Community Development · Gaya, Bihar
Ravi Kumar, 29 · 2024
“I used to wait at the crossroads every morning hoping someone would hire me. Now people come looking for me.”
— Ravi Kumar
For eight years Ravi migrated to construction sites in Delhi and Surat, sending money home and seeing his children twice a year. When the 2020 lockdown stranded him 1,400 kilometres from home, he walked for eleven days.
He came back determined never to leave again. Through our youth fellowship he trained as a solar technician — six weeks of hands-on learning with a partner organisation — and received a starter tool kit.
There are now over 200 solar home systems and pumps in his block, and almost nobody to maintain them. Ravi's shop is the only one for 30 kilometres. He earns more than he did in the city, sleeps at home, and has trained two apprentices.
