HUSK OF HAPPINESS
YASMEEN AREEMBRA 35, MD, THENNALA AGRO-PRODUCERS COMPANY, KERALA
She had joined the neighbourhood society of Kudumbashree, a women’s empowerment and poverty eradication programme in Kerala, in 2006 for a soft loan. Little did Yasmeen Areembra know it would change her life forever. Initially, all she did was listen to other people speak and attend training programmes run by the Kudumbashree Mission. In 2011, she was elected chairperson of the Community Development Society in Thennala. The Muslim-dominated Kerala village was considered the worst performing in Malappuram district among Kudumbashree constituents. When Yasmeen heard about the experiences of women micro-entrepreneurs, she decided to get the women of her village to give it a try.
Most people in Thennala grew paddy. In step with the larger Indian reality, the poor worked on the farms while the rich owned the land. Over the years, labour-intensive paddy became lossmaking, leading most to abandon cultivation. Yasmeen decided to organise the women in her village and get them to cultivate paddy on leased and fallow land.
“Most of these women had worked in paddy plantations earlier,” says Yasmeen. “We formed 126 groups, pooled small amounts and took loans.”
The women cultivated vegetables and paddy on 1,300 acres of land. But the party ended soon because of poor marketing facilities. Yasmeen then set up the Thennala Agro Producers Company in 2015, which has 374 shareholders and her as its managing director. “I was forced to float the company when we could not sell paddy at a remunerative price. Now, we get a good price as we convert paddy into rice and brand it as Thennala organic rice,” she says. The rice is sold in packets of 3, 5, 10 and 20 kilograms.
But Yasmeen wasn’t done yet. A Kudumbashree survey showed that some 236 children in the village were differently abled. Yasmeen wanted to open a special school for them for which she floated a charitable trust, YAS. Today, 36 children from poor families study in the Blooms Special School she runs in Kodakallu. Yasmeen’s taken a personal loan to run the school. She remains single, but considers herself the mother of these 36 children. She herself has enrolled for a BA in sociology to better serve people.
“Yasmeen has inspired poor women to engage in agro-based micro enterprises, changing their lives. Her commitment to support differently-abled children has lessened the hardships of mothers confined to their homes. She is a role model for our society” Hemalatha, District Mission Coordinator, Kudumbashree, Malappuram