“What has changed in your life since joining the Self-Help Group?”
It was a question I asked hundreds of times during interviews across Hyderabad’s Old City. As the lead for impact evaluation at Kriti Social Initiatives, I was tasked with measuring outcomes and understanding how Self-Help Groups (SHGs)—where women save, borrow, and grow together—shaped women’s lives.
Sometimes the answer was financial: higher income, greater savings, or access to credit. But the most profound changes appeared in the way women spoke about themselves.
Through these conversations, I came to understand that SHGs are about far more than financial inclusion. They are about women redefining what they believe is possible for themselves.
The stories that follow represent just three of the many journeys I encountered in Hyderabad’s Old City. To protect their privacy, all names and identifying details have been withheld.
Resparking Educational Aspirations
One woman married at sixteen and left school while studying in the ninth grade. Within a year, she became a mother. Over time, she raised six children while managing a household with limited financial resources. When her husband was forced to stop working due to a heart condition, the responsibility of supporting the family fell entirely on her shoulders.
She began selling clothes from home, but the income was insufficient to meet her family’s needs and ensure her children’s education. Through her daughter’s friend, she learned about Kriti’s SHGs, attracted by the opportunity to save regularly and access financial support when needed.
What she found was far more than a financial safety net.
Through her SHG, she was introduced to bookkeeping training and received support to pursue the examinations needed to complete her school education. For the first time in years, a long-forgotten dream seemed within reach: returning to the classroom.
Decades after leaving the classroom, she completed an examination with support from Kriti and earned her 10th-grade completion certificate at age 37. Today, she is proudly enrolled in college and working toward completing her 12th-grade education.
What began as a search for financial stability became something much larger: a second chance at a dream she once believed had been left behind.
Building a Business
Another woman spent years caring for her family while quietly hoping for a way to contribute to the family beyond being a housewife.
That opportunity came through Kriti’s tailoring training program. She excelled in the course and quickly developed the technical skills needed to begin working professionally. But like many aspiring entrepreneurs, she encountered a challenge that training alone could not solve. A sewing machine, the essential tool needed to start her business, remained financially out of reach.
Determined to move forward, she joined a SHG and began saving consistently. After a year of disciplined savings, she qualified for a loan and purchased her first sewing machine, officially starting her business.
The first customers came through neighbors. Then came referrals. Soon, repeat clients began returning with new orders. Over time, tailoring transformed from a newly acquired skill into a sustainable source of income.
When reflecting on her journey, she spoke less about earnings and more about dignity. For the first time, she felt she could contribute to her family’s future through her own skills, effort, and determination. She was earning an income in her own name, creating opportunities with her own hands.
Redefining Independence
For years, one woman’s world was defined by restrictions. Her ability to leave the house, pursue opportunities, and make decisions about her own life was tightly controlled. The isolation took a profound emotional toll.
Everything began to change when Kriti opened its center in her building. Curious about the women gathering there, she initially visited in secret. Those brief interactions offered something she had not experienced in years: connection.
Eventually, she worked up the courage to join a SHG herself.
The simple act of leaving her home, meeting other women, and participating in a shared space brought her immense joy and renewed confidence. Over the years, she became an active member and leader within her SHG. Today, she manages more than 20 groups, mentoring and supporting hundreds of women across her community. The woman who once felt isolated within her own home had become a respected leader in her community.
Her growing independence was not welcomed by her husband. Her participation in trainings and group meetings was met with resistance and, at times, violence. Yet she persisted. Despite the pressures she faced at home, she continued leading meetings, building relationships, and investing in her future.
When she described the changes in her life, the most significant transformation was not financial. It was the realization that she had full independent agency.
For the first time, she saw herself not only as a wife restricted to the home, but as a free individual with aspirations, choices, and agency over her own happiness.
Ripple Effect
Not every woman arrives at the same destination, nor does every journey unfold in the same way. Many continue to face significant challenges. Yet across neighborhoods, streets, and communities, one truth became impossible to ignore: change is contagious.
The women featured here have become leaders within their communities. Their stories inspire sisters, neighbors, cousins, daughters, and friends to pursue opportunities they may never have previously considered. As women witness one another succeeding, they begin to imagine new possibilities for themselves.
Kriti provides the resources, training, and support that help spark this transformation. But the true catalyst lies within the community itself. When one woman gains confidence, earns an income, returns to school, or claims her independence, the result is, undoubtedly, a ripple effect that transforms entire communities, one woman at a time.
