Poonam is 20 years old and lives in east Delhi.  She  heard about the Be! Fund women’s mela on TV and signed up to attend right away.  Soon after, she approached us with her plan to start a business doing something she both enjoys and is good at—cooking.

Watch this video to go on a journey into Poonam’s world and business:

Poonam lives in an area of east Delhi where many low-income workers are employed in places such as the local hospital, car maintenance garages and factories. Many do not live at home or cannot rely on families to provide fresh, home-cooked food. Instead, they buy food from street vendors, which is expensive and unhealthy.

Poonam believes that having good, home-cooked food will make a big difference to these low-income workers’ quality of life. And once her business gets going, she plans to hire women in her neighborhood to cook for her business, and give them meaningful work opportunities in their own homes using a skill set that they already have.

She says, “I think it is very important for women to earn money themselves. When a family doesn’t have enough money, there are often arguments about what the family should spend money on. I think women are in a stronger position when they are economically independent.”