MEET RAHIMA, A YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR

Rahima is 19 years old and lives in Kelkaba village of Balkhab district of Sarepul province. Her father is a farmer and mother is house wife. She has two elder brothers and they all live together. Her father used to be the only income earner in the family. She says “ My brothers & I were going to school and we could never ask our father for stationery and books, because we knew he wasn’t able to afford. We were facing serious financial problems. My brother wanted to leave school and to do some work in order to help the family but since it was his last year of high school, we encouraged him to continue”.

Rahima joined Etifaq Self Help Group (SHG) two years ago and attended regular group meetings, since she was student in high school at that time; She was elected as bookkeeper of the SHG. She received series of training from HiH Af including Group Management, Book Keeping, Microfinance and Business Development Services (BDS). She says “after attending BDS training, I was encouraged to have a business and generate income. At first it seemed difficult or even impossible, but then HiH Af village enterprise facilitator motivated me to believe in myself. I chose beekeeping because I knew there is market for honey, it doesn’t require much space and also it requires less time.”

Rahima received beekeeping vocational skills training from HiH Af and upon completion of the training last year she received one box of honey bees in order to establish her micro-enterprise.

Now she owns 3 boxes of bees, she has produced 15 KGs of honey and sold 12KGs for AFN 12,000. She said “we had never bought honey at home because we could never afford, this season we have used 3 KGs of honey at home, my family is so happy and my father is proud of me.”

She has also reproduced 3 additional bee boxes and selling each for AFN 3,000. She says “this year I completed high school and I already have a business. I have my own saving, I am helping my brother to continue his education.”

She also says “I have always wanted to become a teacher, now that I have a business I am confident I will achieve all my goals.” She plans to further expand her business and join teacher training center in her district next year.

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