This woman, a leader of a Self-Help Group in the village of Gairkata in West Bengal (India), started a small homeopathic pharmacy in her village thanks to a microloan a few years ago. She's since been able to expand it to offer a treatment room. © www.uncorneredmarket.com
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
Mothers and their children gather around to talk with us in the village of Deep Colony several hours outside of Siliguri in northern West Bengal, India. We were there to learn about the activities of the women's self-help and micro-credit group in the village. © www.uncorneredmarket.com