Candle of Jinga
Anju Devi, a resident of Jinga village, Hazaribag, always dreamt of her children becoming doctor and engineer, her husband taking her to different tourists sites and so on. She had sometime learnt to make candles. Her husband owned a small studio to run the family. The family was any how running but Anju Devi was not satisfied. She wanted a better life for her children and for herself. Her husband's income was not sufficient and her own business was not organized enough. To fulfill her dream she became an SHG member of the village and in the year 2000 she took a loan of 3,000 rupees from Micro Credit Program of NBJK. With that amount she started making candles on large scale and took another loan of 5,000 rupees next year and then 8,000 rupees the next year. Every time she returned the principal amount with the service charges on time. Now she is earning around 3,000 rupees per month from this business. She now wants Rs. 50,000/- to expand her business. Her children are studying in best school of the area and there is no financial problem in the family to make them study even further. Her husband's business is also expanding as he takes risks on the basis of his wife's income.
Overall the micro credit program has changed the life of the family and Anju Devi has improved her economic and social status a lot. She can realistically think of fulfilling her dreams. Now more and more women of Jinga village are joining the SHGs for setting up their own business and improving their family's quality of life.

Pandu-Check Dam
Pandu is a tribal village around 24 kilometers from Murhu in Jharkhand. It is surrounded by lush hills and the surrounding forest is dotted with colourful trees. However, the beauty of the surroundings was a paradox to the condition of the village till very recently. The villagers are agriculturists and all of them fall below the poverty line. There was water scarcity in the village. The villagers were primarily dependent on rain, which is extremely erratic. Some villagers have wells, but they too dry up in summer. Gram Sabha sits regularly in the village but they were unable to solve the water problem. They tried to discuss this problem with the Block officials but nothing happened. Then they met the NBJK staffs, who promised them to provide necessary help. After two-three visits, the NBJK staffs came to a conclusion that a check dam could be built near the village. There is a small water channel, which out-skirts the village and meets Banai River.
The villagers were quite skeptic of the feasibility of the dam. However, when they were explained about its multifarious use, they agreed to contribute labour to build it. NBJK gave financial and technical support besides monitoring the whole work. It took almost three months, from April to June 2003, to complete the dam. The dam's water level is 8 feet and is fitted with regulators to direct the water flow according to the requirement. Now the villagers are very happy as their basic problem is solved. Every villager has started some or the other work related to the dam. Some are doing fish farming in the dam, some are planting fruit orchard, while some are thinking of planting cash crops on the lands that were lying barren due to lack of water. Though their standard of living has not improved much at the moment, but this dam has definitely enlarged their vision in a positive direction.

Jhalia's Husband
Jhalia Devi, resident of Rola village, Hazaribag, is a Housewife married to a daily wage labourer, Kisun Sao. Her husband used to beat her everyday in inebriated state since last 20 years. Every night she used to think of complaining about his behavior to his parents but the next morning he used to behave normally and even start apologizing for his inhuman activities. To keep up her family prestige she used to abstain from sharing her problem to anyone. In February 2003 Shanti Mahila Mandal was formed in that village. Jhalia joined that group and gradually became aware of the rights of women. Still she did not reveal her story to any one. Since her husband used to beat her at night, break utensils and abuse her, in the morning he was a normal person again, apologizing for his activities, bringing new utensils for her and showering lots of love on her. This behaviour of her husband used to create tension at night and diffuse it in the morning. But on 22nd June he crossed his limit and pushed her into a well. Somehow the villagers saved her.
The next day Shanti Mahila Mandal called her husband and they did an enquiry. They instantly recognized that the abnormal behaviour of Kisun Sao was due to alcohol. Though they informed the Police but they knew Police would not be of much help in this case. So they thought to go by their own way. They asked him to stop drinking. When Kisun Sao did not agree they tied him to a pole and left him hungry for the full day. At the end of the day Kisun Sao agreed not to drink. Now Kisun Sao's behaviour has changed. Every morning he goes to the town for work and comes back with money, enough to make Jhalia happy and proud of her husband.

Charku's Disability
Charku Ram, a young extremely talented lad of 16 had a dream, a dream to go to school, play with his friends and pursue his hobbies. Resident of Oriya village of Sadar block of Hazaribag district, his family includes his father, mother, sister, two brothers, and grandmother. At the age of 5 he got affected by poliovirus, which made both of his legs thin and powerless. His parents got him treated at as many places as they could afford but for no use. Anyhow Charku grew up and his parents sent him to school but he could only complete 5th standard. th Now Charku is studying in 6 standard and every evening he goes out on a wheel chair to play with his friends. He has started pursuing his hobbies as well. All these have become possible due to the Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) program for disabled. One of the CBR workers of NBJK identified Charku and assessed his needs to be met through educational rehabilitation program. But this process was not without any hurdles; Charku's mobility, attitude of schoolteachers and Charku's parents and unfriendly environment were some of the impediments faced by the CBR worker. The CBR worker first arranged a disability certificate for Charku to receive a tricycle from the District Disability Rehabilitation Center, counseled the schoolteachers and they encouraged Charku's parents. Now after a yearlong break, Charku is again a student of 6 standard of Oriya Primary School and is getting a scholarship for studying further. He is extremely happy for now he can play with his friends and pursue his hobbies of singing and playing music (Dholak). His creativity is budding even further, for now he has started taking interest in painting as well.

Manva Devi a Witch
Manva Devi is a witchwhoever falls ill in this village is because of her all tragedies are linked to her..its all testedwe have seen itshe goes to the jungle for that very purpose this was the general statement of many residents of Jhonia village. Manva Devi is an old lady, around 60. She lives in Jhonia village, Hazaribag, with her husband. She owns land and has relatives who have an eye on that. It all started few years back due to land dispute with her relatives. They thought to ostracize her in the village by branding as a Dayan so that she would leave her land and migrate to another village. They were successful in creating a public opinion in the village. The villagers being superstitious agreed with them and did not talk to her or allowed their children to do so. PACs program running in this area by NBJK, has recently formed an SHG in that village. SHG members did not want to interfere in this matter. It took some time for the project staff to convince the SG members to help Manva Devi. Once convinced, these SHG members tried to convince the male members of the village. Meanwhile, NBJK's Family Counseling Center staff also conducted Jan Adalat in the village and said that treating anyone as a Dayan is a punishable crime. Owing to all these developments, gradually the public opinion is turning in the favour of Manva Devi. Now her life is getting back to normal.

Fishes of Bakaspura (also published in the Hindi daily (Prabhat Khabar) newspaper and telecast on E-Tv)
Talk to any fish vendor in Hazaribag about the source of the fish and he will tell you Andhra Pradesh. Many would not be able to tell where Andhra Pradesh is but they know that the fish comes from there. Hazaribag has plenty of natural water resources. It also receives abundant rainfall and it imports fish from Andhra Pradesh that too over 1000 miles away! Sounds pretty ironic.

Off late few villages have started showing the way to systematic fish farming and one of them is Bakaspura in Vishnugarh Block of Hazaribag district. It is quite a big village and houses over 14,000 people. Till recently most of them were agriculturist by profession. However, they had a subsidiary source of income from selling fish of the village pond. Some years back with the help of Credit Plus program run by NBJK they thought to regularize and systematize fish farming in the village. NBJK supported them financially and they in turn contributed their labour in building farm ponds. They also took lease of the village Talaab from the government and started commercial fishing in it. Initially their income was minimal but gradually their interest and business started growing. They have even set up a fish hatchery in the village. The villagers are happy not only because of the increase in their standard of living but also because now the youths who earlier used to migrate or get into unlawful activities have started taking interest in this business.

Fishes of Bakaspura (also published in the Hindi daily (Prabhat Khabar) newspaper and telecast on E-Tv)
Talk to any fish vendor in Hazaribag about the source of the fish and he will tell you Andhra Pradesh. Many would not be able to tell where Andhra Pradesh is but they know that the fish comes from there. Hazaribag has plenty of natural water resources. It also receives abundant rainfall and it imports fish from Andhra Pradesh that too over 1000 miles away! Sounds pretty ironic.

Here has been a remarkable increase in awareness level of the women along with their family members regarding reproductive child health. The project has also infused a sense of responsibility among the government health workers.

Self Help-is the best help - (also published in the Telegraph)
Self Help is the best help; SHG women members of Chitwag village in Ranchi used this proverb as a mantra in their village. After repeated requests did not turn the deaf ears of the Block officials, the women of the village took the daring venture of making a bridge over the Chidwag River. They did not even wait for the male members to take the initiative.

The absence of this bridge had made the route extremely long and circuitious. Right from the planning to designing and to executing, every exercise was taken up theses women in a systematic manner. The total budget was roughly 10,000 rupees, most of which was generated by the women themselves with the help of NBJK. Women of the village also brought stone and other necessary equipments for the construction of the bridge. It was only after the bridge got completed that the BDO and MLA of that area contributed 500 and 1000 rupees respectively. NBJK helped theses women by providing minimum assistance and occasional guidance.

Now the bridge not only helps theses villagers to take a shorter route but also saves time and energy of several other villagers who take this route.

Alcoholic Husband
Sushila Devi's husband, Mahadev used to beat her everyday. He was an alcoholic. They lived in a village called Chutiaro in Sadar Block of Hazaribag district. After finding it difficult to stay with her husband Sushila went back to her father's place.

Her father visited NBJK and met the Family Counseling Center (FCC) staff. The parents of Mahadev were called and both parties agreed to sit for a solution. Mahadev was scolded and warned with dire consequences. His parents also told him how much they disliked the way he used to drink. Mahadev started crying in repent. Even he wanted to stop drinking but was unable to do so. NBJK staff showed him to a doctor who advised him how he can leave alcohol. Now Mahadev drinks but only on certain occasion.

Ajay's Wish
Few years back Ajay, a resident of Oriya village, Hazaribag, used to consider himself to be a liability to his family. He used to remain aloof, not interacting with anyone. The only time he used to get out of his house was in the morning when he used to drop his younger brother to school. He also used to go to school when he was a kid but could not do so for long as he was deaf and dumb. After that, he became recluse constructing a world around him with no place for anyone except his younger brother. His younger brother used to go to school but the family income was not enough to support him for higher studies. Ajay knew it and he had only one wish to support his brother in higher studies.
In January 2004, staffs of Community Based Rehabilitation project running at NBJK identified him. After few more meetings with him they found that he was capable of running a cycle repairing shop in the village. Initially he was kept as a trainee in another cycle repairing shop. After 3 months of training, he was provided all the equipments necessary for running the shop. He and his brother constructed the shop with tin sheds and wood.

Now Ajay is running the shop with an average income of 30 rupees per day, about 900 rupees per month. His father does not take money from him for running the house. He spends some on himself and his brother, but saves most of it for his younger brother's higher studies.

Basanti Dayan
Basanti Devi is a resident of Sultani village in sadar block of Hazaribag district, about 20 kms from the town. She is a middle-aged lady married to a rickshaw puller and has three children. Though her family was leading a destitute life, her husband somehow managed their daily grub. However, one day their whole life changed. According to her husband Basanti got a psychological set-back from an incident that made her mentally ill.

In May 2003 the villagers were organizing Akhand Kirtan (a kind of Worship) in the village. Basanti being a religious lady and respected in the village for her devotion and kind nature, made a list of plans for the Akhand Kirtan. However, when she went to the temple for this purpose she was abused and scolded by some of the villagers who did not like the respect she used to draw. They even beat her up and threw her outside the temple in front of all the villagers. Basanti could not bear this insult and started behaving abnormally. To disgrace her even further, those villagers started popularizing her as a Dayan. Her husband being illiterate showed her to Ojhas(traditional fake Doctors) and tried other supernatural treatments, which backfired, and her abnormal behaviour increased. The villagers mostly being illiterate started believing that she was a Dayan.

In 2004, the CBR team identified Basanti and immediately started her treatment. She was referred to RINPAS and her treatment continued for almost three months after which she was treated by NBJK staffs at her residence. Now she is returning back to normalcy. According to the latest reports she does all her household chores, meets people normally, takes care of her children however, her eyes still reveal the pain she had gone through.