“I believed in myself in what I do. I attended the training at Don Bosco Tech- Rangajan with full enthusiasm and today I am proud to say that I can earn additional income staying at home", stated Mrs. Sabina. Mrs. Sabina Tirki is the wife of Mr.Jyoti Tirki and hails from Chariakhat Gaon, Golaghat district of Assam. Her husband is a part-time driver and she is a housewife. They have 2 children, a son and a daughter who are studying in college.

Mrs. Sabina like any other housewife spends her time looking after the family. She was dependent on her husband for everything. Though her husband earns money it was not sufficient to meet all the expenses. She had gone through a hard time meeting the expenses and the children's education fees and was looking for an opportunity to earn so that she can support her husband.

Sabina was very determined and she wanted to educate her children as she did not get a chance to complete high school. And like any other village girl, she got married at a very early age. Experiencing a difficult life situation she always encourages her children not to give up their studies though there are financial constraints at home.

Sabina worked hard to support her family by rearing chickens, pigs, and ducks at home. She sells these animals and gets additional income which helps her to run the family. But rearing animals sometimes get her loss due to seasonal diseases. But she never gave up.

   As she was looking for ways to earn additional income, she came to know about the mushroom cultivation training given by Don Bosco Tech, Rangajan center which was supported by Accenture. She inquired about it and at once she grabbed the opportunity of enrolling herself in the course. She learned how to grow mushrooms and got other theoretical training like – communication, marketing, and bookkeeping too. After the training, she was excited and do not want to waste her time waiting for the right moment. She got help from her trainer and bought spawns and started with 10 kg of mushroom spawn. Her husband supported her to buy the raw materials and her children too helped her in chopping the paddy straw and making the compost to make the mushroom cylinders. They have extended a small room attached to the house to grow mushrooms, which did not cost them much as they use locally available resources and it turned out a profitable income-generating activity.

The hard work paid her rupees 22500 in the first season harvest from that amount she built the capital. From the profit, she continued to grow mushrooms and earns about rupees 30000-35000 per season. She expressed her happiness about cutting her mushrooms to sell. She said " I never thought that I could earn this much money. It is not difficult to grow mushrooms as I learned how to take care from spawn to harvesting. And there is no problem with marketing as there are local buyers and I sell to the wholesalers who come directly to the village to buy in bulk."

           Attending the training has broadened her horizon, being a housewife with a meager income is very challenging. She is thankful to Don Bosco Tech Rangajan for the training and for showing her how to earn money to live a better life. She is very happy that she can support her husband in sharing the financial burden and in giving better education to her children.

She shares her struggles with other women and motivates them to take up mushroom farming. As it is fairly easy, profitable and fetch returns within a few weeks without having to go out in the sun or rain.

Sabina encourages other women to join the training in order to sustain their livelihood and live a better life.