Microfinance in India

Elderly Indian Woman, Microfinance - West Bengal, India

An older woman helps to keep the seedlings free of weeds at a community nursery in Deep Colony village in West Bengal, India. © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Indian Woman with Red Tikka - West Bengal, India

The red tikka on the forehead and part indicates that this woman is married. She is one of the members of the self-help and microcredit group in Deep Colony village in northern West Bengal, India. © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Young Indian Woman - West Bengal, India

A young member of the Deep Colony village (outside Siliguri, India) women's self-help group helps in the group's nursery. Read: Microfinance Diaries: Seeing is Believing in West Bengal, India © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Rural Indian Women - West Bengal, India

Some women from the village of Deep Colony in northern West Bengal (India) look on as we learn about the nursery project with women involved in a self-help and micro-credit group. © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Indian Women Working in the Nursery - West Bengal, India

Women from Deep Colony village (outside Siliguri, India) work in the women's self-help group's nursery. They grow the seedlings for several months and then sell them to a larger nursery for profit. Thirteen women work together on this nursery project, earning about $350 profit for the group in the year and getting paid for their labor. Read: Microfinance Diaries: Seeing is Believing in West Bengal, India © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Weeding the Seedlings - West Bengal, India

Women from the village of Deep Colony work together to keep the seedlings at the nursery in good shape. When the plants are a little older, they sell the seedlings to a bigger nursery for a profit. This project was part of a women's self-help and micro-credit group. ..Taken several hours away from Siliguri in northern West Bengal. © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Beautiful Older Indian Woman, Microfinance - West Bengal, India

An older member of the community nursery project in Deep Colony village listens carefully as Audrey asks questions about their work and lives. © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Women Listening Carefully, Microfinance - West Bengal, India

Women leaders of Self-Help Groups in the village of Gairkata in West Bengal (India) listen intently as we ask questions about their projects and businesses started with microcredit loans. Read: Microfinance Diaries: Seeing is Believing in West Bengal, India © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Women's Meeting, Microfinance - West Bengal, India

These women were leaders of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in the village of Gairkata. The SHGs are around 10-20 women and meet monthly to discuss community issues and also disperse microloans. They were an inspirational group. © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Microfinance Meeting of Indian Woman - West Bengal, India

Taken in Gairkata, a village in the northern part of West Bengal, India. Read: Microfinance Diaries: Seeing is Believing in West Bengal, India © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Saontal Village Kids - West Bengal, India

The children of Gadatola, an ethnic Saontal village, in West Bengal, India gathered around us as we were leaving. The village has no electricity, so the only light was from the headlights of our cars. Look at these beautiful faces and smiles. We only wish that our visit was earlier in the day to get better shots of them. © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Young Indian Kids - West Bengal, India

We arrived in the village of Gadatola after dark. The village had no electricity so the only light came from the headlights of our vehicle and the flash of the camera. Gadatola is a village around 3 hours away from Siliguri (India). The village is inhabited by Saontals, an ethnic group originating in Jharkhand but were transplanted by the British during colonial times to work the tea estates. The children in this village had amazing - and infectious - eyes, smiles and energy. We just wish we could have spent more time with them. © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Indian Women at Microfinance Group - West Bengal, India

This woman was one of the leaders of women's self-help groups in Gairkata. They met with us to explain the groups' activities and how they have used micro-credit loans to set up small businesses. This woman has set up a small snack and telephone shop that provides enough money to send her son to school and more. It's hard to believe that a few years prior she wasn't allowed to handle money in the family and barely left the house. Now she's running for local office. Read: Microfinance Diaries: Seeing is Believing in West Bengal, India © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Woman at her Small Business - West Bengal, India

One of the leaders of a self-help group in the village of Gairkata shows us her snack and telephone shop. She built and set up the shops with around $350 in loans. With the income she earns, she's been able to send her son to school and contribute to the family. Now she's planning to send her son for higher education - he wants to be a doctor. Read: Microfinance Diaries: Seeing is Believing in West Bengal, India © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Indian Woman Picking Tea - West Bengal, India

Women pick tea leaves at a tea estate outside of Siliguri, India. Pickers earn $1.25 per day for 10 kilos of fresh tea leaves. It's not easy work. © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Homeopathic Pharmacy, Microfinance - West Bengal, India

This woman was a recipient of two microloans over the last few years to create and then expand her homeopathic pharmacy. Taken in Gairkata, West Bengal (India). Read: Microfinance Diaries: Seeing is Believing in West Bengal, India © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Woman Working in Tea Estates - West Bengal, India

An experienced tea picker takes a break. They earn $1.25 per day for picking 10 kilos of fresh tea leaves. Most of the workers are uneducated and don't have other options for employment in the area. © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Audrey and Women in Microfinance Group - West Bengal, India

The treasurers of several women's self-help groups in the village of Gairkata (outside Siliguri, India) show Audrey their accounting and roll-call books. Each group has a meeting once a month; members have to pay a meeting fee of 20-25 Rs ($0.50) that gets put into an emergency fund (to bail out or help a member in need). The books also keep track of all the loans dispersed in the group and repayment. Some of these women learned to read and count through the self-help groups and training provided with them. © www.uncorneredmarket.com