It was a pleasant Monday afternoon. It was around 2 p.m. when I reached the Chandkheda branch of Prayas. I was supposed to meet four borrower groups in this neighborhood of Ahmedabad, the fastest growing metropolitan city of Gujarat. A visit to rural Chandkheda has always given me a trunk of inspiring tales: tales of courage and diligence. And I knew today was again one such day.
I was accompanied the Prayas staff member Mr. Rahul, and we were heading to check on the progress of Nagveshar Mahila Mandal, a Joint Liability Group led by Hansaben, after Milaap’s community of lenders had provided them funds to grow their respective microenterprises.
Hansaben, a 43-year-old woman, warmly welcomed us. She has been running her business of selling saris for 25 long years now. And it isn’t just her financial condition that made her work. She has always loved the concept of being an entrepreneur and doing something on her own. Milaap supported her dreams and further encouraged her. With the Milaap loan of Rs. 15,000, she was able to buy a lot of stock in bulk and cater to the needs of her customers by buying the kind of saris that are very much in demand in the neighborhood. Besides running her sari business, she has also been running her sewing business since quite a long time.
Hansaben is now able to save a sum of Rs. 2500 on a monthly basis, a princely Rs. 1000 more than she could save earlier. And depending on whether it is an off season or not, she earns anywhere between Rs. 7,000 to Rs. 10,000. This is highly remarkable, as it is much more than what she was able to earn before she received the loan; in fact, it is two to three times her earlier income. She expressed her gratitude for the loan provided and shared how helpful this has been to her.
“It’s only through the loan that I could expand my business to such an extent. This just wouldn’t have been possible without the loan from Milaap.”
Hansaben intends to grow her business further, and wants to rent a shop so that she can provide the best of education to both her children.
Hansaben displays her latest stock of saris
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