Lhingcha's well lit and inviting petty shop

On a pleasant Friday morning, we headed towards Motbung village in Manipur. We left at 7.30 a.m and took an auto to the bus stop which took us to Motbung village. Motbung is about an hour away from Imphal, the capital of the state of Manipur. We passed through paddy fields which were surrounded by beautiful blue mountains. After we reached Motbung village, we were accompanied by the branch head of WSDS, our partners in Manipur, to visit our clients in that village. We made our way to Lhingcha's house, who is one of the group members from C Joujang (B) group. We couldn't meet the group leader, Hoineilhing, as she was ill. Lhingcha is a 44-year-old window of two children who runs a petty shop. Her son, his wife and thei daughter live with her. Lhingcha's daughter is married and lives with her husband. She is the main bread-winner of the family. Her household monthly income is Rs. 25,000. She opens her shop at 7 in the morning till 8 in the evening. Due to the irregular power supply in their village, Lhingcha along with four other women- Nengneihoi, Lamneilhing, Hoineihling, and Lhingboi- formed a group to seek a one year energy loan from Milaap of Rs. 60,865 to purchase the 40 watts mini solar home lighting system which will light up 4 bulbs for 12 hours a day. It also comes with a 90 meter long wire so the lights can be installed anywhere within their home. With the solar home lighting system, Lhingcha says,"I can now open my shop till 8 in the evening without having to spend extra money on alternative lighting systems like candles, kerosene and battery operated lamps. My whole house is lit up as well so carrying on our daily activities has been much more easier." This group of women have already repaid 8 installments and have only 4 more installments left. They are confident that they will be able to repay the entire loan without any difficult and are very grateful towards Milaap and WSDS for their support.