"There were some days when my body gave up physically. During these times my cooperative stood by me."

Radha Singh - Ekta Cooperative

Radha has faced many challenges with strength and determination. When she wanted to go to college, she worked for an accountant to pay fees. After getting married and having a son, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Later, happily cancer-free, she was ready to resume working. In July 2017, Ekta Cooperative was just starting and she saw this as a chance for a new beginning. She stuck it out during the organization's early growing pains and saw it become a unified group. When her cancer returned, she was able to turn to her fellow members for support. "There were some days when my body gave up physically. During these times my cooperative stood by me. Members would visit me every day and keep me updated. They would let me do the account book so that I would feel part of the group." Now she feels that her illness shows strength, not weakness.

Recently she has put her talents to use outside of the cooperative. "Parents in the community reached out to me for help with the online classes. Kids were making mistakes and both parents and teachers were getting frustrated." Radha was familiar with the apps and was able to help. "To parents I explained the process and to teachers I showed them how to manage or block chat and to use the mute/unmute to lessen disturbances." She sums up her experience: "With a little bit of coordination it all worked out well."