GHULAM HUSSAIN: MY INCOME HAS IMPROVED OUR LIVES
25 years old Ghulam Hussain, single and lives with parents, His father is a farmer and mother is a house wife, he has 2 younger brothers and a sister. He says “I left school when I was in 9th grade to support my family because my father’s income was never sufficient for entire family, and as the eldest son of the family, I was responsible to work. I used to work as wage worker and could hardly find a job for 10 days in a month. I didn’t have any skills, had no idea from where to start. Life was difficult and I had no option”.
He joined ‘Etihad e Mardomi’ Self Help Group and started saving on regular basis, he has received Group Management, Book Keeping, Microfinance and Business Development Services (BDS) Training. He has been very interested to learn a new skill, therefore he received vocational skills training on motorbike repairing and upon completion of the training he was provided enterprise start-up kit, in order to establish his enterprise, he also borrowed AFN 10,000 from the SHG and established his workshop in Dana Village of Balkhab district.
Now he is earning around AFN 12,000 per month. He is helping his family and taking the responsibility of his brothers and sister who attends school. “I don’t want my brother and sister to leave school like me because of financial problems” stated Ghulam Hussain, “My income has significantly improved our lives, now I am confident that my brothers and sister will have a better future” he added.
Ghulam Hussain has already repaid the first loan and he is planning to secure another loan from the SHG to expand his business by selling motorbike accessories and spare parts, he says “Now I am only repairing bikes and my customers have to bring spare parts from the district center, but soon I will provide full services in my shop”. Thanking HiH Af for the project, support and training he added, “My shop helps not only me but also villagers who can fix their motorbikes within village with lower costs rather than going to the district center”.