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Megha is
one of the villages under the project-SIPP. At the time of
social classification activity, Kompesh’s family was listed in
HCP category. But at the time of JG formation, they were left
out of the JG considering the deposition of regular savings. ``I
was interested to become the member of JG right from the start;
but considering my family condition I have been keeping myself
away from this. Income of my husband is irregular and moreover
it is not enough to maintain my family expenses. So it might be
difficult for me to maintain the weekly savings’’ said Hasina,
wife of Kompesh.
As a part
of implementing strategy, Megha village qualified in appraisal
and received the first installment of VDF. As per rules, VDF
will disburse a certain amount of money among the most
vulnerable of a village as one time grant. The members of VOs
will select the neediest people from their village who have no
other income to save the minimum amount and become a JG member.
One of the major objectives of the fund is that by using this
money the vulnerable will be able to start income-generating
activities and can become member of JG. In this connection VOs
of Megha village had selected three people from their village
considering the criteria of vulnerability. On 22.01.09 the said
vulnerable families of Megha village received Tk.2500.00/per
person as one time grant and Kompesh was one of them. ``After
receiving Tk.2500.00 from our GS, my wife and I decided to spend
it on something productive. Considering the market demand
finally we decided to start ice cream business, as there are a
number of school and colleges in the surrounding area of our
village. So I purchased an ice cream box with Tk.600.00, hand
bell with Tk.100.00 and an umbrella with Tk.120.00. For the said
purposes we have invested total Tk.820.00. My wife purchased a
goat with Tk.1000.00 and we saved the remaining Tk.680.00for
buying ice cream and to meet emergency needs’’ said Kompesh.
According
to Kompesh, he collects ice cream locally from the ice cream
factory of Tulshipur Bazar at the rate of Tk.0.50/ per piece.
His selling was selling those at Tk.1.00/ piece. In his box he
can carry 150 piece ice creams at a time. In most of the days,
he collects ice cream from the factory for two more times. He
sells usually 180 piece of ice cream a day and makes an average
profit of Tk.80.00 daily.
``This
business has created an opportunity of regular income for my
family. Now it is easier for me to maintain my family in a
planned way. But we also have to consider strictly that this
business is seasonal. So we have to think about the future.
Considering this I tried to make some savings from the daily
income of my husband. From my neighbor, I learn that the members
of JG are eligible to get loan from the village fund. So we set
up our mind to become a member of JG. Considering the present
profession of my husband it seems not difficult for us to
maintain the group savings regularly. Moreover two things
inspired me to be included in JG : i) we will able to make more
savings ii) as a member of JG in future we will able to get loan
from JG which may provide support to my family for starting some
other means for our livelihood’’ said Hasina.
From
February’09 Kompesh has been included in JG-6 (HCP) as a member
of JG and continued his savings regularly. Up to the visiting
period of PMA he made savings Tk.30 for three month. Now the
view of Kompesh’s family is that they will rear their goat
carefully so that in future it can turn into an asset for them.
Moreover after continuing the group activities regularly they
will also able to get some financial support from VCO which may
be helpful to provide support in their livelihood.
According to
Sajeda (GS secretary) and Asma (VCO leader) that they have a
vision plan to include the 3 vulnerable of their village in JG.
Now they are very happy to see that within few months of grant
disbursement, out of three vulnerable two have already included
in the JG by successful utilization of their grant money. They
are hopeful that within a short period of time the rest
vulnerable household will be included in JG. They also added
that in future they will take quick initiatives to provide
Swabolombi rin support to them.
The proper
planning, honesty and determination help Kompesh to create a
source of regular income with the support of vulnerable grant.
Now he is a member of JG which also creates more opportunity for
receiving benefit from the VDF in short future. Kompesh is now
on the road of self employment and the continuation of his
initiative. The project support may help him to become
completely self-employed in coming future.
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