STORIES OF CHANGE, PROGRESS AND PASSION.

AN ENTREPRENEUR CHALLENGING ALL ODDS

Meera Bai

Meera Bai, a farmer with no formal education, lives in Keshavpura village of Pratapgrah district, Rajasthan. She is often concerned about her future because her income from farming and animal husbandry is not adequate for her household expenses and her children’s education. However, her participation in the SHGs formed by Srijan has given her the confidence to interact with other community members. She recalls that earlier, she didn’t even know how to hold a pen. After being part of the group, the other members taught her to write her name which made her feel empowered. She always dreamt of having her own small enterprise but due to her own fears and lack of entrepreneurial skills, she was reluctant to take up any business activity. 

Meera undertook the training from FWWB in 2016 and learned about the success stories of different entrepreneurs during the business management skill training. She was able to relate herself to the stories of women entrepreneurs in other states, and the struggles and challenges they faced to become an entrepreneur.

Meera Bai says, “I am amazed by the examples shared by the FWWB trainers where the woman started her nursery along with farming and she too was illiterate like me.” 

After receiving the training, she has decided to start her own flour mill. She plans to take a loan from her SHG and commence her work with mentor ship from Srijan’s team. Meera Bai realised that having multiple sources of income is requisite; hence, she has separated a small space from her land for gardening of fruits and planted 40 guava seeds and further plans to grow mango, pomegranate, and papaya. She is a little scepticald about this as it is her first attempt. She feels that this activity will lead to an increase in her earnings and further help her to increase her savings. She will no longer have to go for daily wage work in different cities and be dependent on the labor work income, which by its nature was irregular and inadequate for her family.

I never thought that I can be a business woman. I didn’t even know how to hold a pen but I can write my name now; we have to take a leap of faith for success and this training has given me that faith. I feel very joyful that I will be able to provide better education to my children and can foresee a better future for them.

Stitching a new identity for herself

Archana Sole

Archana Sole who lives in Chakan village of Pune district in Maharashtra, has been associated with Chaitanya, Pune for the past 11 years and is a member of Saraswati Mahila Sangh (Self Help Group – SHG). She is also a Padhadhikari (official) of the Federation promoted by Chaitanya. She got married in the year 2003 and was living a happy married life in a joint family of 13 members. In a sad turn of events, she lost her husband in the year 2011 and her widowhood made her a pariah in the conservative community she was married into.

With perseverance and courage, Archana turned her fate around and carved a new identity for herself as a tailoring master in her village and set-up a small scale tailoring business.
She bought two sewing machines worth Rs. 2, 500 and Rs. 5, 000 each by taking a loan from bachat gath (savings group) and repaid the loan within one year. Later, her association with the Mahila Sangh encouraged her to pursue her undergraduate degree that was left incomplete post her marriage; she graduated in the year 2016.

During the initial phase of her business, she charged a meager amount of INR 500 for imparting the training to other village women who wanted to learn tailoring. Steadily, she built a strong customer base in her locality and due to her superior quality of work, she increased her garment stitching charges to Rs. 700. Archana’s tailoring skills and marketing strategies improved her business, resulting in a monthly income of INR 15,000. Whenever she receives a bigger order, especially during the wedding season, she outsources part of the work to the community members. This planned strategy helps her to fulfill her business commitments on time as well as increase her income to Rs. 25,000 – Rs. 30,000 per month.

Like any entrepreneur, she too faced many obstacles to run her business. One of the challenges she faced was delayed delivery of raw material coupled with higher rates. The members of her group provided her information about a wholesale market located in Pimpari village, where all the tailoring material could be purchased in bulk at a discounted rate. This guidance helped her to reduce her cost of production, thus leading to increase in profit margins.

To enhance the business management skills of their women members, Chaitanya identified Archana for participating in the Business Management Skill training undertaken by Friends of Women’s World Banking (FWWB) conducted on 25th – 26th May 2017. During the training, she learned about the various business management aspects essential for running a business effectively and efficiently. She shared, “The session on preparing the business plan of our own business gave me a lot of insights about the details I overlooked earlier. These lessons will enable me to plan better for my business activity. Also, the session on the importance of digital banking brought to my knowledge the convenience we get by using ATMs while withdrawing money.”

Working as a leader and team manager with Chaitanya, Archana feels empowered as she also enables other community women to strive towards improving their social and economic status. She proudly stated, “I not only train women to be tailors but also contribute towards creating a cadre of financially independent women.

The session on preparing the business plan of our own business gave me a lot of insights about the details I overlooked earlier. These lessons will enable me to plan better for my business activity. Also, the session on the importance of digital banking brought to my knowledge the convenience we get by using ATMs while withdrawing money.

Weaving her path to empowerment

Bilashini Devi

56 year-old Chingangbam Bilashini Devi is a resident of Wangkhei village in Manipur, which is known for hand- woven clothes. Bilashini Devi got married in the year 1980 and just after five years of her marriage, her husband met with an accident. Since then, Bilashini Devi became the sole earner of her family.

Initially, she used to weave the clothes by herself. Since she had never got any formal training in weaving, she couldn’t produce high quality garments, and charged lower rates for her work. This income was not sufficient for her survival so she then worked as a saleswoman at someone else’s shop. She started earning a monthly income of Rs. 4, 000 but was unable to save anything for her future plans, which revolved around giving a better education to her children.

Bilashini heard about Chanura Microfin Manipur (CMM) from one of her friends who had also been a member of the organization since many years and was living a prosperous life. She became member of Wangkhei Wangkheimayum Leirak Join Liability Group (JLG). She has been associated with CMM for 8 years now. 

She took her first loan of Rs 5, 000 and bought ready-made woven sarees and began selling them, with which she managed to earn Rs. 15,000 every month. She shared, “If these of clothes would not have been there, I would have died long ago”. The financial support from CMM has given her a ray hope for a better life. She bought an almirah (cupboard) from the profits earned, to stock the sarees purchased in bulk.

Chanura Microfin Manipur focuses on enhancing the knowledge base of its women members and hence, in association with Friends of Women’s World Banking (FWWB), training was given to its borrowers on Financial Education and Business Management Skill in the year 2016. Bilashini Devi also attended the first phase of training. She says, “I liked the video shown during the training which depicts that loans should always be taken for productive purposes. I learned that saving is very important and because of my saving habit I was able to buy the almirah (cupboard) for keeping the stocks. The Red, Yellow, Green exercise (Think before you spend exercise) was very beneficial for me. After attending the training I understood the importance of bookkeeping and now I record each and every transaction. I budget my monthly income and never mix my household saving with business savings.”  

I never thought that my socio-economic condition would ever get better. I had lost all hope. Financial support from Chanura showed me the other side of life. Now we are counted among the reputed and prosperous families of Wangkhei. If Chanura has acted as a lamp for my life then training of FWWB has acted as the oil for that lamp. Now everyone in my neighbourhood thinks that I am a successful trader.

Story of the sole breadwinner

Dwarka Bai,

Life is all about believing that good things will come your way. It is about keeping up the fighting spirit and facing all odds valiantly. Dwarka Bai, a Manihari (a community that traditionally sells bangles and other jewellery items), is one such fighter hailing from Rajasthan.

Dwarka Bai is an imitation jewellery manufacturer and seller. She has primary level education and is in this business for the last 25 years. She lives in a small village called Ajetapurana, in Bundi district, Rajasthan. She is the only breadwinner of the family.

After losing hope from her husband to earn a living for the family, she took charge of her house and thought of starting to work on her own. For this, she took a loan from the Self Help Group formed by SRIJAN and bought raw materials from Delhi. Dwarka Bai took initiative started selling the jewellery in the local village. Gradually she learned from her experiences and came to know about different demands from the customers about a variety of things required in the household. She observed that people had to go to a different village to buy all those things. Hence, grabbing the opportunity, she bought the items which are frequently in demand and established herself in the manihari business. She maintains the business accounts on her own but faced problems with the availability of time to maintain it regularly. She shared that, “Doing business is a challenge for a woman.” She had also contributed a big amount of money in building their family house and without family’s support; it was very difficult to proceed further.

While talking about the advantage of becoming entrepreneur she says “Because of my business, I don’t have to spread hands in front of others for money.” Even though her income was low, she managed to feed her family. Although she earned a good income, her profit was utilized for the household expenses and she was unable to save money.

Dwarka Bai participated in the Financial Education, Business Management Skill and Effective Governance training conducted by FWWB at Bundi. She learned during the training, that most of her money was used in transportation which had to be reduced. The only possible solution that came to her mind was to buy a second-hand car/van. Dwarka feels that due to lack of transportation services and frequent travelling which costs her more, she is not able to do her business in a cost-efficient manner. And buying a car would help her to travel to different villages easily. Moreover, she could also have a shop set up in her car itself, which would save her time to find a place and also let her manage her products easily. But she was not willing to a take a huge amount of loan due to the fear of a debt trap.

She raised a question about the same during the training as well.  Dwarka asked, “How will I manage to pay the money every month, what if I missed one or two installments?” This is a common question that runs in everyone’s mind on losing an asset while trying to create another asset. From the discussion on pre and post borrowing, she learned that it was possible for her to take a loan but to pay the loan she had to increase her income sources as well.

After the training, she decided to diversify her business. She plans to start a soap making business enterprise along with other SHG group members. She has already learned the procedure and can teach the group members. Dwarka Bai says that she requires SRIJAN’s support for building network and linkages. She will be speaking to her group members for the same and will start the enterprise and sell the products in the nearby villages in the initial phase. And later with the help of SRIJAN, the group can expand the business.

Dwarka Bai is the face of many women that we see, the only bread winners of the family. Not only has she managed the family but also started her business and now aims to help the society at a large by starting a group enterprise in her village.

I never thought that my socio-economic condition would ever get better. I had lost all hope. Financial support from Chanura showed me the other side of life. Now we are counted among the reputed and prosperous families of Wangkhei. If Chanura has acted as a lamp for my life then training of FWWB has acted as the oil for that lamp. Now everyone in my neighbourhood thinks that I am a successful trader.

“I must think of all women...”

Wazifa Begum

This is a woman who donated some of her last bits of land for a village anganwadi school; who wants her son to complete MBBS and practice in the village; who encourages local women to learn a new form of vocational training by giving them stipends from her own money; thinks of them as her family; and worries night and day about how to keep the 700 BPL (Below Poverty Line) women in her village gainfully occupied. Rarely does one come across this kind of combination of energy, philanthropy, concern, intelligence, and sheer grit. She separated from her husband and has now been living on her own for 17 years. “My son and all these women are my family.”

Back in the mid 90s, she and other women from the village learnt to weave handloom sarees under a Block Development scheme. But she found that there was no market for handloom; the arena was saturated. The women felt discouraged. So Wazifa decided to do something different. She had heard of women in nearby areas managing to earn upto Rs 700-1,000 a week with zari work. In 1998, she organised zari training for the women on her own. They were skeptical, so she mortgaged some jewellery to give them a stipend of Rs 300 from her own pocket. 20 of them learnt, beginning a process that has flourished into a large workshop, and given employment to several women in Chatra.

Now Wazifa regularly goes to get orders and pick up samples from Barabazaar in Kolkata. The women embroider or add embellishments to sherwanis, kurtas, salwars, saris etc. and now, even to westernized gowns. Many work from their home, and some come to work in Wazifa’s workshop. The products they make may sell for up to Rs 20,000 in the market. In 2005, Wazifa and her co-workers showed their zari saris and salwar kurtas in the State Trade Fair on the invitation of the DRDC (District Rural Development Cell). 

She made contact with big buyers but did not then have the capacity to cater to them. In 2012, she also participated in the India International Trade Fair in Delhi. Wazifa has registered an NGO, Anusandhan, to organise vocational and other training programmes for the village women. They have worked with the artisanal training scheme for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises Development for dress making, zari work, and embroidery. She has got ‘artisan cards’ made for 500 of the women who can now participate in exhibitions and get better access to loans.

She is a GPRP (Gram Panchayat Resource Person) for the Bamongachhe Gram Panchayat (Village Council), and has 65 groups of BPL women under her, adding up to about 700 women. And Wazifa, who did not have an opportunity to study beyond Class 10 in her childhood, has just finished a course in the accounts software, Tally.

Just as the ripple effects of Wazifa’s work spread out to embrace a large number of women, the relevance of the solar lamps in her life and work spread over a much larger sphere than her own home-cum-workshop. All the women workers of Chatra need the solar lamps during the frequent power failures. Wazifa would be the first to say that whatever benefits her family of co-workers, benefits her. She gets personal satisfaction from seeing the solar lamps being used in all the local houses, and under which her proteges work at night and “learn to stand on their own feet”. She herself has a bigger solar charging unit, which runs three large solar light panels in her workshop. In the late evening, after the garments are packed for the day, she sees her extended family off, each group of 5-6 women carrying a solar lamp to power their way through the mud paths.

I never thought that my socio-economic condition would ever get better. I had lost all hope. Financial support from Chanura showed me the other side of life. Now we are counted among the reputed and prosperous families of Wangkhei. If Chanura has acted as a lamp for my life then training of FWWB has acted as the oil for that lamp. Now everyone in my neighbourhood thinks that I am a successful trader.

I adorned my life with copper

Indira Devi

45 year-old Wangkheimayum Indira Devi lives in Ghari village which is located in Imphal West district in Manipur. She is a member of Ghari Awang Leikai Joint Liability Group (JLG) and is associated with Chanura Microfin Manipur (CMM) since 2010.

Indira Devi had started making jewellery when she was about 13 years old. While working as a trainee under the guidance of her aunt for almost three years, she became a fine jewellery designer. Indira Devi enjoys the process of attaching the tiny metal pieces to stones and giving them the shape of a beautiful necklace.

Her fondness for the work is so much that even after getting married at the age of 25, she continued the jewellery making work and opened a small shop in the front courtyard of her house. Every month she buys the raw material worth Rs. 5, 000 from the nearby wholesale market and earns Rs. 14, 000 every month. Initially, the availability of capital was the major constraint for her business and because of this, she used to buy a very small quantities of raw material. Her monthly earnings were a meager Rs. 4,000-5,000.

She was mostly dependent on moneylenders who used to charge interest at the rate of 5% monthly Such high interest rates eventually led to a financial crisis. At this juncture, she came to know about Chanura Microfin Manipur (CMM) and got associated with it in the year 2010. She took her first loan of Rs. 5, 000 and started buying the bulk amount of raw materials according to the market demand. This gradually led to an improvement in her financial condition. 

Since she has been in the jewellery making market for many years, she has been able to develop a strong network of suppliers as well as built linkages with customers. She employs 2-3 support staff for designing the jewellery during the peak season to ensure timely delivery of the work orders.

Indira Devi is well aware of the strengths of the items she produces. She says, “The colour of my product is far better than the other jewellery makers. I use more adhesive than them which provides longer life to my jewellery. I have also trained 3 – 4 people who are now independently working as jewellery makers and earn well. I am happy that my knowledge has helped to generate a livelihood for others too”. Chanura Microfin Manipur (CMM) wanted to enhance the knowledge base of their women entrepreneur members. Thus, with the support of Friends of Women World Banking (FWWB), Ahmedabad, training on Financial Education and Business Management Skill was provided to the women members. Indira Devi also attended the training in the month of January 2017. She says, “After attending the FWWB training, I have opened my bank account and started saving money. I have taken life insurance too and I think this kind of training should be given at regular intervals so that we can imbibe the facts very well.”

While wrapping a beautiful necklace around her daughter’s neck she shared that “I aspire to own a jewellery shop and want to become a trader for jewellery items. This is so because after getting older I won’t able to see properly so I won’t be able to design the best quality jewellery. But I still want to continue being connected with the jewellery market and this shop will help me remain associated with it. I am excited to learn about managing my business better.”

Leading the Way

Toijam Hemabati

Though situated near the Imphal river, water is a serious problem with people having to buy water for drinking in the rainy season as the river is too muddy during those months. The rather sordid interior of her house is enlivened by baskets of freshly plucked green vegetables from the kitchen garden outside. The locality is Basikhong Torban Leikai in East Imphal where the main occupations are weaving and agriculture. Hemabati lives here with her husband who works as a plumber, while their only son is pursuing his studies at a boarding school near Manipur University. Hemabati grew up not far from here in Chajing in a fairly well to do family. Her parents worked on their land and had a tea stall as well. One of seven siblings, she studied only till Class 5 as girls were not encouraged to study much. Reminiscing about her childhood she says, “I did no work as a child. I did not even know how to cook. It is only after I got married that I learnt cooking.” Now, she is an extremely hard working person, with her day starting at 3 am! At 3.30 she and her husband start preparations at their small hotel located on the main road. They serve tea, poori and sabzi to people, both women and men, going for their morning walk or on their way to work. The hotel is a makeshift structure made of corrugated tin and supplemented with cardboard. Just before sunrise, her husband begins to make the dough while she cooks their morning meal at home. Then she moves to the hotel for cooking, and serving the customers. In 2001, Hemabati had an accident and had to undergo expensive treatment. Her husband had to sell his auto rickshaw to pay for it, and so he lost his job as a driver. They started the hotel at that time initially keeping it open in the morning and evening. However, nowadays they cannot keep it open in the evening as Hemabati is busy with a packed schedule of cooking, fetching water, evening worship, maintenance of the kitchen garden, and other household chores. Apart from running the hotel, she also works on her own paddy field, and tends to her piggery.

It was during her work at the hotel that she once heard a group of women from another village talking about Chanura. She says animatedly, “I had heard about it before, but after I listened to these ladies, I took my bicycle and rode all the way to Kongba Irong to meet the person from Chanura and get all the information. I wanted to find out how to organise the women in my village and start a center. What I was most excited about was the solar lamp.” Hemabati had lived a long time at the mercy of an erratic electric supply, having to keep a ready stock of candles at all times with the availability of kerosene being unpredictable thanks to bandhs and blockades. Before prepaid, they had a line coming from a common connection at her in-law’s place, but it was not very useful as the light was quite dim, and there were frequent breakdowns. Hemabati took her first loan from Chanura for starting a poultry farm. Soon after, she took a Mini Home Lighting System, and the following year another one. Now they use the lamps at home and at the hotel. She says with satisfaction, “I don’t need to buy candles anymore and I don’t even have an electric connection at the hotel.” As their house is surrounded by fields and plants, they keep a solar lamp on all night at the front and back for their own safety. For visits to the washroom, and for all their early morning chores, it is quite convenient. Hemabati uses solar for her kitchen work, and also for making bundles of vegetables for sale. They earn a profit of about Rs 300-350 a day from the hotel, but they just about manage their expenses. Though it costs them Rs 50,000 a year to send their son to boarding, they took this decision as there was no one to guide him at home, and they did not want his education to be compromised. Speaking of her dreams for the future she says, “I want my son to be a government employee. I also want to open the hotel in the evening again, and serve different types of snacks including chicken.” Hemabati now is no longer just a dedicated user of solar lamps, but has been instrumental in other members of the center also taking up solar. 

Her genial face lights up as she says, “My friends’ children are able to study for their Board exams now, and they are thanking me profusely. When I was running around for setting up the center, my husband protested a lot asking why I was leaving the hotel and doing other work, but now everyone is happy.”

A vision to mold a better future

Thoibi Devi

Langthabal, Imphal is one of the most strikingly beautiful places in the state of Manipur. The ancient relics make Langthabal an important tourist attraction in Imphal, Manipur. 80% of the population in this region is engaged in aluminium molding work. Thoibi Devi who is 47 years old, used to work in one of such shops and learned the basic skills related to aluminium i.e. cutting, segregation, pressing etc. before carving it into various products. There are four members in her family. Her husband used to work as a school van driver..

Instead of working as wage laborers, Thoibi Devi and her husband wanted to do some kind of business. They wanted to do such business which would be complementary to the aluminium molding sector and where there would be few market players so that they would be earning more. She says, “For the people like us, making an investment in a business is a huge thing. We must have that futuristic vision so that our money does not go in vain. It’s better to invest where you see the opportunity and can make advantage as a first mover because opportunity doesn’t knock twice.”

Thoibi and her husband started aluminium scrap shop in the year 2005 by taking a loan of INR 7, 000 from a moneylender at the 8% p.m. interest rate. The business model in which they invested was very good and profitable, but the loan amount and its interest were so huge that they were not able to reap its benefits. She came to know about Chanura Microfin in the year 2010 by one of its ‘Karyakarta’. 

Understanding about the advantages of becoming a member of Chanura, Thoibi got associated with it and took its first loan of Rs. 5, 000. After that, she didn’t have to pay those huge interest rates and thus she started earning a monthly profit of Rs 30,000.

Her current business model is very simple. She provides the ready-made raw materials for the already crowded aluminium molding sector. She buys scraps from almost ten scrap collectors. She has small tools like press hammer, metal cutter, driller etc. With all these hand tools, her husband and Thoibi make small bundles of metal scrap and sell them to brokers.

Unavailability of transport was leading to a loss of 20% of their income. Later in the year 2015, she bought a van for her business so that she could retain even that 20% of the income which she had to hand over to the brokers. Chanura Microfin wanted to enhance the knowledge base of its women entrepreneur members so with the support of Friends of Women World Banking (FWWB), Ahmedabad, training on Financial and Business Management Skill was given to its borrowers in the year 2016. Thoibi Devi also attended the both phases of training.

She says, “Training proved to be very beneficial for me. I learned about the different parameters that needed to be taken care of before starting any business. I learned that market must be nearby your business so that one can easily sell their products. Customers’ need must be taken care of and income from the business must be invested into the business only and not for any different purposes. I have also learned the importance of savings and insurance. People become wise with training and now I am a wiser person.” At the end, she acknowledged by saying “Thank you for helping us to see the bigger picture before commencing any business.”

The golden thread of life

Savera Lashkar

Surrounded by vividly coloured festive sarees and delicate zari, the image of kerosene lamps in close proximity to this inflammable material is a strong reminder of why DCBS started working with solar lamps in the first place. In 2011, DCBS founder Animesh Naiya noticed that three women had not paid their loan repayment instalments for a while. This was remarkable. Microfinance enterprises always point out how women are extremely good with their payments. In fact, Animesh says, “Banks take even 100 percent collateral, but for me, the only collateral is the promise of these women—and it is worth it. A woman’s promise is as good as gold.” So why were these women defaulting? He found that as they worked at embroidering sarees late at night amid frequent power failures, the kerosene lamps had accidentally fallen on the cloth and destroyed material worth a couple of thousands. The women could not pay back even with the best of intentions. Animesh saw the importance of the solar lamps, then being newly marketed.

Savera Lashkar, and her sister-in-law, Tanzila Lashkar, belong to a large family of zari workers, one among the many families in this area pursuing this occupation. The intervention of solar lamps in this combination of electricity failures and zari work has been powerful. Now, like the other women in these parts, the Lashkar women too use the solar lamp to work, cook, go out of the house, feed the cows… its sheer portability makes it an excellent multipurpose tool. Amongst the five brothers in the Lashkar family, they have five solar lamps. These came around three years back, along with the loans taken by Savera and Tanzila. Educated till Class 7 and married when she was 15, Savera, now 30 years old, came to a joint family that was already doing zari work. She joined the family labour force as a matter of course, as did her sister in-law Tanzila, 25 years old. 

In Savera’s case, it is not only her 18 month old daughter who doesn’t let the mother settle down for a chat; Savera is shy and embarrassed at being the focus of attention. Her husband Hasan-ul-Haq Lashkar is the prime mover—the one who deals with the market, gets work on commission, makes plans, and figures out the economics. And currently his main preoccupation is that the market for zari work is dwindling. Soon there won’t be enough earnings, let alone scope to expand.

So he would like to diversify, perhaps have a tailoring and garments supplying setup, perhaps even a shop of his own. But more capital is needed, and the current upper limit of Rs 20,000 is not sufficient to fuel these plans. Savera is in enthusiastic agreement, “No point if we don’t get a larger loan, say about 50,000 Rupees.”Tanzila, younger than her sister-in-law by five years, and educated till Class 9, exudes that much more confidence. She is happy with the shop that she and her husband run nearby, in which they sell zari work sarees. Her wish is to expand the work further, increase her income and eventually buy some land for farming. It would also be nice to get the exposed brick walls of the house plastered and painted.

Both the women started taking loans in the year 2006 with a sum of Rs 5,000 each. Their current loan is for Rs 20,000. All the money has unfailingly been put into the business— for getting material and paying those they employ. Their workforce constitutes about 12-14 other women, most of them part of the extended family, who work with them in their big front hall. In peak season, which means around the Id and Durga Puja festivals, the two couples may each earn Rs 10,000-12,000 a month. On an average, even during lean months they make about Rs 5,000. Savera and Tanzila have escaped the kerosene thanks to solar lamps.

She says, “Training proved to be very beneficial for me. I learned about the different parameters that needed to be taken care of before starting any business. I learned that market must be nearby your business so that one can easily sell their products. Customers’ need must be taken care of and income from the business must be invested into the business only and not for any different purposes. I have also learned the importance of savings and insurance. People become wise with training and now I am a wiser person.” At the end, she acknowledged by saying “Thank you for helping us to see the bigger picture before commencing any business.”

An inspiring entrepreneur’s journey

Rinchula Ragui

Rinchula Ragui, a qualified graduate of Business Administration (B.A) and a true entrepreneur is engaged in multiple activities like weaving, running a grocery shop and poultry. She is a 37-year-old woman from Awotang block of Ukhrul district in Manipur. Her husband is a salaried employee.

Soon after marrying into a large family, Rinchula realized that her husband’s income was not adequate to fulfill the needs of her family. To overcome this situation, she utilised her skills of weaving which she had learned during her childhood and began weaving sweaters, shawls, and caps. She sold these in the neighborhood, from which she earned around Rs. 4,000 – 5,000 every month.

However, the income was not sufficient to sustain her family, so she ventured into the food processing business. From her savings, she bought fruits on a seasonal basis, which she further processed and packaged by herself. During other seasons, she sold these processed items by preparing candies, jams, and pickles at a premium price. The demand gradually started increasing and she further pursued to expand this business but faced challenges due to no availability of sufficient funds.

During this phase of her life, Rinchula got to know about Volunteers for Village Development (VVD) through her local community women. In 2015, she became a member of VVD and availed her first loan of Rs. 15,000 to further expand her business of food processing.

Soon she increased her product range, adding different product variations including ice creams, chocolates, etc. Her monthly income from this particular business currently is Rs. 25,000. Gradually, she converted her small shop into a grocery outlet. Her progress and success being an entrepreneur made a positive change in her socio-economic status. Rinchula says, “Now my neighbors also want to start a similar business like me”

Continuous association with VVD and participation in the training undertaken by FWWB has enabled her to have a better life for herself as well as her family. She participated in the training programs conducted by Friends of WWB, India in April 2016 and 2017. She shared that the business has not only benefited her economically but has also empowered her. Now she can bravely deal with any situation whether it is related to family, neighbours or business hardships. She believes that she is now better organized when it comes to managing her finances.

Walking the path of entrepreneurship along with support from VVD and FWWB has developed a sense of self-confidence in Rinchula. She is proud that being a woman, she has managed this feat. Her future plan is to earn more money and lead a comfortable life with her children.

Rinchula says “I got new knowledge about the various business skills, like different ways to earn more profit margins in business, an idea of promoting the business, budget making, and savings per day to fulfill future dreams. After attending trainings from FWWB, I am able to earn more in my business.”

The superwoman’s shop

Rama Sarkar

A solar lamp brightens up the cheerful colours of hundreds of sachets: Blue shampoos, purple chewing gums, red tomato ketchups, yellow detergents, white toothpaste, pink soaps… wafer packets, biscuits, chocolates, toffees, match boxes, cigarettes… but nothing as bright as the face of 34 year old Rama Sarkar, happy to be telling us her success story. Rama is an excellent example of why daughters should inherit land or property from their natal homes. She lives and works on her own land, given by her father, and her confidence is a pleasure to see.

She and her husband set up their own bidi making unit. At this point her husband started falling sick, and the doctors said that he should stop working with tobacco. The husband and wife were forced to wrap up their business at a loss of about Rs one and a half lakhs. But fate hadn’t reckoned with Rama’s determination. It occurred to her that since her house was right on the main road, any shop she opened there was bound to run. And so, back in 2014, she took a loan of Rs 10,000 from Gram Vikas, as well as another loan from a local microfinance company called KDS. The couple built a tin structure on the road, bought products, and began a grocery-cum-tea shop.

How many people come in a day? Rama pauses and smiles slyly. “Let me put it this way. My tea is well known in this area. And the curd I set is really famous; People come from quite some distances to get it. So every morning, between 7 and 9 there is a mela here. The same in the evening, from about 6 to 9.” The shop hours are 7 am-1 pm and 4 pm-9.30 pm. In the middle of this, Rama manages to send her children to school, cook meals, and set her famous doi (yoghurt).

She makes an income of Rs 12,000-15,000 every month. Rama now has Rs 14,000 from Gram Vikas, and a total loan of Rs 49,000 from all her financers. She took the solar light one and a half years back, at Rs 2,400, buying it outright. “It was essential in the shop in the evenings and night; practicalities apart, who wants to come to a dark shop? You simply can’t depend on the electricity in these parts.” Even with the electric bulbs on, the solar is a bright add on at no extra charge, making the shop additionally attractive.

Rama wants to increase her scale. “Anything I sell will do well at this location,” says the young entrepreneur confidently. She wants to start keeping more items, like cold drinks, and wants to sell mishti doi (sweet yoghurt) which she is so good at making. “I need to make a separate room and furnace for larger quantities of sweet doi. I need to make the shop pukka too, because with this tin-andlock arrangement, we do have to face the odd theft.” “A pukka shop is necessary, especially to keep the products properly in the monsoon. I can buy more cupboards to stock the products, and have a better seating arrangement for the customers. It’s just a couple of wooden benches right now. Who knows, we may even hire workers. And then I want to make my house bigger and have a thriving shop…Oh well! Human beings’ plans for the future never end, do they?”

She says, “Training proved to be very beneficial for me. I learned about the different parameters that needed to be taken care of before starting any business. I learned that market must be nearby your business so that one can easily sell their products. Customers’ need must be taken care of and income from the business must be invested into the business only and not for any different purposes. I have also learned the importance of savings and insurance. People become wise with training and now I am a wiser person.” At the end, she acknowledged by saying “Thank you for helping us to see the bigger picture before commencing any business.”

A Shop of her own

Mayanglambam Jamini

Situated next to a small pond and a fancy gated apartment complex, Mayanglambam Jamini’s shop is not large, but has a significant presence. It is late afternoon when some customers drop by for a couple of paans. They then settle down on the narrow bench outside the shop for a leisurely chat. In this middle class locality called Sagolband Tera Sapam Leirak, most of the women are housewives, or are involved in weaving or running petty shops. She got married after completing her second year of BA. Her husband worked as a government employee on a contract basis for several years, never getting regularised, and then he lost that job as well. As they had more and more children, the financial pressure increased. He became a small-time contractor, and also started going to Moreh (on the Indo-Myanmar border) for business. He would bring back different kinds of products, and she would go door to door in her neighbourhood to sell them. It was tiring work.

Jamini became a member of Chanura initially for a loan to finance their trip to Moreh. Money wise, the business was not doing too badly, but as age caught up with her husband, the sheer travel was becoming too strenuous. Their children also began to protest against these trips, and worked on dissuading the parents. Earlier the couple travelled by bus, and ended up making more profit. Now they take the taxi that offers them speed and comfort, but also eats into their earnings.

Four years back, in her second loan cycle, Jamini decided to take a loan of Rs 10,000 to build the shop. Jamini keeps her shop open from 4 am to 10 pm, and on special occasions even later. She sells tea and pooris in the morning, and paan through the day. There’s a steady influx of customers as the evening progresses. As a lot of her clientele comprises the elderly, she hopes she can have proper seating in her shop in the future. She currently earns Rs 250 per day from the snacks, and Rs 350 from the sale of paan. Making it a paan shop was certainly a lucrative decision as hers is one of the few shops of this kind in the locality.

Jamini shares how she has been regularly taking loans from Chanura for solar lamps—first Accendos, and then Mini Home Lighting Systems. She points to the solar lamp that is hanging in her shop and says, “I have used it for three years now and it has been working well. No complaints! After prepaid has come, we have been trying to minimize the usage of electricity.” Earlier she used the Accendo in the shop and the Mini Home Lighting System in the house, but now she has shifted the latter to her shop. She animatedly narrates an incident, “Once the transformer broke down for a whole month. In the whole neighbourhood, mine was the only place that was lit up. People would ask—How is your shop so bright when the whole area is steeped in darkness?”

Considering that there are no street lights on that road, it is easy to imagine how Jamini’s shop would have been cheerful and welcoming in the otherwise dense darkness. Life has certainly improved a lot after the introduction of solar. They have stopped buying kerosene and candles. The children are able to study, and her daughter who does hand and machine embroidery, and makes dolls for sale, is able to work at night now, and complete the orders. “The biggest advantage with solar is that I can keep the shop open longer into the night especially during marriage ceremonies [when there is a lot of demand for paan],” she says. “People who are not from the local area feel comfortable about coming to the shop when it is brightly lit. Girls and women also often come visit shop,” Jamini shares proudly. Financially her situation is still not very comfortable, but she is quite happy with her life now, and hopeful for the future. With the next loan, she plans to expand her business by including products like betel nuts, firecrackers, disco lights and clothes. The trips to Moreh continue, but gone are the days when she had to go door to door to sell her wares. Now she has a shop of her own!

She says, “Training proved to be very beneficial for me. I learned about the different parameters that needed to be taken care of before starting any business. I learned that market must be nearby your business so that one can easily sell their products. Customers’ need must be taken care of and income from the business must be invested into the business only and not for any different purposes. I have also learned the importance of savings and insurance. People become wise with training and now I am a wiser person.” At the end, she acknowledged by saying “Thank you for helping us to see the bigger picture before commencing any business.”

Happy women, happy families

Leiyaphi Angkang

Leiyaphi Angkang is a 48 year-old woman from Chatric Khunou village in Ukhrul district. There are three members in her family. Her husband was engaged in poultry and pig farming. They earned a monthly income of Rs. 10,000 – 15,000 from these activities.

Their poultry business could not survive for a longer period due to increased competition and many suppliers. They had no other source of earning. During that phase, she made use of her weaving skills which she had learned from her mother. She began with selling woven clothes door-to-door for the survival of her family. From the meager savings earned from the weaving and poultry business, she opened a small shop in the year 2008 near her locality.

After two years, Leiyaphi wanted to further expand her shop but due to insufficient funds, she was unable to execute her plans. Through her neighbours, she came to know about Volunteers for Village Development (VVD) and the financial support they provide for the betterment of community members. She became a member of VVD and took her first loan of INR 10,000 in the year 2010 for expanding her business. Presently, her income from the shop is around INR 30,000.

Leiyaphi says, “Being a business woman I saw a lot of changes in my status. As I started contributing towards the household income, the financial stress was reduced. This led my husband to stop drinking and it’s a big achievement for me”.

Her continuous association with VVD led her to avail benefits of training programs on financial and business management skill. Also, she has been selected as the President of (SAMBU) Raiping Shanao Long Tangkhul Eastern area because of her strong communication skills and leadership quality.

She attended the business management skill training in two phases scheduled in April 2016 and 2017, conducted by Friends of Women World Banking FWWB). While sharing her experience.

Leiyaphi has many more aspirations and is determined to achieve her dreams, “I believe that I can better organize things now when it comes to managing my finances; for this, all thanks goes to FWWB team.”

“I learned about record keeping, budget making and ways to increase savings, earlier I was able to save INR 200 – 300 rupees only but now I have been able to increase my savings by 40% on a monthly basis. Now I feel more confident and empowered.”

Grace personified

Lalini Devi

The verandah of M. Lalini Devi’s house bears testimony to her lineage in exquisite hand embroidery. On the walls are photographs of her mother, a national award winner, and her sister, a state award winner like Lalini herself. There are also posters giving information about the Shaphee Lanphee tradition of embroidery that she specialises in, and a collection of colourful shawls, stoles and bags.

Lalini lives in Imphal East in Wangkhei Yonglan Leirak, famous for the weaving of the Rani Phee. Shedding light on her tradition, she says, “Different clans do different kinds of embroidery. I inherited it from my mother, and she from her mother. [According to a myth,] a God said that the shawl should be embellished with different animals like buffalo, elephant, and elements like spear, sun, and moon. In earlier times this shawl was given to a person as an honour by the King to acknowledge his/her achievement. Now it is a necessary part of the lives of the tribal people who use it during marriages, and for burial.” Lalini got married in 1991, but tragedy struck a couple of years later when she lost her husband and new born son. She tried living at her in-law’s place with her daughter for a few years, but could not cope as there was no one to look after the child when she had to travel for work. She has been living at her maternal home for the past 16 years. Lalini’s daughter, now 24, is pursuing a course in Homeopathy in Madhya Pradesh. At present the household comprises her niece and herself. Her life revolves around her niece who she is devoted to, and of course, her work. She loves doing embroidery and has taken it up whole heartedly. She travels to trade fairs in the northeast, and also to Delhi and Mumbai.

She works out of a small inconsequential looking shed with plywood walls, but has a whole system in place. She has trained 13 people who now work for her. They tailor, weave and do embroidery. “We make shawls, table cloths, bags and cushion covers,” she says.“They are not bought by the common people as they are too expensive. It is all done by hand. Earlier we would do embroidery only on black, but now we use different base colours. [Often] I do fast and bad embroidery. There is a saying in Manipur that for the market one has to make it very fast, but it will not be of good quality,” she adds with disarming honesty. Her association with Chanura began in 2009 when she heard that there was actually an organisation that supports women’s businesses. In the first cycle, she got a loan of Rs 5,000 to buy threads and to pay wages. Earlier she used to sell her products in the local market, but was not able to earn much, but now she has found more profitable outlets in fairs in other towns and cities, as well as in handloom houses.

Sick of being dependent on kerosene and candles because of the irregular supply of electricity, she opted for solar lamps in consecutive cycles—a study lamp, Accendo lamp, and then two Mini Home Lighting systems. Solar has been a big boon for her as using electricity is a risk for her niece who is suffering from serious physical and mental illness. Lalini explains, “We use a solar fan in the house as my niece does not like the ceiling fan. She complains that her hair flies all over the place, and she feels uncomfortable. She needs the solar fan and light on 24 hours a day.”

Sharing her dream for the future, she says, “I want to open a showroom for my clothes. My dream also includes the solar lamp! I want the path leading to my house to be lit. Now it is dark and swampy. Another thing is, we have to keep the TV on 24×7 for my niece even when she is sleeping… I wish there could be a TV that runs on solar power!”

She says, “Training proved to be very beneficial for me. I learned about the different parameters that needed to be taken care of before starting any business. I learned that market must be nearby your business so that one can easily sell their products. Customers’ need must be taken care of and income from the business must be invested into the business only and not for any different purposes. I have also learned the importance of savings and insurance. People become wise with training and now I am a wiser person.” At the end, she acknowledged by saying “Thank you for helping us to see the bigger picture before commencing any business.”