KAMALA
(PDS Farmer)
“I now have a regular income from selling eggs and some chickens. This opportunity has really changed our lives. I’m managing to buy medicines for my sick child. Thank you!”
Kamala is 36 and has three children, one of whom has a brain tumour. Her husband is a daily-wage labourer and prior to her poultry enterprise with Shivia their household income was very low.
Kamala registered for PDS in 2012 and received her first poultry toolkit of 10 one-day old chicks from her Shivia Livelihood Service Provider, Prenundu Biswas, a few weeks later. Prenundu trained Kamala and her family how to build a coop and raise healthy chickens. He also helped her with some financial advice and how to market her produce.
Hens start laying eggs when they are about six months old and Kamala was very proud when one of the hens from her toolkit laid the very first egg. She presented that beautiful, fresh egg to Chandrani Banerjee, Shivia’s Head of Livelihood Programme, insisting that she take it back home to Kolkata on the crowded train and give it to her daughter for breakfast. Chandrani obliged and the egg (poached for breakfast the next day) was delicious!
