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The Salmafamily.
Salma's husband is a rikshaw driver and though he labours hard, the income is insufficient for a family of six. The husband and wife were under constant pressure to make ends meet. Much as they wished to send the older children to school, it seemed an impossible task. It was under these circumstances that Salma decided to learn certain skills so as to generate additional income and give a helping hand to her husband.
Since there was no money to acquire any formal training, she joined a beauty cum hairdressing parlour in the neighborhood and gradually learnt the business. She remained with the parlour for two years on a nominal salary. Once she was confident of her skills, Saima decided to open her own parlour. Her husband encouraged her along. The problem was of space as there was no spare room in her small house.
She approached her mother who allowed her some space in her house. She now needed to equip her parlor with basic furniture and equipment before she could get started. But where would she get the money from ? She tried to raise funds by asking her mother and others but to no avail.
While she was planning to return to her previous employer, she was advised by a local community organisation to contact us. We leased her the required equipment and Salma opened her parlour with a glow on her face and a prayer in her heart.
After a while she realized that if she moved her parlour to the main road, she would fare much better. She rented the space with the saving made during the year. The new location attracted more clients and Salma extended her activity by introducing training programmes at the parlour for the ladies living nearby. The programmes proved to be quite popular and brought in the much needed extra income.
Saima and her husband now lead a better and less pressured lives. All the four children attend schools and get the basic health care whenever needed.
Salma now looks to the future with confidence. A confidence borne
out of sharing the load with her husband and contributing to the family
wellbeing.
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