Akilandeswari and her group have found success with their group loan

I met Akilandeswari and her group members and Karumbiar village in Thiruvarur district. Akilandeswari is a 43-years-old married woman and a mother of two children. She is a housewife and is involved in household activities. She wanted to contribute to her household income which would also mean more savings for her family. She wanted to invest in animal husbandry to increase her household income. So she consulted the women in her neighborhood who also had different ideas in their mind. They wanted to invest in their beauty parlor, agriculture and hotel business etc. So they came together to take a group loan of INR. 155,000 from Bharathi Women Development Center operating in Thiruvarur and are also on of Milaap's field partners. Akilandeswari used the loan amount to purchase goats. She had purchased two goats earlier but her herd has increased to 5 now. The other members also invested in their respective enterprises. One of them invested the amount in expanding their beauty parlor business and has since increased her household income. For Rajathi the loan was helpful in paying her children's school fee. "Since we had limited savings and we only had this loan we used it to pay our children's school fee," she said. One other member had used the loan to expand her hotel business. For Jayanthi, the loan came in helpful for their family's agriculture business. They all felt that it has been easy for them repaying the loan. They thanked the lenders for contributing to their growth. The loan has not only helped them in earning a household income but also has given them confidence towards working hard for their future. The group has inspired few other women in their neighborhood who have also taken individual loans from Milaap with the help of Bharathi Women development Center and have also invested in their respective enterprise.