Despite facing hardship, Tribal woman sets example for many

Sundergarh: Someone has rightly said, 'Where there is a will, there is a way,' and Mejharen Lakra, a tribal woman of Gitpahadi village under Balisankara block of Sundergarh district is proving it to be true. Despite facing hardship she has become a successful farmer and a trader.

However, the struggle to achieve the feat was not a cakewalk for Mejharen. Just four years after her marriage, she lost her husband in a lightning mishap and was left alone with her two kids, a 3-year-old daughter and a 1-year-old son.

A heartbroken Mejharen was devastated as she did not know what to do next to eke out a living to take care of her children. But she refused to give up and started poultry farming.

Later, after earning some money from poultry farming, Mejharen started goat rearing which doubled her income. She also cultivated vegetables in her farmland and sold it in the market with the help of which she was able to raise and educate her children.

“I initially sold chickens and then bought goats with the profit earned. Later, I reared goats, sold them and made some more money from it. I also produced vegetables in the field,” Mejharen said.

She has not only become an idol for other women but also for her kids who feel proud to have a mother like her.

“Though my father is not with me, my mother is my entire world and she has fulfilled all our wishes,” says daughter of Mejharen, Sunita Lakra.