MEERA DEVI

CONFIDENCE IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS

 

This case is based on the life of a client from Saija’s Muzaffarpur branch. It explains how a client used two loan products from Saija and saw numerous benefits

Our client Meera Devi hails from Bejha, a small village in Muzaffarpur. Currently, she is repaying her second loan cycle of Saija Mahila Rin. Meera’s family consists of her husband and three children. Their source of income initially came from her husband alone, who worked as a carpenter. It was difficult for the family to get by financially and Meera always thought of doing something on her own. She tried to save a little money from her husband’s income to start a small shop on her own.

It was in 2015 when she heard of Saija. Thanks to a Field Executive named Jitendra, she joined a group named Juhi and took a loan of Rs.15,000 from Saija. With that money, she opened her dream business. Over time she started making a profit and life became easier for her family.

Meera faced difficulties in running her business because the place where she lived lacked electrification, so that when the sun set, she was forced to rely on kerosene lamps to light her shop.

During a weekly group meeting, she learned that Saija Urja Rin (SUR) offered solar products. Meera was able to purchase a solar lamp for just Rs.22, and pay the remainder in installments. With reliable lighting Meera kept her shop open until 9 pm, and watched sales and profits grow even more.  She then could realize her biggest dream of all: sending her three children to school.

When Meera’s first loan cycle was finishing, she took out a second loan of Rs.30,000 to expand her income generating activities further. She bought buffaloes this time, and used her solar lamp when she was feeding the buffaloes every morning before 6 am.

Seeing so many uses for solar lamps, she applied for a SUR loan so that she could get two more solar lamps. Now she uses one for her shop and the second lamp when she is feeding the buffalos in the morning and evening. Her children use one lamp for their studies and now they can be independent and study longer in the evenings. Using solar saved Meera a monthly kerosene cost of Rs. 400 per month, and at the same time her family’s quality of life improved; her children no longer had to breather the toxic fumes emitted from kerosene lamps and she did not have to worry about the lamp falling over and burning down the house.