GRAMEEN KOOTA - CLIENT SUCCESS STORIES

Nazimunisa

Grameen Koota Client Since: 1999
Age: 48 years, married
Children: One daughter, 18
Hometown: Avalahalli, India
Loan History: Fifth loan, $274
Business: Tailor; clothing and vegetable shop owner

Nazimunisa came from a very poor family of daily-wage laborers. Before joining Unitus's MFI partner Grameen Koota (GK), Nazimunisa worked as an incense roller, earning about 22 cents for every 1,000 sticks made; her husband ran a small food shop. When business was good, their family could meet basic needs, but when business slowed they had to pawn family jewelry to stay afloat.

Looking for ways to smooth her family’s income through rough times, Nazimunisa joined GK in 1999. With her first loan of $91, she bought a sewing machine and started a successful dress-making business. After expenses, Nazimunisa used her profits of $6 to $9 per month to do maintenance on her home and pay for her daughter’s education.

By 2004, Nazimunisa was in her fifth loan cycle from GK. She used her subsequent loans (ranging from $136 to $274) to invest in the family’s store. They first sold clothing from their shop, but when garment prices fell, Nazimunisa and her husband reopened the store as a vegetable stand. With subsequent loans from GK, they added a new roof to protect their produce during the rainy season and bought a refrigerator so they could sell high-profit perishable goods.

With the help of GK’s microfinance services, it took less than one generation for Nazimunisa and her family to lift themselves out of poverty. In the past six years, Nazimunisa has started three successful businesses, and her family’s income is comfortable and sustainable. She and her husband hope to open an even larger store and build a new house with their future loans from GK. Nazimunisa also hopes for her daughter to complete school and go to college.