Phoolbasan Bai Yadav- India – The Story of a Child Bride who has been Empowering Women

The Story of a Child Bride who has been Empowering Women

Phoolbasan Bai Yadav was born into a very poor family and herself had been a child bride, when her family married her off at age 10.

She began taking part in the activities of the self-help groups in the district and formed her own groups as well with the women in the districts. Using the groups as a way to collect only 2 rupees per person and establish ration shops she was able to distribute food to people that were very poor.

The organization has since grown to cover 12000 women self help groups with a reported total strength of over 200,000 members.

By collecting 2 rupees per person, the organization has accumulated 150 million rupees, equivalent to US$ 3 million.

The participating groups engage in activities such as health programs, education, sanitation and social reforms.

They have also set up livelihood earning programs such as sewing centres for women and campaign against child marriages.

She was able to achieve this by collecting only 2 rupees, showing that even a small gesture can make a big difference if we all join together.