Mr.Poonuswamy and Mrs.Neelamma were residents of Galipooje in the border of Tarikere and Chikmagalur. They are blessed with 4 children and among them Mrs. Anjali was the second child. Her parents were very poor and due to poverty Anjali was married at the age of 19 to Mr. Narayana. She has two children a boy and a girl. At the age of 25 her husband abandoned her and the children and got into a second marriage at Tamilnadu. This was a critical moment in her life with two children of age 4 and 3 and no shelter on her head. She sheltered herself in the neighbors house for a couple of months and then rented a thatched hut for Rs.50/-.
The animators came to know about the plight of Anjali through the women of the neighboring village. They encouraged her to join the self help groups of CMSSS. She joined the SHG in the year 2010 but she could not afford to pay her weekly savings of Rs.10/-. The women in the SHG helped her to get employment in the coffee estate. She worked for 20 days in a month @Rs.100/- per day. She participated in the weekly meetings and cluster federation meetings regularly. In the year 2015-16 through the project on Good Governance she attended trainings on self help group concepts, documentation, formation of ward development committees, leadership and awareness on governmental schemes, ward sabha, grama sabha and social audit, civic fora etc. These training helped her to gain confidence and knowledge and understanding of various government schemes and entitlements.
Soon she applied for Government site (Kale Neeveshana) from the Thogarihankal grama panchayath. She started participating in ward sabha and grama sabha meetings. She borrowed a loan of Rs.20, 000/- from the SHG and built a small hut for her stay. In the year 2017 she applied for Ashraya Housing scheme and an amount of Rs.1, 20,000/- is sanctioned from the Thogarihankal Grama Panchayath. The SHG women sanctioned a loan of Rs.35, 000/- for the construction of house. The work of the house is in progress. Besides all her sorrows and pains she has educated her two children. Her son has completed ITI and her daughter is in class XI. She lives happily with her children and is satisfied with her work. She says that she remains grateful to all the women in her village who stood by her during her difficult times and the support of CMSSS and its team.