According to traditions Jamila was married off when she had barely completed her primary school education.  She moved to a goth (village) on the outskirts of Karachi and began life as a housewife.  Her husband was a sub-contractor and the earnings sufficed to provide two square meals a day.  The question of Jamila contributing to the income process, did not arise as it was against the goth traditions.

After a few years and four girl children, just as jamila had reconciled to her life, the husband abandoned her.  The small sum of money he had left behind soon dwindled.  With four small children on her hand and no one to turn to, Jamila mustered all her courage and initiative to open a small grocery store in the front room of her house.

She soon developed a clientele of neighborhood women and children, who henceforth had to go far to buy the grocery and other items.  She gradually strengthened herself and started visiting the city market to buy her supplies direct, This increased her income and gave her a whole new perspective of life.

She however realized her constraints.  Her market was limited and she had to augment her income, somehow, True, her little girls were reasonably well fed but she also wanted them to be educated, and not just upto the primary and secondary level, but higher.

As luck would have it, the village was visited by a health organization who wished to train women as health workers in providing vaccination facility to women & children.  Jamila saw this an ideal way of increasing her income.  She obtained the necessary training and started providing vaccination facility in her village, at a small fee.

Though her two activities were not co-related, Jamila experienced one common constraint.  If only she owned a refrigerator / freezer (luckily the village had electricity), she could stock goods for her grocery store as well as vaccines and medicines.  This would also cut down her travel expenses considerably and she would benefit from bulk buying.

Jamila explained her problem to us and was delighted to hear that our programme catered to such situations.  The refrigerator / freezer, though costing only Rs. 16000 (US$ 290) has had a considerable impact on her income, which has more than doubled.

At least one of her dreams came true.  Her children are receiving education and the eldest daughter also minds the store after school, when the mother is carrying on her health services activity.