Sarasu, a 35-year-old woman from the Irular community in JJ Nagar, faced years of financial hardship while working in brick kilns and sugarcane fields. With no means to fund her children’s education, she was forced to marry them off early, plunging her family into deeper financial struggles. Joining the PALAVAI Centre and its women’s self-help group, Malli, became a turning point. Through the group, Sarasu learned the importance of savings and, over four years, managed to save enough to build a house with a tar-sheet roof and support her husband in starting a tender coconut business. Empowered by the Centre’s skill development program, she established a fruit stall near the Gingee bus terminus with a loan from PALAVAI. Sarasu now inspires other women in her community, successfully managing her business and planning to expand while encouraging others to pursue entrepreneurship. Her resilience has not only transformed her family’s life but is also creating ripples of change among Irular women.