Uma BSS Client Since: 2000 Age: 29; married Children: Two sons, 10 and 12 years old Location: Karnataka, India Loan History: 6th loan; Rs $385 Business: Tailor

Before joining BSS, Uma was an educated woman with few outlets for her talents. Uma completed the 12th grade, but never sat for her final exams as her marriage was already arranged at that time. She was not unhappy, but she wished for more.

When Uma decided to become a tailor to supplement her family’s income, she turned to BSS. With the BSS loans she received, Uma bought a sewing machine and opened her tailor shop. Since then, she’s taken out and paid back, on time and in full, five additional loans—the last one for more than $350. She currently makes about $35/month in profit from her business and is able to send her children to a good government school.

While her income makes life easier, Uma is also thankful for the relationships she’s built with other clients of BSS. She says, “Before I joined BSS, I was a housewife and spent most of my time inside my home. Now my work keeps me very busy and I am able to meet and gather together with other members.”

Uma now helps other women gain the time management, savings and business skills she learned from her experiences. She leads a women’s empowerment group called Stree Shakti (Women Power), and helps women work together on income generating activities and save as a group—they’re currently making sambhar powder, a common spice used to make a traditional lentil dish, in bulk.

Now that Uma and her husband have purchased a larger home (one with a cemented roof, kitchen, bathroom, dining room and two bedrooms—quite different than their previous one-bedroom house with attached kitchen and outside bathroom), Uma hopes to turn her old house into a sewing school. With her hard work and BSS’s help, she knows that this dream can become a reality. She says, “For the future, I have no fears. Only hope.”
return to top

	S.K. Pahima SKS Client Since: 2004 Age: 25 years old, divorced Children: Masan Jani, 7 years old; Gau, 5 years old Hometown: Neredparla, Andhra Pradesh, India Loan History: mid-term loan, $44 Business: Bicycle shop owner; SKS loan officer SKS employee since: 2005, Neredparla Center, Bhongir Branch

Pahima was just 21 years old when she divorced her husband and moved with her two small children back to her father’s home. Over the next three years Pahima and her family struggled to make ends meet. Neither she nor her father were working and there were four mouths to feed.

In 2004, Pahima heard that SKS was opening a branch in her village. With her first loan of about $175, Pahima purchased five bicycles and opened a cycle rental shop. Pahima charged her neighbors about $0.07 per hour and $0.33 per day to rent her bicycles. A mid-term loan of $44 allowed the purchase of three additional bicycles. Before long, she was making about $131 per month. The steady income from her bicycle shop allowed Pahima to support her family for the first time in almost four years.

Early in 2005, Pahima learned that her village’s SKS branch had a job opening. Pahima had completed the tenth grade and was very interested in SKS’s work. She applied for the position and after an intensive interview process, was selected to become an SKS loan officer.

Pahima started working fulltime for SKS in March of 2005. She now manages 20 loan groups which consist of 605 clients and $64,200 in loans outstanding.

“I am extremely thankful for the opportunities SKS has provided me. I was unemployed and divorced when I took my first loan and struggling to support two children. With the income generated from that first loan I was able to get back on my feet and provide for my children. Now as an employee of SKS, I am honored to help other women, just as others helped me.”
return to top

	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.
return to top

	Govindammal ASA-GV Client Since: 2003 Age: 35, Widow Children: One son and one daughter Hometown: Thiruvanaikovil, India Loan History: 1st loan, $67; 2nd loan, $89; 3rd loan, $109 Business: Bamboo weaving (basket, sieve and fan making)

When Govindammal lost her husband at the early age of 28, she and her two children moved back into her mother’s house. To continue the family business of making bamboo baskets, sieves and fans, she borrowed from the local money lender. Govindammal’s income of less than $1.78 per day was not enough to pay the exorbitant interest on her loan and also take care of her family.

After joining ASA-GV in 2003, Govindammal used her first loan of $67 to pay off debts to local money lenders and build up her business. With her subsequent loan of just $89, she set up a small shop in front of her house to display and sell her products. The shop is doing well and she is now making more than $4 per day—twice as much as before—and she no longer worries about being stuck in a cycle of dependence upon the money lenders.

Govindammal proudly states, “ASA-GV has saved me from the dreadful clutches of the money lenders. I can face the world bravely and independently, as long as ASA-GV is there to support me. I am now confident that I can take good care of my children and also provide them with a quality education and thereby achieve my life’s ambition.”
return to top

	Bayamma Neerudi SKS Client Since: March 2001 Age: 49, Married Children: Seven children—five daughters and two sons Hometown: Medak, India Current loan: 3rd loan, $150 SKS borrower since: March 2001 Business: Buffalo, bullock cart, leasing land

Before joining SKS, Bayamma used to work as a seasonal agricultural laborer, earning 32 cents per day for only 150 days each year. Her husband was a mechanic in the nearby town of Jogipet, earning only 50 cents per day. One of her sons also worked as an agricultural laborer, while her other son was sold into bonded labor, often working 13 hours or more each day. For much of the year, Bayamma’s family survived on starch as their only food source.

Bayamma became a member of SKS in 2001. With her first loan of $150, she bought a buffalo. By selling milk and other dairy products from the buffalo, she was able to save an average of $2.75 each week after paying her loan installment and buying feed for the buffalo. She used subsequent loans of $64 and $128 to pay for a buffalo and to have cart made, which she rented out to transport sugarcane and other produce from the fields to the factories. With this income, Bayamma was finally able to release her son from bonded labor, whose wages are now added to the family’s income. She recently received her third loan of $150, with which she has leased six acres of land for growing rice.

Bayamma is happy now that she and her family have stable sources of income. Her family eats more nutritious food that includes milk, rice, vegetables and, occasionally, meat. With her future loans, Bayamma hopes to begin repairing houses and also plans to purchase irrigation equipment to increase her crop yield.
return to top

	Bhagyamma Vadla SKS Client Age: 26, Married Children: One son, 8 years old Hometown: Medak, India Client of: SKS, India Current loan: 4th loan, $250 Business: Buffalo milk sales and sewing

Bhagyamma used to struggle to find work. She earned 50 cents a day rolling biddi leaf cigarettes for a manufacturer, but work was inconsistent. Her husband’s day laborer work was also sporadic. They frequently went hungry.

She bought a buffalo with her first microcredit loan to sell the milk. With her second, third and fourth loans she bought additional buffalos that birthed four calves, two of which she sold for $30 each. With her fourth loan, she diversified her business by purchasing a sewing machine. She sews and sells clothing while earning $2.40 daily in buffalo milk sales—a 380 percent increase over her best pre-loan day! With her profits, she and her husband were able to improve their drinking water and don’t get sick as often. They eat regular, nutritious meals. They can afford to pay their son’s school fees and have savings for a medical or other emergency.

Bhagyamma enjoys being in a loan group with women who have become her good friends. Early on, they were scared about their ability to repay but cheered each other on, saying, “We can do this!” Before microcredit, Bhagyamma worried constantly about where the next meal would come from. Now she focuses on her future and her son’s education. Smiling, she comments, “Everything in my life is going well because of Unitus MFI partner SKS.”
return to top

	Ittamma Polkurthi SKS Client since: April 2000 Age: 39, Married Children: Six, ages 11, 12, 18, 20, 23, 25 Hometown: Medak, India Current loan: 4th loan, $350 SKS borrower since: April 2000 Business: Banana plantation

Ittamma Polkurthi and her family were forced from their home and land because the government was building a new dam. They were under-compensated and paid only enough to purchase one empty acre of land. Furthermore, they had to leave during harvest, with no means to feed their family or build shelter. As a result, Ittamma and her husband, in-laws and two oldest children were forced to sell themselves into bonded labor, meaning they worked for nothing more than a small amount. Although illegal, this cruel practice occurs frequently.

Ittamma took out her first $45 loan four years ago and used it to cultivate their land. She was able to harvest some crops, earning just enough to repay her loan. With subsequent loans, she bought banana plants and started a banana plantation on her acre. She harvested and sold her bananas, earning $1,100. With these profits, she rebuilt her house, leased two additional acres, planted more bananas and even bought a buffalo for her family and to sell the surplus milk. She has also hired several employees to help with the banana plantation. Most important, she paid off the debts and freed her family from bonded labor.

Using loans totaling just over $400, this family of eight went from destitute poverty to being productive landowners with a profitable and expanding business and employees. They were freed from the entrapment of bonded labor and became integral and respected members of the community in just four years.
return to top