MEET ZARNEGAR, A PROUD AND HAPPY ENTREPRENEUR
Zarnegar, mother of 3 kids is 34 years old and lives with her husband’s parents in Elderaz village of Balkhab district, Sarepul province.
She says “5 years ago my husband was paralyzed due to some disease and is not able to work. He used to be an agriculture farmer, working on leased lands to earn living for our family. After he fell sick, I had to sell most of our assets to feed the family”.
Zarnegar has lived a very difficult live and explains the past with sorrow. She has experienced tough jobs such as doing laundry and washing dishes for neighbors, she says” I was not lucky enough to find a job every day, when I found a work to do, I was worried about the kids at home”.
Zarnegar joined Taban Self Help Group after HiH Af started mobilization in her community, she attended regular group meetings, received Group Management, Microfinance and Business Development Services (BDS) training. She was very interested to have a business and generate income in order to help her family so she chose to join handicraft vocational skills training and received enterprise startup kit upon successful completion of the training.
She earns around AFN 4,000 per month and says “I am very proud and happy to be able to help my family. I am running my business from home which enables me to take care of my husband and children”.
She added “My customers are mostly neighbors and relatives but I also have customers coming from other villages which encourages me to do better work and creates confident for brighter future.”
Zarnegar knits children and women dresses based on customers’ orders and requests.
Zarnegar has also attended Life Skill Training for Entrepreneurs conducted by HiH Af. Through this training she has learnt the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic calculations.
She Says “HiH Af has built my skills and supported with tools which enabled me to generate decent income and have a job”.
Zarnegar has saved AFN 12,000 so far and plans to save more money for her husband’s treatment. She also plans to expand her enterprise and attract more customers from other villages for her products.