A DAY IN THE LIFE

Lily Mary’s father died when she was five years old. Her education was short-lived, to be replaced by hard work on a small farm.

As a married woman, life continued to be a struggle no matter how hard she worked. Lily Mary and her husband borrowed from moneylenders to invest in a better piece of land. However, with interest rates at 100-150%, life became even more difficult. Then, she joined one of Hand in Hand’s self-help groups and learnt about business and micro-loans. The self-help group also taught Lily Mary and her husband new farming techniques, which enabled them to triple their crop yield, enabling them to produce a surplus to sell in the market. Smiling broadly, Lilly Mary says, “The fact that I am the only possible loan-taker and not my husband means that I have climbed the social ladder and it is through me that our family’s income has increased and that our children’s future has changed dramatically.”