Apanjon Livelihood Foundation

You can find us near the Bihari Bandh, right off the Tata Road in Balrampur. It’s a dusty spot, especially with the trucks going by on the main road all day. The Apanjon Livelihood Foundation is based at Ujjwal Bhowmik’s place in Rangadih. It’s a very practical sort of place. We don't have any air conditioning or fancy furniture. We just have some solid wooden tables and a lot of determination. Most of our work involves talking to people about their jobs and how they are making a living. It’s hard work, and the days can be long, especially when we have to travel to nearby villages. We aren't a big corporation with a lot of money. We’re just local people who know how hard it is to get by sometimes. We have a lot of meetings under the shade of the trees when it’s too hot inside. People know they can come here and talk to us without any fuss. We don't use a lot of big words or complicated forms. We just try to help people figure out their next move. It’s a simple life, but we stay busy. There’s always something to fix or someone to meet. We just keep our heads down and do the work that needs to be done here in Purulia. It’s what we do, and we’ve been doing it for quite some time now.