Hameeda bibi who lives in a rented house along with her husband and three children is one of the many beneficiaries of Village Bank Nawanshar. The household initially had one source of income i.e of her husband. Hameeda’s husband who owns a small poultry farm has access to his earnings after every two months due to the specific nature of poultry business. The household thus always felt itself stretched for cash and was reluctant to commit itself for regular monthly cash payouts, including paying for children school fees. Realizing the importance of quality education, Hameeda always preferred to extend quality education to her children by having them enrolled at an English medium school.
Believing in the saying that a journey of thousand miles begins with one single step, Hameeda took the initiative of ensuring a single source of income for her family by opening up of a ‘ladies shop’ at the premises of her own house. Being one of the 15 members of a woman community organization she opted for a loan from the village bank Nawanshar. Since the bank is entirely run by women, Hameeda felt neither any personal hesitance nor faced any difficulty to convince her husband to access the loaning facility. After thoroughly appraised by the Village bank and her own community organization she was initially extended Rs 10000 and later on Rs 20,000 by the Village bank in the light of her in-time repayment behavior. Being in business for over two years now, Hameeda is currently earning a net income of Rs 9000 which enables the household to pay for their monthly expenses without waiting for Hameeda’s husband income to arrive every alternate month. With the arrival of her husband income, she is then reimbursed by her husband, the proceeds she ploughs back in the business to have it grow further. Hameeda bibi today proudly announced a second and stable income for her household along with the enrollment of her all three children at an English medium school locate at Muree Road Abbotabad.
Hameeda has recently put up a loan application to the Village Bank for Rs 50,000 in the light of her monthly income. She has plans to employ one person at her shop to help her in making purchases both from in and out city wholesale outlets. Hameeda is currently dependent on her husband for this dire assistance. The addition will make her independent from her husband’s inputs providing him with breathing space to concentrate on his own small business.
While giving full credit to the Village Bank, Hameeda bibi said that the VB to her is no les than a business partner, a partner that demands no share in profit but prosperity to her family and success to her business. She is keen to see the availability of other financial services at the Village bank which may also include savings account and micro-insurance as the VB being their very own local organization is trusted more than any other entity.