is Raghu Lal Uranw. He is a carpenter. They own some land and a small house. They live together with her mother-in-law who is unable to work due to her age and illness.
Dev Kumari was seventeen years old when she married. Before her marriage she was studying in class ten but her study stopped after she got married. Life was difficult based on her husband's income alone. They often relied on others to maintain their living.
UCHEP/DN commenced its Ujyalo Bhabisya (UB) programme in Dev Kumari's community last year (2006). Dev Kumari was selected as a facilitator for parental orientation classes in her community. UB trained her and recruited her to conduct the classes which lasted six months from July, 2006. The programme paid her a salary and she taught (oriented) adult women in the topics of child care, health, sanitation, importance of education and adult literacy.
From that short programme, the adult participants were subsequently able to read and write at a basic level and are conscious the importance of education. They now regularly send their children to school and are seeking opportunities for their children to attend supplementary classes for their children from the UB programme in their village.
Additionally, from the savings from her salary, Dev Kumari started a small grocery shop in her community last month. Her shop is small but stocks a wide range of items. She buys goods for her shop from Laukahi, the nearest bazaar. From her modest income, she and her husband are now maintaining their living more easily than before.
She says: "It was very difficult to maintain our living from only my husband's earning but we can fulfill our livelihood easily now because we both earn from both sides."
Dev Kumari also continues to spend time in the community and enjoys community work. Sometimes she leads a cleaning campaign in her community. She comments: "I learned it all during the facilitators' training which the UB programme conducted and I also got encouragement from UCHEP staff."