On a bright, sunny Friday morning, I headed towards my destination at 9.30 a.m. I walked down the steep hill from my house and took a taxi to College Veng in Aizawl, Mizoram. We went down the winding roads, consisting mainly of blind curves, to the bottom of the hill. Lalduhawmi was waiting for me near the main road at a second hand shop. She lives near a famous college in Mizoram called Pachhunga University College, so many tailoring, second hand shops and tea stalls can be seen around her house. She and her group members had taken a Rs. 75,000 enterprise loan from Milaap to help them with their respective businesses such as petty shops, tailoring and vegetable vending. When I met Lalduhawmi, she was really pleasant and gladly took me to her home. I learnt that she had taken the loan to buy more varieties of vegetables to sell. She also used the loan to order beauty products and clothes from the internet to sell from home. Every Friday, Lalduhawmi purchases vegetables from the main market at around 6 in the evening. Brings them back home and sets them up at the local market and opens at 6 in the morning. She stay up all night making preparations for the early morning Saturday market. With the Milaap loan, she has been able to earn about Rs. 3000 to Rs. 4000 a month, which she uses for her children's fees. Due to low blood pressure problems, Lalduhawmi gets tired very easily and is not able to do any strenuous work for long periods of time. According to her, the loan was really useful and if she takes the loan again, she would make even better use of it as she already has experience. She is really grateful as It gave her an opportunity to try out something new as well.
Lalduhawmi's remaining beauty products
