Name: Kondapur Saalibai
Hometown: Kondapur Village, Medak District
Children: One son
First Loan: Rs. 4,000 ($91)
Current Loan: Rs. 6,000 ($136)
Business: Buffalo and Agriculture

Saalibai is a Banjara tribal woman from the village of Kondapur. Banjaras are among the poorest communities in India. Saalibai's situation is especially tragic because her husband died soon after marriage, leaving her with a young son to raise. Unable to manage on her own, she moved into her brother-in-law's house. Initially, Saalibai borrowed Rs. 4,000 ($95) for a buffalo. However, her new earning capacity prompted her brother-in-law to begin harrassing Saalibai and appropriating her money. Unable to make her weekly loan repayments, Saalibai had no choice but to sell her buffalo and return the funds she had borrowed to SKS.

But Saalibai did not lose hope. Her husband had left her a small plot of land that lay neglected because she did not have money to till the land. Saalibai arranged to take a Rs. 1,000 ($25) loan with which she bought manure and hired local villagers to help cultivate the field. She repaid her loan and made Rs. 2,000 ($50) profit. Saalibai has now built a small home for herself, and has also taken a second year loan of Rs. 6,000 ($75) for a buffalo. Saalibai's story is unique because it is highly unusual for a woman to take charge of family property.