They now have to turn work down, because they have their hands full managing the 20 rabbits, 9 pigs, 25 goats and 35 hens they own. The District hired them as trainers and sends them around the area to train other tribes on rabbit rearing. People from surrounding villages bring their animals to them to be vaccinated. “Now” – they say – “we have enough savings to send our kids to school and there is even some money left for ourselves”. When the District Collector came to ask if they needed further support, they kindly declined: they are now completely self-sufficient and are looking to expand their business into rabbit skin processing.
In these pictures, they recall anecdotes from their first trips outside the village as shy, inexperienced and slightly scared tribal women. Rohuni, Thakurmani and Shakuntala are now established and popular animal farmers with a flourishing business, who asked the Welthungerhilfe team and our local partner Development Research Communication & Services Centre (DRCSC) to get “another training on how to train others: in this way we can get better at teaching other tribes’ members how to become as successful as we are now”.
The Vocational Education and Training project was co-funded by the European Union and trained more than 4,000 rural youth on sustainable agriculture, animal husbandry, fishery and palm juice making in West Bengal, Orissa and Jharkhand.
