Amwi lives with her husband and three children in Ramthar area of Aizawl. She has two daughters, twenty and eighteen years old, and a son who is sixteen years old. The eldest daughter works in a store as a helper while the younger kids attend school. Her husband works as a security guard in a Nurse Training School in the center of the city.
It has been difficult for the family to make ends meet and Amwi has always been working to provide extra income for the family. She used to sell vegetables earlier and had purchased a sewing machine last year before taking the loan. Sewing had helped her gain more profits than selling vegetables. She heard about WSDS and Milaap loans from MHEP (a women's organisation in Mizoram) and decided to expand her business. She bought large variety of dress materials at wholesale prices from the central market in Aizawl and started stitching clothes for women and kids. She also works as a janitress at the office of the Government Electricity Department. She leaves for work at 5:30 AM every day and comes back by 10:00 AM. She starts stitching after that and rests only in the evening. She estimates that she earns around Rs 6000 - Rs 7000 in a month. Last year during Christmas time, she earned about Rs 10,000. She says that she also gives her clothes to other women who do door to door sales of products.
Amwi says that though the loan amount was small, it was good enough for her to buy a variety of raw materials. She plans to take another loan later to buy different sewing machines to stitch different designs in the clothes. Other group members are running a petty shop, a second hand garments business and a tailoring business.
Amwi stitches ladies clothes to add to the family income
