Asha is 46 years old and lives in a makeshift shelter beside the open sewer in the Kolkata suburb of Topsia. After her husband died of cancer five years ago, Asha had to find a way of supporting herself and seven other family members. She sold her precious wedding dowry jewellery – a set of earrings – and started her business. She went to the market and bought garments at wholesale prices and then sold door to door for a small profit. Gradually the business grew. In August this year Asha took a small loan of Rs20,000 from this microfinance project and she was able to take the business to another level. She no longer goes from house to house: her customers come to her. They buy on credit and repay her in weekly instalments.
Before taking out this loan Asha earned just 4000 to 5000 rupees per month, barely enough to feed 8 hungry mouths. Since she took the loan her income has increase to 12 – 13,000 rupees per month. Her dream is to own a small shop.
It is thanks to the generosity of our donors that women like Asha have been able to turn their lives around. Since this project was launched in 2016 over 520 small loans have been made to destitute families. 142 loans went to rag picker families and nearly 400 went to ultra-poor families. Every loan is repaid so that the funds can be recycled to help other families. The repayment rate hovers around the 95% - 98% mark – and this is remarkable given that the beneficiaries are almost all illiterate. A recent survey shows that 74% of the beneficiary families have maintained an increased income since taking out the loan – and many of the families, like Asha’s, have considerably increased their incomes. Some have even been able to move away from the squatter camps and into permanent legal accommodation.
This programme is very popular in the local community and also with our staff. They really see the difference financial inclusion makes to some of India’s most vulnerable people. The benficiaries themselves want to feel they are not receiving aid, but are accessing credit. They are proud to repay their loans and often repay ahead of schedule. A truly empowering project. Thank you for your generosity.
A note: You will have heard from GlobalGiving that there is a problem disbursing your donations to the project. This is because all GlobalGiving's disbursements to Indian projects have been held up at government level. I am working on a solution which will unblock the funds and get your donations safely where they need to go. Meanwhile, the project is moving forward as we always aim to keep a modest cushion of funds for just this eventuality. Thank you for your patience.
On 18th July I asked for donations towards this project - hoping that the donations, plus gift aid and Global Giving's match funding would achieve our target of £10,000. Well, we pretty much did it. And I can't thank you enough. Please see below the stories of three women who have made a great success of their microloans, funded by you. For every woman who takes a loan, the whole family benefits. The children stay in education, eat more nutritious food and avoid early marriage. The husband and wider family benefit from the uplift in family income and the woman herself enjoys a higher status at home and in the community. Even domestic violence is reduced. And best of all, the loan is repaid in full with a little interest and can then be loaned out to another woman. So your generosity keeps on giving time and again. This project is enormously popular amongst these vulnerable communities and we really want to keep expanding it until every family in Kolkata's railway and canalside squatters has had an opportunity. So please keep supporting them!
Ruksana lives with her family at Mir Meher Ali Lane canal squatter settlement at Tangra. Her husband is a furniture polisher and her five children are all studying. Two are in a hostel and the other three are studying in a local school. Two of her children are attending our educational centre.
Ruksana was an introvert and kept to herself but after she started attending the community meetings organised by Tiljala SHED her inhabitations and actively started participating in all project related activities.
Initially she took a loan of twenty thousand from Tiljala SHED to support her husband to buy new materials for polishing. She dutifully paid back her loan amount in time. She took a second time loan of 30 thousand rupees and invested the loan amount to buy unstitched dress material and started vending it door-to-door. She is conscientious in her work and is doing quite well in her business. We wish her success in her venture.
Jasmin
Jasmin is 26 and lives beside the Topsia canal settlement with her family. She has one son and one daughter. Her husband Saidul works at the leather complex as labourer. Both her children are studying in Topsia Primary School and attends our coaching class at Topsia community centre.
Jasmin could not complete her studies because she came from a rather large family and her parents could not support her education. Her parents decided to marry her off to Saidul at an early age.
Jasmin wanted to do something because the income of her husband was not sufficient to meet the family expenses. She joined the cutting and stitching classes and after one year she learned tailoring. She has transformed herself into as an entrepreneur. She took a loan of twenty thousand from Tiljala SHED and set up a small tailoring unit in her hut. She stitches clothes for women of the area and even keeps different qualities of cloth which she also sells from her outlet. Slowly but steadily her business is prospering and now her average income is around six thousand per month. (£70)
Now she can contribute towards the family expenses. She returned the original loan amount in seven months. Recently she took another loan of thirty thousand and invested in her business. She is confident that the income will go up and she can improve her quality of life in future. The funds raised through Global Giving platform has made a considerable impact in the lives of Jasmin and her family. She is indebted to the organization for the support she received in time.
Shankari is a 30 year old lady residing at Topsia canal side squatter settlement. Her husband Mahadev is a fishmonger. She has one daughter. Her husband income was not sufficient to meet ends so Shankari decided to start a business of selling health products and cosmetics from door to door.
She took fifteen thousand loan from Tiljala SHED on 21.06.2017. After taking loan she effectively managed her business. After one year she decided to start sari selling with health product from door to door.
So, she took second time loan of Rs.20,000 from Tiljala SHED on 07.08.18. Her income was increased and her confidence has grown considerably. She returned the loan amount and applied for the third time.
She once again took a loan of Rs.30,000 from Tiljala SHED on 22.06.19. Now her income has doubled and she wants to further expand her business in the near future. She regularly meets her commitment towards repayment of the loan amount. Three months ago, she started her Life insurance Policy for her husband.
We all feel that she will do well in life because she is way ahead than other working woman of that area.
How are these loans organised?
Applicants for loans under the Livelihood programme all come from the very poorest section of society. They live in the desperately poor areas of central Kolkata which Tiljala SHED has supported for many years. All the beneficiaries are women, although many, like Rehana, may take the loan to enhance or support their husband’s business. Each beneficiary is screened to ensure they are truly in need and living below the poverty line. Applicants form small groups of 4 or 5 women, CIGs (Credit Interest Groups) which then work together to support and encourage one another and also to take responsibility collectively forone another’s repayments. A condition of taking a loan under this scheme is that the children must remain in education and that the beneficiary must have a bank account and develop a habit of saving. This way they are protecting their future.
Why is this scheme so successful?
What are the main positive outcomes/impact?
This scheme is three and a half years old. It started with a fundraising Quiz Night in December 2015. That evening raised the seed funding which led to the first 80 beneficiaries receiving loans in June 2016. Since thenover £100,000 has been disbursed to nearly 500 beneficiaries. Of those, 142 are former rag pickers (the lowest of the low – women who fed their children by collecting other people’s waste and selling it on to dealers). The rest were classed as ultra-poor (not rag pickers, but from extremely vulnerable families and living in the same illegal makeshift shelters). None of the beneficiaries are in any useful way literate – and yet 74% have increased their family income through becoming entrepreneurs.
Rehana’s Story
Rehana is 26 years old. She is married with a son and a daughter. They live near Topsia canal side settlements in central Kolkata. Her daughter studies in class IV and son studies in class I. Up until June 2018 Rehana earned a meagre Rs 50 (57 pence) per day by chappal-cutting (trimming the rubber straps of sandals). Her husband is a rickshaw puller and earned Rs 180 (£2.00) per day after paying Rs 70 rent to the owner for the rickshaw. This income was not enough for running the household expenses and sometimes the family went to sleep without food.
In June 2018 Tiljala SHED had received a loan of Rs 20,000 (£230) for supporting her business through Tiljala SHED’s Alternative Livelihood Program. Rehana purchased a rickshaw. This meant that they no longer had to pay rent for the rickshaw. Her husband earned a good amount for 6 months and, no longer trapped by poverty, he was able to find good work in Odisha. So Rehana now rents out the rickshaw and receives Rs.70 per day in rent.
Having repaid the initial loan in full, she took another loan for Rs.30,000 in June 2019 and opened a new warehouse for waste recycling work. She is also repaying the second loan in time. Her husband continues to work hard in Odisha to help repay the loans.
Whatever she is earning from the warehouse is reinvested in the business to expand. The condition of the house and their living standard has increased. They have a lot of expansion plans and she plans to take another loan in the coming months after the repayment of the loan.
Life has changed in just 12 months and with their hard work this family is making progress and is on the way to end poverty in a few years.
Rehana wants to live an independent life and does not want to depend on her husband’s income. She has dreams to make her son a police officer and daughter a nurse to serve the society. She is a leader in the community and an entrepreneur.
How are these loans organised?
Applicants for loans under the Livelihood programme all come from the very poorest section of society. They live in the desperately poor areas of central Kolkata which Tiljala SHED has supported for many years. All the beneficiaries are women, although many, like Rehana, may take the loan to enhance or support their husband’s business. Each beneficiary is screened to ensure they are truly in need and living below the poverty line. Applicants form small groups of 4 or 5 women, CIGs (Credit Interest Groups) which then work together to support and encourage one another and also to take responsibility collectively forone another’s repayments. A condition of taking a loan under this scheme is that the children must remain in education and that the beneficiary must have a bank account and develop a habit of saving. This way they are protecting their future.
Why is this scheme so successful?
What are the main positive outcomes/impact?
This scheme is 3 years old. It started with a fundraising Quiz Night in December 2015. That evening raised the seed funding which led to the first 80 beneficiaries receiving loans in June 2016. Since then a total of £96,500* has been disbursed to 472 beneficiaries. Of those, 142 are former rag pickers (the lowest of the low – women who fed their children by collecting other people’s waste and selling it on to dealers). The rest were classed as ultra-poor (not rag pickers, but from extremely vulnerable families and living in the same illegal makeshift shelters). None of the beneficiaries are in any useful way literate – and yet 74% have increased their family income through becoming entrepreneurs.
We are desperate for another £10,000. With this we can expand the project and bring in the long waiting list of CIGs (more women like Rehana) who are desperate to change their family’s fortunes with a small loan. With a further £10,000 circulating through the system, enough interest will be generated to cover the entire cost of the project and to make it fully self-sustaining.
A single donation from you will be accessed again and again as these desperate communities lift themselves out of poverty, educate their children and walk into a brighter future…
*£18,000 raised through Global Giving (about £3000 at that first quiz night) and the rest is funds returned in repayments and funds raised locally in Kolkata.
One of the most uplifting experiences when I visit Kolkata is a trip to visit the women who have set up small businesses.
Uplifting because the impact of these loans is seen so quickly.
Thanks to your generosity, we can distribute microloans to vulnerable women who live in the squatter camps beside the railways and sewers. Almost all are former rag pickers, who have scraped by and fed their families by collecting other peoples waste and selling it on to dealers. With no access to financial services (other than loan sharks) these women have little hope of changing their lives
Take Noorbanu. She took a small loan of Rs 15,000 (£166/USD219) in June 2017. She set up a small shoe making business. Her husband Rajah got involved and they grew the business together, taking the finished goods to sell to merchants at one of Kolkata’s biggest markets. By March 2018 the family income had risen from Rs7000 a month to Rs13000 (this is a very good income, and much more than many of Tiljala SHED’s staff earn). The original loan was paid off in full by March 2018, but Noorbanu applied for a further loan. This time they took Rs20,000 and started to expand the business and to take on staff. The pictures you see were taken in January when I visited this industrious little factory built on a bank beside the railway. The Rs20,000 was also returned very quickly and Noorbanu now employs 8 staff. They make 100 pairs of shoes a day and clear Rs15 – 20 profit per pair.
Rajah is clearly in charge of the factory, but Noorbanu is responsible for the finances and they seem to be a great team. They are planning a future away from the chaos of the railway squatters where they can set up a formal factory and a comfortable home.
By all accounts, like so many of the men in these communities, Rajah had been a bit of a troublemaker, drinking hooch and becoming violent. But he is a changed man, they say, having put all of that behind him.
In fact, the reduction in domestic violence is, for me, one of the most significant outcomes of this excellent project. With access to credit these women are truly empowered to change their own and their families’ lives.
And, of course, the Rs35,000 lent to Noorbanu, was returned to the Revolving Fund and is now busy helping other families to lift themselves out of poverty and despair.
Please consider a generous donation today – even better a regular contribution – so that you can transform the lives of extremely vulnerable women in this forgotten part of Kolkata.
This week the first $50 (£38) of every donation attracts an additional 60% in matched funding. So, if you are a UK taxpayer a donation of £38 is worth over £70 to us until Friday 12th April 2019
The numbers:
Number of beneficiaries/loans since June 2016 428
Beneficiaries with 2nd loans 50
Beneficiaries with 3rd loans 4
Total amount disbursed £81,344 (about half is from returned loans)
Loan recovery rate 96.6% (Yes, really)
Each time I visit Kolkata I make a point of visiting as many of the beneficiaries of this project as I can. Mainly because these women’s stories are so uplifting. Read here how a small micro loan of just £200 empowers a woman to lift herself out of poverty.
"Usha’s husband died just few years after her marriage. She has 2 sons. They were very small when her husband passed away.
After her husband passed away she faced struggle and hardship and ultimately, she became a maidservant and it was just contributing Rs.1500-2000 per month to her family. This small income was not enough. Usha always wanted to do something big which she had in her mind. But time was not with her and she faced many hurdles. She became a part of the CIG and eventually she got a loan of Rs.20,000/ to start her saree business. She is selling sarees door to door and also gets her customer at her doorstep. She lives in a small hut at Topsia canal side and the condition of the house is ramshackle. With her sincere effort, the saree business was booming, and her sales were touching skies. She repaid the loan in 6 months which had a time period of 10 months. She has bigger plans for her expansion. She applied for loan again and after discussion with the CIGs she again got a loan but this time Rs.30, 000/. She is the first beneficiary to get a Rs.30, 000/ loan and she is repaying fast without any delay.
After her husband passed away she faced struggle and hardship and ultimately, she became a maidservant and it was just contributing Rs.1500-2000 per month to her family. This small income was not enough. Usha always wanted to do something big which she had in her mind. But time was not with her and she faced many hurdles. She became a part of the CIG and eventually she got a loan of Rs.20,000/ to start her saree business. She is selling sarees door to door and also gets her customer at her doorstep. She lives in a small hut at Topsia canal side and the condition of the house is ramshackle. With her sincere effort, the saree business was booming, and her sales were touching skies. She repaid the loan in 6 months which had a time period of 10 months. She has bigger plans for her expansion. She applied for loan again and after discussion with the CIGs she again got a loan but this time Rs.30, 000/. She is the first beneficiary to get a Rs.30, 000/ loan and she is repaying fast without any delay.
With her income she is planning to shift from her kacha kouse (temporary makeshift) to pucca (permanent structure) house in the slum which is an indication of her stable income. She is famous in the area and people call her "sareewali" - the sari seller. Usha is trying her best to transform her life. She is one of many who inspire us in our daily life.”
Almost 400 women have now benefited from this fantastic project. We desperately need new funds so we can continue to provide loans and ultimately make this project entirely self sustaining.
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