West Bengal: Tea Plantations and Microfinance

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

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

Playing After School - Siliguri, India

A group of girls play around in a courtyard after school gets out in Siliguri - West Bengal, India.

Listening Intently - Deep Colony, India

A participant of the microfinance program we visited in the village of Deep Colony in West Bengal, India.

Taking the Bus to a Rally -

A full bus heading to Siliguri for a rally. This northern part of West Bengal - Gorkhaland - wanted to become its own independent state of India.

Bicycling in Rural West Bengal, India

Taken near Gairkata village in rural West Bengal, India.

Indian Women, Microfinance - West Bengal, India

The red tikka on these women's foreheads indicate that they are married. We met these women - part of a micro-credit and self-help group -in the village Deep Colony several hours outside of Siliguri in northern West Bengal, India. They shared with us the projects they've been doing in the village, as well as stories of children who were taken away by agents to work in other cities. Read: Microfinance Diaries: Seeing is Believing in West Bengal, India © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Friendly at the Border - Jaigaon, India

Meeting a group of gregarious kids at the border between India and Bhutan. As was explained to us, it's likely that their parents are day laborers in Bhutan so they are hanging out at the border waiting for them to return.

Friendly Truck Driver in West Bengal, India

Waiting for at a train crossing in West Bengal, India.

Indian Woman in a Sari - West Bengal, India

One of the leaders of a women's self-help group came to meet us in the village of Gairkata (outside Siliguri, India). This woman was just one of many confident, proud and entrepreneurial women in the village - the support of the groups and the micro-credit loans have made a real difference in the lives of these women. © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Tea Leaf Picking - West Bengal, India

Tea pickers at work at a tea plantation in West Bengal, India.

Audrey Learning about Microfinance in Rural West Bengal, India

Leaders of different microfinance groups share their accounting and record books with Audrey at a meeting in Gairkata in rural West Bengal, India.

At the Tea Plantation - West Bengal, India

A group of pickers move from one section of the tea plantation to another. Taken in West Bengal, India.

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

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

Indian Woman Working Land - West Bengal, India

One of the older members of the women's self-help group in Deep Colony village (outside Siliguri, India) helps with the new seedlings. Thirteen women work together to maintain this nursery project. Read: Microfinance Diaries: Seeing is Believing in West Bengal, India © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Working in a Tea Plantation - West Bengal, India

Breakfast in West Bengal, India

Bhatura and potato curry for breakfast at a national park outside of Siliguri, West Bengal in India.

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

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

Caring for the Tea Plants - West Bengal, India

A couple of girls help out in the tea plantations of West Bengal, India.

Audrey Shows Tea Pickers Their Image - West Bengal, India

One of the most fun bits of travel photography is showing someone his/her image in the LCD. taken at a tea plantation outside of West Bengal, India.

Tea Leaf Picking - West Bengal, India

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

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