Sabitri Devi Chaudhari, a resident of Dubahi V.D.C. Watrd No. 6 of Sunsari district belonged to a very low income family. She had 18 Kattha of land as the source of livelihoods for the family. But unfortunately she had to sell out all the land for her treatment of gastrointestinal ailment. Thus Sabitri's family became landless and had to face miserable condition for survival. She had to face a real hardship to earn two ends meal and other basic needs for the family. After getting well from gastrointestinal illness, Sabitri and her husband were desperately looking for alternative source of income for livelihoods.

When MEDEP Sunsari staff were carrying out household survey to identify the potential micro-entrepreneurs, Sabitri new about it and without any delay she contracted the MEDEP field staff and shown her interest to do something entrepreneurial for income. With this, MEDEP Sunsari identified her as a potential entrepreneur and put her in the 7 days entrepreneurship development training organized by MEDEP in Sunsari on August, 2002. After the entrepreneurship development training, she has selected Jute Jhalla (jute carpet) making as the enterprise of her choice. She immediately started Jhalla enterprise and got some income by selling out her product in the local market. Gradually the demand for her product went up encouraging her to produce more Jhallas. Thus she started taking Jute Jhalla enterprise as the only alternative source of income for managing her family's daily requirements. Now she produce 8 to 10 Jute Jhalla a month and sells at local market at Rs. 350 per piece. According to her she earns a net income of about Rs. 2000 a month from selling her product. But Sabitri is not satisfied with present level of her Jhalla Business. According to her there is good demand and she has not been able to meet the market demand. So she is exploring the ways to increase the efficiency of Jhalla production by introducing the appropriate technology. She is frequently consulting FACEBUD and MEDEP to explore appropriate technology for Jute Jhalla weaving so that she can enhance production efficiency and ultimately increase the income on long term basis. MEDEP's Marketing and Appropriate Technology Support Officer is also working to find appropriate technology for weaving jute Jhalla on Sabitri's request.

After starting a Jhalla enterprise, in support and facilitation of MEDEP, Sabitri had opportunities to participate in different exposure visits, exhibitions, meeting and workshops. According to her such activities have been greatly instrumental to develop her overall capacitySabitra Chaudhari is not only a successful woman entrepreneur but currently she is also providing her services as Jhalla Trainer to 9 other VDCs in the district on behalf of the District Cottage and Small Industries. "I feel most empowered due to being a recognized trainer by the government despite being a poor Tharu women", Sabitri proudly said. "By being a trainer, I not only trained other men and women in Jhalla weaving but I also learned a lot, sharpen my knowledge and skills and developed my confidence greatly to speak with the people of different levels. "Not only that, working as a trainer, I could also make some extra income to support my family", Sabitri disclosed. Now Sabitri is actively performing many different roles. She is a an executive member of District Micro-enterprise Group Association, member of National Micro-enterprise Group Association and a active social worker in her community. Despite running her business, Sabitri is actively engaged in raising awareness on micro-enterprise development, health and sanitation in her locality.

Thus Sabitri Devi Chaudhari has been a good example to justify MEDEP's support to improve the livelihoods of hardcore poor rural family through the development and promotion of micro-enterprises. There are thousands of poor women like Sabitri Devi who are left behind by the development efforts. From her case we should learn that a small and meaningful support can bring a significant changes in the life of the poor rural families.