Assamese woman empowers many women

Sometimes, troubles make people stronger to reach their goal. It is true in the case of this Assamese woman.

She worked as a cook, cleaner, gardener, babysitter, nurse, driver and entrepreneur to empower many people.

Mandira Baruah was married at the age of 16 years. Later, she came to know that her husband was suffering from a heart ailment.

In the initial years of her marriage, her husband’s condition was manageable. He was working as an Executive Engineer in the Department of Water Resources of the Government of Assam.

But, slowly, his health condition became worse. By their 10th wedding anniversary, her husband was advised bed rest by the doctors.

She had to take care of him and their son. Their house had to be sold due to non-clearance of the mortgage. They shifted to a small rented home.

She had to spend a lot of money on her husband’s medication and medical tests. As her family needed her support, she could not take a full-time job.

She chose many works for livelihood including caregiver, driver, cook, cleaner etc.

She started several home businesses like flower arrangements, baking etc. She also learnt driving and bought an SUV with a loan.

She signed up as a cab driver. She had different experiences as a cab driver which improved her confidence to handle any situation.

She requested the District Collector to allot a piece of land to build a small home. And due to her constant efforts, her request was approved by the authorities.

She built a small cottage single-handedly. After the death of her husband, she registered an NGO, Satsaree to empower women with skills and resources.

The NGO trains around 30 girls each year. More than 5,000 women got employment through direct or indirect help of this NGO.

Mandira also wants to showcase her culture internationally. Satsaree organised a performance of 700 female Bihu dancers and 150 male Bihu dancers in 2019. This event will be recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records 2020.

Image Reference: Thebetterindia