My husband would never provide for our family of five. All the money he made would go straight into his alcohol addiction, so I had to earn instead. I would climb a steep hill every day to collect firewood and sell it at a market throughout the day. At this time, I discovered my passion for cooking; I would make snacks to sell at the city market along with the firewood and by the end of the day, they would have been sold out!
My husband’s word was the law one day, he decided that he wanted to stop our girls’ education and have them help out at home to pay for their brothers’ school books. It was heartbreaking because none of us could fight him on it.

He passed away from alcohol poisoning soon after us to fend for ourselves. My daughters had little education, and I could already see my sons starting to get distracted with their jobs.
Thankfully, we heard of Aarti Home visiting our village to conduct a tailoring training program. The trainers were very kind to us and ensured that anybody who applied would get three months of free training in tailoring and sewing.

When Sandhyamma heard of our predicament (and tasted my snacks), she even offered for me to become Aarti Home’s head cook! And here I am!

My favorite part of being the cook is that I get to indulge the young girls in whatever kinds of food they love! I can’t imagine not working this job! My girls have also found jobs as tailors and are now making a lot of money. We are all so grateful to Sandhyamma for all her effort and love.