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Ganga Das
Aruna Devi
Babita Devi
Sandhya Chakraborty
Sukmati Devi
Rupali Bhowmik
Anjali Das
Mamtaj Begum
Gitika Das
Seeta Devi
Afsana Begum
Sharmila Devi
Alaka Habar
Rina Jha
Soma Das
Chhaya Choudhuri
Lakhsmi Devi
Sumana Das
Supriya Saha
Nilima Roy
Jaya Banik
Namita Malik
Ranjita Devi
Tulshi Paul
Mitini Nagashiya
Anita Halder
Aparna Mitra
Archana Bhattacharya
Dipti Adak
Malati Maity
Menaka Roy
Sandhya Roy
Anima Roy
Barnali Banerjee
Lebu Rani Ghosh
Manimala Manna
Roma Sardar
Sumitra Devi
Mamoni Mondal
Moyna Debnath
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Women entrepreneurs, when successful, act as a change maker in their families and society and inspire others to become self reliant and take up entrepreneurship. Their success helps families, society, and regional economies by contributing to the growth of the nation. One such success story lies behind the life of Anima Roy of Rajnagar village, Uttar Gomoti district, Tripura, who undertook to advance her own and her family’s economic well-being. Having born in abject poverty, married to a small farmer she has two children. Her husband’s income was not enough to fulfill their basic requirements and to provide their children basic education. She was thinking of doing something to help her husband and to support the family but due to lack of sufficient fund she was not being able to do anything .In this circumstances, she was forced to take risk, became courageous to come out of her home and participated in an income generating project with the help of Village Financial Services which motivates women into entrepreneurship, ascertain the challenges faced by women towards entrepreneurship development. VFS empowers women and provide necessary mental confidence for entrepreneurship. VFS representative advised her to become the member of joint liability group (JLG) and accordingly, Anima came to Udaypur branch of VFS and took a loan of Rs. 14000 from VFS to start a business of Rubber processing and a small shop of stationary products. Her business is growing day by day and she is planning to take 2nd cycle loan to expand her business .She thanked VFS “ VFS has helped me run my business, they have changed our life, my children are going to school, which would have not been possible without help from VFS..” A small loan paired with good training can launch a woman into business, bringing change to her family, which is the primary objective of Village Financial Services.
Ganga Das
Ganga Das of Kumirgor village was raised as a pampered child by her parents but after the sudden death of her father, she was forced to leave school, when she was going to class VIII, due to the poor economic condition of her family. She got married to Bapan Das from a very lower-middle class family but his income was not sufficient to meet the basic needs of the family. So Ganga decided to do something on her own. She learned weaving from a local institution. But she couldn’t afford buying a weaving machine. She happened to meet a representative from VFS who promised her all types of support including small loan. She joined a JLG group and took a small loan to buy a weaving macahine. She is taking loans from VFS over the past 5 years and her current outstanding loan is Rs. 30,000/ -. Now she is able to run the family smoothly, her daughter is studying Higher Secondary and her husband is running a business of making furniture. Now Ganga Das is a happy working woman and she is grateful to VFS for everything.Aruna Devi
She has been associated with Village for the past 3 years. She started off by taking a loan from VFS to set up a business of stitching falls onto sarees. As her business grew, she built her own 1 BHK house and supported her son’s education. Aruna now has ten females working for her with an income each of Rs 4000-5000 per month. She plans on employing more female workers to support them and wishes to continue her association with VFS.Babita Devi
Babita devi, Naugachia (BIHAR), a borrower, has been with associated with VFS for two years. She took an initial loan of Rs. 10000/- to start her own beauty parlor and also owns an agriculture business. Babita and her husband worked very hard for years to make their business thrive. She is bearing the expenses of her family and her kid's education and plans on expanding the business in the future.Sandhya Chakraborty
Sandhya Chakraborty is an inhabitant of Hariharpur village of Uttar Dinajpur district, West Bengal. Her husband was the only earning member of the family. He owned a small beverage shop but her husband’s income was too small to maintain the family consisting of her, a differently-abled girl child and a college-going son. Even a year ago, it was too hard to run the family with the small income of her husband. She was quite at a loss regarding to maintaining of her family and was thinking about the future of her children. In this situation, she was thinking of starting income generating activities of her own to improve the financial condition of her family. She started a small business of ‘Role gold ornaments’ but due to insufficient funds the business was not running properly. Suddenly, she came to know about VFS from one of her neighbors and came to our Kaliyaganj branch and joined a JLG named Mona, which was promoted by VFS. Initially, she took a loan of Rs 8000 to improve her business. Now her business has increased. She has taken the 5th cycle loan of Rs 30000 from VFS and has decorated a part of her husband’s shop for her business. Thus the income of the family has been growing by the day. At present, they have repaired their home and have bought many durable goods for the family. She also saves money for her daughter’s and her family’s future. She is very thankful to Village for supporting her in her stressful times. Now she is a happy and a confident woman. In her words, “I have come out from darkness with the help and support of VFS.”Sukmati Devi
Sukmati Devi has four children, One Son is a day labourer and three daughters are students. Her Husband is a day laborurer, too. She lives in Doiwala village of Dehradun District of Uttarakhand. Before taking a loan, she had a mall fast-food stall without any shade. Now she has a small hotel at the Doiwala market. Her husband also helps her with her business. Before she took the loan, her monthly income was of Rs 6000. Now her monthly income is Rs 10000.Rupali Bhowmik
Rupali Bhowmik, is an inhabitant of Tapan village of Dakshin Dinajpur district, West Bengal. Her husband, who owned a small beverage shop, suddenly died from c0ardiac failure a few years ago. After his death, the shop closed and it was quite impossible to maintain the family consisting of her and her son. She didn’t know what to do to keep her family afloat and was concerned about the future of her child. She began thinking of reopening the family shop but due to creditors and insufficient fund, it became impossible. Suddenly, she came to know about VFS from one of her neighbours’ and came to our Tapan branch, and then joined a JLG, which was promoted by VFS. Initially she took a loan of Rs 8000 to start the business. Now her business has improved, she has taken the 7th cycle loan of Rs 40000 from VFS and has decorated the shop. Thus the income of the family is growing by the day. At present, she has repaired her home and has bought many durable goods for the family. Her son goes to college. She also saves money for her son’s future. She is very thankful to Village for supporting her in her trying times. Now she is a happy and a confident woman. In her words, “I have come out from darkness with the help and support of VFS.”Anjali Das
Anjali Das, her husband and their only girl child lives in the Village-Kasba of Dakshin Dinajpur district, West Bengal. Her husband is a farmer by profession who cultivates mainly paddy, jute etc. He was the only earning member of the family. His income from cultivation was not sufficient to meet the family expenses and the education of their child, as expenses were growing gradually but income from the cultivation was decreasing by the day. In this situation, Anima Roy was thinking to start an income-generating activity to support her husband but due to inadequate funds, it was not possible to do so. She didn’t know what to do. After a few days, suddenly a VFS representative came to her home for a ‘household survey’ and advised her to be a member of a JLG. Inspired by the VFS representative, she took a loan of Rs. 14000 from our Buniadpur branch to purchase a second-hand TOTO for her husband’s part time work. She then purchased a cow with the 3rd circle loan of Rs 20000. She is very thankful to VFS for supporting her in the situation. Now she is a happy and a confident woman. In her words, “Today I am able to help my husband to run my family with my own income. It would not have been possible without the help of VFS. I am grateful to VFS.”Mamtaj Begum
There is a borrower of the Suri Branch named Mamtaj Begum who has taken loan Rs.10000 in the year 2015 for a small business of knitting and also started a knitting coaching centre this year for those who are engaged in their own businesses, which is a greatest instance of women’s empowerment. Then she has been given a looan amount of Rs.24000 in the year 2016 for same purpose and she flourished thereafter. She is now determined to provide better education to her son who is now going to a ITI. She is very grateful to VFS as she improved her lifestyle, which she developed gradually with the financial support from the organisation.Gitika Das
Gitika Das lives in Balikueia village in Nalbari with her two sons and Husband Vipul Das. In 1999, her husband engaged in daily work and the income was very low.. That time, they decided to start a business of handicrafts. Gradually, with hard work and proper planning, they improved their business and set up a production unit. They also a showroom. She got Rs 20000 from VFS and her business capital is Rs 80000. Her two sons going to private institutions. Gitika Das is spending a happy life now.Seeta Devi
Seeta Devi has a plastic flower business that she runs with her husband. They purchase raw material from Delhi and are making flowers at their home. They sell the plastic flowers in Haridwar, Gangotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath. She has three children and all are students. She has no other MFI Loan. After the loan was taken, their business capital become more than double. Now they are living a comfortable life.Afsana Begum
VFS provides sustainable income generation opportunities for underprivileged women in the villages. It extends credit and complementary financial services to households, entrepreneurs and small business owners which, in turn, create and sustain jobs, reduce poverty and empower their clients, particularly women. One such woman is Afsana Begum of the Powakhali branch, Bihar. Afsana Begum, along with her husband Jubair Alam and 2 children, had to fight poverty endlessly. Then Afsana came to know about VFS. A VFS representative promised her all kinds of support, including financia, to become an entrepreneur. She joined a JLG in her village and took a loan of Rs. 20000 for the first time from VFS office to start a business of Haldi (Turmeric) processing. She is happy that her business is growing by the day. Now she is planning for a 2nd cycle loan. Her children are going to school. She has also bought a buffalo. Now she is happy to be running the family smoothly. She expresses her gratitude to Village Financial for its help that changed her life for good.Sharmila Devi
Sharmila Devi is one of the borrowers of Sharmila JLG in the Kishanganj Branch. She is a resident of Ruidhasha, Kishanganj, Bihar. She is taking loans from VFS for the last seven years. In 2010, Sharmila Devi took a loan of Rs. 10000 from VFS for the first time and started a business of old cloth with her husband. Her present loan amount is Rs. 50000. Seven labours are working for her. She is also getting orders from outside the state. Now, her son is also looking after this business. Her business is running very well and she is willing to take more loans from VFS next year. Her daughter also helps her mother in this business. Her son and daughter have completed their education.Alaka Habar
Alaka Habar is the wife of Nemai Habar, of Village Raspur in Amta, Howrah Distrcit, West Bengal. Before 2010, she had a very small business of making idols. She could not expand her business to a shortage in capital. Her husband was day laborer. They used to live in a small mud house. It was very difficult for them to meet the family and the educational expenses of her two children. At that time, she met a VFS representative and came to know about VFS loans. She joined in JLG named, Madhumita JLG of the Penro branch. She had taken a 1st cycle of loan of Rs 10000 in 2010 and invested money in her idol-making business. Gradually, she took multiple cycles of loans from VFS and used them to increase her business. At present, her loan amount is Rs 26,000. She has taken a total loan of Rs 80000- from VFS. At present she and her husband are involved in this business. Now her total business capital is around Rs 90000. She has also built a concrete house with 2 rooms. Her two children go to high school. She is very happy now. In her word,” This would have not been possible without the help from VFS.”Rina Jha
Rina Jha of Mishra para, Bankra is associated with Bankra branch, VFS for last 7 years. Now she is self-reliant and well- established in the society. With a keen desire to increase the earning her family income she met a representative of Village Financial Services. She understands all the procedure and regulations to take loan and joined a JLG group in her village to take a loan of Rs. 20000/- for the 1st time. She started a business of cutting cloth. Initially, she used to involve her husband and son in her business related work. Now she has appointed 3 laborers in the business. Gradually she has taken loans of Rs.20000/-, Rs.15000/-, Rs.15000/-, Rs. 15000/-, Rs.22000/-, Rs.30000/-, Rs.30000/- respectively in the last 7 years from Bankra branch. Now her business capital is around Rs. 1, 50,000/-. She has transformed her old one room house to a 2nd storied building. Her sons are also well established. Rina Jha of Mishra para, Bankra, is associated with Bankra branch for the past 7 years. Now she is self-reliant and well- established in society. With a keen desire to increase her family’s income, she met a representative of Village Financial Services. She joined a JLG in her village to take a loan of Rs. 20000 for the first time. She started a business of cutting cloth. Initially, she used to involve her husband and son in business-related work. Now she has appointed workers. She took loans of Rs.20000-, Rs.15000, Rs.15000-, Rs. 15000, Rs.22000, Rs.30000 and Rs.30000, respectively, over the past 7 years from the Bankra branch. Now her business capital is worth around Rs. 1,50,000. She has transformed her old one-room house to a two-storeyed building. Her sons are also well established. She says VFS has totally changed her life. She is grateful to VFS for the turnaround. In her word VFS has totally changed her life. She is grateful to VFS for all that happened to her life.Soma Das
Soma Das is an inhabitant of Palpara village of Sipahijala district, Tripura. Her husband was the only earning member of the family. He is a driver by profession but her husband’s income was too small to maintain the family consisting of his wife, two children and his mother. A few years ago, it was too hard to run the family with the low income of her husband. She was worried about meeting family expenses and kept thinking about the future of her children. In this situation, she was planning to start a income-generating activities on her own to improve the financial condition of her family and wanted to launch a small business of making fishing tramps from bamboo. But, due to insufficient funds she could not do it. It was at that point of time she came to know about VFS from one of her neighbors and came to our Melaghar branch. She then joined a JLG named Lakhi, promoted by VFS. Initially, she took a loan of Rs 10,000 to start her business. Now her business has improved. At present, she is planning to take the 2nd cycle loan from VFS to purchase bulk raw materials for her business. Thus, the income of the family is growing by the day. She has now repaired her home and her son is going to a kindergarten school. She is also planning send her daughter to school. Soma Das has now bought many durable goods for the family. She also saves money for the future of her children and the family. She is very thankful to Village for supporting her when her chips were really down. Now, she is a happy and a confident woman. In her words, “I have come out from darkness with the help and support of VFS.”Chhaya Choudhuri
Chhaya Choudhuri of Lalbag Branch, Chhaya Choudhuri is associated with the Lalbag Branch, She took a loan of Rs.8000 in the year 2011 for starting a small fruit shop. She has also opened a shop for various items this year. As her business was growing, she took a 2ndcycle loan of Rs.20000 in 2016 for the same purpose and her businesses began to flourish. She is now determined to grow her business and contribute to her family. She is very grateful to VFS as she improved her lifestyle with the financial support the organization provided.Lakhsmi Devi
Lakhsmi Devi of Thakurganj branch has two sons and one daughter– all school-going with the eldest one studying in class IX. A co-borrower, her husband is a farmer. Now she has taken a 2nd cycle loan of Rs. 30000 from VFS for maize cultivation. She has farmland for maize and banana. Also, she has a tea garden.Sumana Das
Sumana Das of Kona, Parbat Para, is associated with VFS Balitikuri branch for the past three years. She took an initial loan of Rs. 10,000 from VFS and invested the money in her husband’s hosiery business. Next year, she took a loan of Rs. 25,000 and invested in the same business. Their business grew to the extent that they had to appoint four workers. Now her current outstanding loan amount to VFS is Rs. 46,000- and her business capital is worth Rs. 180,000.Her financial condition is much better than before. She is very happy to become a successful businesswoman and is grateful to VFS for its timely support.Supriya Saha
Supriya Saha Poddar along with her husband and two children lives in the Village-Santanagar of West Tripura district, Tripura. Supriya Saha Poddar, along with her husband and two children, live in Village Santanagar of West Tripura District, Tripura. Her husband is a potter by profession; He was the only earning member of the family. His income, however, was not sufficient to meet the family expenses. They could neither support the education of their children because the expenses kept mounting, while the income from the business was not growing as per the need. In this situation, she was thinking about starting an income-generating activity to support her husband but due to insufficient funds, it was not possible to do so. She was getting frustrated. It was around this time, she happened to meet a VFS representative who advised her to be a member of a JLG. Inspired by the VFS representative, she took a loan of Rs. 15,000 from our West Tripura branch to start a business of pot decorations needed for different occasions. Initially, the business was not so profitable but now it is doing well. Her husband does the marketing for the product. Now she is a confident working woman and is very thankful to VFS for supporting her. She says, “Today I am able to help my husband to run my family with my own income. It would have not been possible without the help of VFS.”Nilima Roy
Nilima Roy is a customer of the Siliguri Branch. Her husband is Uttam Roy. They have one son and a daughter. She lives in Shanti Para, Bhakti Nagar, Siliguri. She has used loans for making Agarbatti – a small business she is running for the past three years. Both Nilima and her husband are involved in this business. Her first VFS loan was of Rs. 20,000. Now she has taken a loan of Rs. 30,000. These two loans have immensely helped her business, which she runs from her house. Her son is in BA final year and her daughter goes to Class VII. Both are very good students. Nilima Roy wants to take more loans from VFS.Jaya Banik
Jaya Banik, of Tajmohal JLG, developed her family-run wholesale business of nut, dalmoot, bhujia etc. by taking a loan of Rs. 25,000 from Village Financial Services, Jolaibari branch. She used this loan to purchase nuts and other raw materials to grow her business. Economically self-reliant, Jaya is happy with her business and family, as well as satisfied with the service of VFS.Namita Malik
Six years back, Namita Malik, of Pahalampur Village, Hoogly District, was a simple homemaker. Her husband’s income from masonry was not sufficient to maintain the family. In this situation, she came to know about VFS. With the support of her husband, she decided to start a business in her own home. She took a loan of Rs. 12,000 from VFS for the first time and purchased a machine to make stove pins. At present, she owns different machines for designing, cutting and pinning in her new concrete house. Her four children are being sent to school. She has been hailed as a role model of a successful woman in her locality. Namita is grateful to VFS for the support she received from it to grow her business.Ranjita Devi
Ranjita Devi of the VFS Beluri Branch, Bihar, had a small dairy farm. Her husband was a labourer in transport business in the Purnea region.. The family was barely able to meet the household expenses. In 2016, she invested a loan of Rs 50,000 from VFS, in purchasing cows. With six cows at present, her dairy farm produces 20 litres of milk daily. This increase in her purchasing power has lent momentum to her plan of expanding the business with the help of VFS. Now, both her sons have enrolled in English-medium schools. As a successful entrepreneur, Ranjita Devi is a true inspiration for all of us.Tulshi Paul
Tulshi Paul of Islampur has been associated with VFS for the past eight years. She had taken her first loan from VFS, Islampur branch, for Rs 10,000, to start a business of supari (betel nut) . Tulshi and her husband’s tireless hard work has caused their business to thrive. Today, their daughter is going to college. She has employed ten women in her business for cutting and packing supari. Tulshi’s husband helps her by selling the supari in the retail market. Tulshi Paul has decided to continue her association with VFS to grow her business further.Mitini Nagashiya
Mitini Nagashiya, her husband and three of their children live in extreme poverty in the Kharibari block of Darjeeling district. The condition of their house was more or less inhabitable. Her husband used to work as a daily wager with a tea garden. While he was the only earning member of the family, his income was also quite irregular. Bearing the regular expenses of the family was getting more difficult by the day. The overall condition of the household was quite miserable. In 2014, Mitini decided to contribute to the family income but had no funds to start any income-generating activities. After a few days, a VFS representative came to her home and advised her to become a member of a Joint Liability Group. Inspired by the VFS representative, she took a loan of Rs. 15,000 from VFS, Kharibari branch, to take lease of a piece of land for cultivation. As their income improved, her family repaired their home and the children started going to school. She has also taken a 2nd cycle loan of Rs. 20,000 to take more land on lease for cultivation. Mitini Nagashiya says, "This would not have been possible without the help of VFS, I salute the noble mission of the organization".Anita Halder
Anita Halder of Hatsimla village, Nadanhat , Burdwan, got married at a very early age. Her husband Bharat Halder had no fixed income. She had to return to her maternal home where they somehow managed to stay in a house fenced with straws. The family was pushed to penury, trying to fight hunger and poverty. At this time, Anita came to know about VFS. A VFS representative promised her all kinds of support. She joined a JLG in her village and took a loan of Rs. 20,000 from VFS to buy a weaving machine. Using the income generated from the weaving machine, she repaid her installments and went on to take multiple cycles of loan to enhance her infrastructure. Now, she owns 3 weaving machines. She is in her fourth cycle loan worth Rs. 34,000. Using her earnings, she has built a house with a concrete floor. Her daughter is a student of class IX and son is in class II, which is a matter of great satisfaction to her. Now, she is a happy working woman. In her words, ““I will never forget the role of VFS, which has helped me to change our lives.””.Aparna Mitra
VFS aims to empower borrowers by helping them build a business which can create income and grow. One such borrower is Aparna Mitra, Nimta, North 24 pgs. Five years back, Aparna’s husband passed away. Widowed with a son and living in a small house, she became helpless. She has no way to feed her son. Her husband used to run a business of making candle which shut down after his death. But she never lost her mental strength. Meanwhile, she came across a representative of Village Financial Services and came to know how VFS supports the poor women in remote areas of the country to help them become self-sufficient. Aparna started taking loans from VFS to make up for the loss of her husband’s income. She became more self-sufficient as her son got older and was able to fulfill her dream of opening a small business. On 25th July, 2012, she took a loan of Rs. 8000/- from VFS for the 1st time to revive her husband’s candle making business. Since then, she has taken multiple cycles of loan to grow her business and so far she has taken a total loan of Rs. 91000/- from VFS. Now she has 8 employees under her. Aparna said, “Before I met VFS, I had no hope” she added, “now I have my own business and my life has improved. My goal now is to buy my own house and to look after my son’s education”.Archana Bhattacharya
VFS provides sustainable income generation opportunities for underprivileged women in the villages. It extends credit and complimentary financial services to households, entrepreneurs and small business owners which create and sustain jobs, reduce poverty and empower their clients, particularly women. One such woman is Archana Bhattacharya of Ariadaha, Belghoria. It is hard to imagine that once she had gone through an endless struggle against poverty. To support her family, she took training in the beautician course and used to go to customers’ place as and when she got a call. At that time, a VFS representative came to her place and explained her about the services they provide. Archana joined a self-help group in her village and took a loan of Rs. 5000 from VFS for purchasing beauty products. That time, her average monthly income was Rs. 2000. She was then thinking of getting a permanent place for providing service. Initially, she had taken a room on rent to run a beauty parlour but now she has her own facility and her present outstanding loan amount is Rs. 30,000. She is now earning around Rs. 10,000 per month. She expresses her gratitude to VFS for helping her change her life.Dipti Adak
Many of the successful have started with nothing and, through hard work, talent, grit, and a bit of luck, managed to rise to the top. Dipti Adak of Panchanantala is one such woman who had a hard life to lead. She, her husband and their two daughters were struggling in impoverished conditions. Her husband was in the business of making goods like hammers, saws, door handles, window latches, gas lamps, etc. from iron, but it was not running well. Work was not easy to come by. All she could manage was a job as a daily wager. During this time, she met a VFS representative and on his advice she joined a Joint Liability Group in her village and took a loan of Rs. 3000 from the VFS, Balitikuri branch with the intention of helping her husband in his business. But she had a strong desire to do something on her own. With that strong intact, she started a business of making different goods of sequins. As of date, herr outstanding loan amount with VFS is Rs. 50000, with a savings of Rs. 400,000 from the two businesses. She has arranged her elder daughter’s marriage in a good family. Dipti Devi, her husband and their youngest daughter are all involved in running the business successfully. She also employs around fifteen workers to help fulfill orders. Dipti Adak is now a happy working woman. She is handling her business as well as household chores with equal efficiency. For all these things, she is grateful to VFS. In her words, "VFS has changed our lives."Malati Maity
Malati Maity is a resident of Alankarpur village, Ramnagar Block, East Midnapur.she lives with her husband and two children. She used to work for someone else, preparing handicrafts with sea-shells. She decided to quit the job to become self-employed, and met a representative of VFS, the best decision she has ever made. With the promise of all kind of support from VFS, she was convinced that she could build a business on her own, and offer a good life to her children. Inspired by the VFS representative, she joined a Self-Help Group and took a loan of Rs. 10000 from the Ramnagar branch of VFS and started making handicrafts from the sea-shells on her own. After the repayment of the said loan, she has taken multiple loans of Rs. 12000, Rs. 15000, Rs. 24000 and Rs. 30000, respectively, to extend her business. She is making different kinds of handicrafts items like idols of different Gods and Goddesses and various types of decorative items with shells. She also prepares customized items. Her average monthly income has risen to around Rs 20000, helping her replace her kaccha bari with a pakka bari, and open a savings bank account. Her son is going to a renowned school, with her daughter married in a good family. In the words of Malati, "Now I have become self-sufficient, which would have not been possible without the support from VFS.”Menaka Roy
Menaka Roy, a mother of two of Bhupatipur village, Munshirhat, Howrah district, was struggling with poverty along with her husband Pratap Roy. They were not even able to fulfill their basic needs. Her husband was a daily labourer with irregular income. In her words, "I was not sure whether I will be able to feed my children tomorrow or not”. In 2011, she came to know about VFS from her neighbor. She got convinced that VFS provides micro-loans while empowering the borrowers to generate income of their own by providing various skilled-based training. Then she joined a self-help group and took a loan of Rs. 6000 from VFS, Munshirhat branch to start a business of making bamboo baskets. She purchases bamboos from 15 different markets and runs a wholesale business at the Munshirhat market. She has taken multiple cycles of loan from VFS for her business, totaling Rs. 85000. Her present business capital is Rs.150,000 . The business is growing and she has also involved her husband. Recently, she has bought a 5-katha land using the income from her business. Both her children are going to school, making her a proud businesswoman. She is grateful to VFS for helping to fulfill her dreams.Sandhya Roy
VFS involves extending small loans, savings and other basic financial services to people that do not currently have access to capital. It’s a key strategy in helping people living in poverty to become financially independent, which helps them become more resilient and better enabled to provide for their families in times of economic difficulty. Sandhya Roy of Daralhat village of Dakshin Dinajpur is such a woman, who benefited from VFS. Her husband is the only earning member of the family. His small income was not sufficient to fulfill the basic needs of the family consisting of his son, daughter-in-law and grandson. Sandhya devi was thinking of doing something to help her husband to run the family smoothly. But due to a lack of funds, she was not able to do anything. At that time, one VFS representative came to her house with a promise of providing every kind of support, including financial support. She joined a JLG and took a loan of Rs. 6,000 from VFS to start a nursery business on shared land. Initially, her income was negligible but gradually she took multiple cycles of loan to extend the business. Currently, she is running with a 6th cycle of loan of Rs. 30,000. Now her business is running very well and she has converted it into her own land. She is very happy with her business as she has been able to bring smile on the face of each of her family members. Sandhya says, “Today, I am able to bear all the expenses of my family, which would have not been possible without VFS.”Anima Roy
“If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man's superior”. – Mahatma GandhiWomen entrepreneurs, when successful, act as a change maker in their families and society and inspire others to become self reliant and take up entrepreneurship. Their success helps families, society, and regional economies by contributing to the growth of the nation. One such success story lies behind the life of Anima Roy of Rajnagar village, Uttar Gomoti district, Tripura, who undertook to advance her own and her family’s economic well-being. Having born in abject poverty, married to a small farmer she has two children. Her husband’s income was not enough to fulfill their basic requirements and to provide their children basic education. She was thinking of doing something to help her husband and to support the family but due to lack of sufficient fund she was not being able to do anything .In this circumstances, she was forced to take risk, became courageous to come out of her home and participated in an income generating project with the help of Village Financial Services which motivates women into entrepreneurship, ascertain the challenges faced by women towards entrepreneurship development. VFS empowers women and provide necessary mental confidence for entrepreneurship. VFS representative advised her to become the member of joint liability group (JLG) and accordingly, Anima came to Udaypur branch of VFS and took a loan of Rs. 14000 from VFS to start a business of Rubber processing and a small shop of stationary products. Her business is growing day by day and she is planning to take 2nd cycle loan to expand her business .She thanked VFS “ VFS has helped me run my business, they have changed our life, my children are going to school, which would have not been possible without help from VFS..” A small loan paired with good training can launch a woman into business, bringing change to her family, which is the primary objective of Village Financial Services.
Barnali Banerjee
Barnali Banerjee of Parambua village , Dhaniakhali Block, Hooghly district is a simple homemaker. She, her husband and their two children were struggling with poverty. Her husband used to work as a tailor, which was far from meeting the basic needs of the family. This situation played a great role in pushing her into a primary earning role. Both of them decided to do something on their own. They had an idea to start a stationery shop. But they didn’t have the required capital to start the shop. hey tried to a get loan from banks and other sources but could not avail because banks asked for collateral, which they were unable to provide. This time, Barnali met a VFS representative who promised her all kinds of support, including financial support. So, they took steps to start, rejuvenate and grow their small businesses with the stationery shop. In the month of March, 2016, she took a loan of Rs. 20,000 from VFS for the first time. With the money, they started the stationery shop behind a school in their locality, which Barnali dreamt of. Apart from books and other stationery goods, they started operating a photocopy machine. She has taken a total of Rs 76,000 in loans. Her outstanding loan amount is Rs. 36,000. Now her children are receiving quality education. They are living a healthy and a contended life. Barnali says, “My life is far from being perfect but I am happy with what I have and working hard to get where I want to be. I am happy and grateful to VFS for showing me the road.”Lebu Rani Ghosh
Lebu Rani Ghosh of Bolpur is another story of women’s empowerment. She was starving with her husband, a son and a daughter. Her husband is a farmer and the son is working as a daily labor. She came to know about VFS from one of her neighbors and joined a JLG in her village which changed her life and made her self-confident. Initially, she took a small loan of Rs. 10000/- and started a business of milk. Through sheer hard work she has been able to grow her business day by day. With the income generated from her business, she repaid her first loan and took another loan. In this way, she has taken multiple cycles of loans from VFS. At present, she is running with her 7th cycle of loan of Rs. 35000/- . Now, she owns 5 cows and accordingly, her business has grown. Her daughter is a student of class XII. She is an inspiration to many other women in her village. She thanks VFS for changing her life.Manimala Manna
Stories of heroic struggles against odds, survival and eventual triumph have always inspired people, given them hope and courage to fight. Here, the Story of Manimal Manna, which we believe, would ignite our never-say-die spirit and inspire us to become all that we can be. Manimala Manna, of Garbalia, Jagatballavpur, Howrah , is a remarkable testimony of empowerment through collective action. Manimala, with a strong desire of building a bright future for herself, her children and husband Ashta Manna, joined a Self-Help group in her village following advice from a VFS representative. Now, she is running with a 6th cycle of loan of Rs. 30000/- from the Bargachhia branch. She started with Rs. 5000/- and continued with Rs. 5000/-, Rs. 7000/-, Rs.10000/-, Rs.14000/- , Rs. 20000 and Rs. 30000/-. Initially, she used to make wooden brushes. Now she is doing a business of making machinery brush. She has also engaged a few women of her village in her business, making them self- sufficient. Her children are going to school now. Not only that, she has been able to build a pakka house for them. Manimala says,”I got every support from VFS to run my business, and without their help I could have not reached here.”Roma Sardar
Women are not only more likely to be the primary caregivers in a family but, increasingly, primary breadwinners, too. One such woman, Rama Sardar of Katolia village, Domjur, Howrah Dist, along with her husband Buddhadeb Sardar, was living in extreme poverty. She recalled the days when she and her husband were living in a small hut (Dorma house). Her husband was a daily labor but his income was not sufficient to make both ends meet. Then, a representative of VFS came to her house with the promise to help her by providing small loans, ideas and proper skill development training through its microfinance initiative . She joined a women’s self-help group in her village and took a small loan of Rs. 5000 in the year 2010 from VFS with a strong desire to stand upright in society. With this amount, she started a job of decorating houses during different festivals by cutting patterns out of thermocol . Then to extend the business, she took 5th cycles of loans of Rs. 10000/- , Rs.15000/- , Rs.20000 and Rs. 22000/-, respectively, during the period 2011-2016. Now, she is getting orders for decorating pandals on occasions like weddings, pujas etc. She has built a larger living space (pakka bari) for her growing family. She has also opened a shop and named it ‘Pushpa Art Centre’. Rama and the women in her self-help group still have a long way to go. Yet this is a remarkable story of empowerment through collective action. The confidence these women had cultivated over time carries as much currency as their earnings. It inspired them to organize themselves and work hard towards building a better future. Now, Roma expresses her deep gratitude to VFS. In her words, it would have never been possible without the support from VFS.Sumitra Devi
Sumitra Devi of Purnea, Bihar, is a homemaker. Her husband has a small business of making rice and wheat by processing paddy. She wanted to support her husband to meet the family expenses. But she was not able to collect funds which she required to start a business. At that time, one VFS representative came to her house with the promise of supporting her by providing small loans. She joined a JLG in her village and took a loan from VFS. With this loan amount, she started a business of cut-pieces and tailoring. With the income she generated from her tailoring business, she has repaid her 1st loan and then a 2nd cycle loan. Now, her outstanding loan amount is Rs. 30000/- . She has engaged 4 workers for her business and has built a two-storeyed house. Her children are getting proper education. She is planning to take more loans from VFS as she wants to make her business grow.Mamoni Mondal
Village Financial Services believes that women have a unique position in every society. Real development cannot take place if it bypasses women. VFS is a major role player in the employment of rural women. One such woman is Mamoni Monadal of Charchandanbati village, KalyanI. Her husband, Tulsi Mondal, is a daily labour, who could not fulfill the basic needs of the family, including that of his son and aging parents. He was not being able to give his son primary education. Also, he was unable to provide proper medicine for his aging parents. Mamoni was determined to build a future for herself and her son. Also, she wanted to support her husband in running the family smoothly. In 2010, she happened to meet a representative from VFS, which was Godsend for her. Mamoni became a customer of microfinance services – an initiative by Village Financial Services that supports the poorest of the poor in remote areas of the country to help them meet their basic needs and become self-sufficient .First, she took a loan of Rs. 5000/- from VFS and started making panipuri at home. They used to sell them in the local area. Gradually, she was able to grow her business of making panipuri. She took multiple loans from VFS, starting from Rs. 5000/-Now her outstanding loan is Rs. 25000/- . She has replaced her small hut with a building, and her son is going to school. Mamoni started with nothing, and was constantly pushed back by society. But she never gave up, and now, her son has a good life. She is living with a force of a mother’s love and a woman’s strength. This has not only created a new future not for her son but has also empowered her to help other women like herself. The training provided by VFS has given her the confidence to take immediate actions. “The knowledge I gained from the training from VFS has entered my bones, not just my head,” Mamoni says.
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