This text examines the difficulties that were faced by an Indian NGO (non-government organization) in promoting income-generating activities for the poorest rural women. It is an account of what happened with GVA, a Gujarrati Voluntary Agency, which introduced such projects for women living in two villages near Ahmedabad. The work describes the lives of rural women who were involved in, and missed by, the project. It shows how the NGO must identify and tackle diverse social, economic and managerial problems in order to successfully implement such programmes. Even identifying the poorest women, a task central to the NGO"s policy, proved to be difficult. The limited success in the village resulted largely from the activities of one woman and her family. The lack of appropriate institutional support makes success more difficult. This study determines what, if any, lessons can be learned from this experience and suggests what future programmes will need to succeed in bringing incomes to the poorest rural women.