"There was a time when we didn't have food to put on our table. If Usha had not helped me, I would have remained in poverty and continued to suffer," says Shilpi Das from Belonia in Tripura. Life had been very difficult for Shilpi, her husband, and two children, but joining the Usha programme in 2016 gave her a new sense of identity within society, and her financial situation also began to improve.