Velmani

A beneficiary of our existing women's development programme

My name is Velmani. I am 28 years old and live with my husband Nataraj and 3 children in Mekkilarpatty, a small village near Arogya Agam (one of VST's partners). My husband used to work in a textile mill and we struggled to live off the 800 rupees (£12) a month he earned. We only cooked a meal once in two days, didn't have decent clothes, and when we couldn't afford to repair our hut our family ended up having to stay with my parents.

In 1993 things began to change when I joined the local sangam, a women's self help group. The group encourages members to save a small amount of money each month, and the savings are then loaned out at low rates of interest. I started by saving just 10 rupees per month, and gradually increased the amount. Now I save 50 rupees per month! I was given several loans by the group to help with household expenses, and to buy a bicycle for my husband to travel to work on. I repaid the loans by working as an agricultural labourer, earning 20 rupees a day.

After a while, the group encouraged me to apply for a loan from IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development which used to channel loans through our partners) to set up a small business. I was unsure about it, but with the support of my husband I decided to open a cycle hire and repair shop. I was loaned 7000 rupees to set up the business, and used it to buy six adult bicycles and one child's bicycle to hire out.

The business went well. At first I looked after the cycle hire whilst my husband did all the cycle repairs, but one day whilst Nataraj was out, a customer came needing a puncture repaired. I took the bicycle inside the house and hid whilst I tried to repair it - I was afraid of anyone seeing me struggling with it! I managed to repair the puncture and inflate the tyre and was paid 25 rupees for my work. This success made me realise I shouldn't be shy about doing the repair work myself.

Now my husband doesn't work at the mill anymore. We run the cycle shop together and earn about 60 rupees a day. I have repaid the IFAD loan and have bought five more children's cycles to hire out. I now have twelve hire cycles, and have decided not to hire them to people who drink alcohol as drink causes so many problems in our village. I hope my business will go on expanding and I will soon be able open a larger cycle shop by the roadside.

With a second IFAD loan of 5000 rupees I bought a small piece of land for with guava trees, which in season produces 100 - 200 kilos of guava fruit a day. I sell the guavas for extra income and hope to buy a larger piece of land with guava, mango and coconut trees in the future.

With the money I earn from my businesses we can now afford food, clothes and our own home. I have bought a piece of land and built a small house. I also deposit 100 rupees a month in the name of my children. I only went to school up to the age of seven but I want to my children to have an education.