Extreme indebtedness has aggravated the lives of India's rural farmers, especially with regard to the global fiscal crises of recent years. As tenants, these farmers were forced to borrow from unscrupulous money lenders at extremely high rates of interest. When markets faltered or crops failed, the deep debts drove many of them to commit suicide in order to liberate their wives and children from the burden of staggering payments.
 

Moved by the tragic circumstances of these farm widows of India, and inspired by their courage, Heather Murphy, a recent ASU graduate, founded the Women's Entrepreneurial Initiative ( WEI ), which provides microloans, as well as vocational training and other assistance to these impoverished women and their families.  Having interviewed over 500 such women, Ms. Murphy shares many of their all too common stories, recounts her intimate experiences amongst them and relates some remarkable success stories with host Marcelo Dietrich.