Manisha
Dream: To run a beauty parlor from home to care for her baby daughter while supporting her father
Manisha lives with her father and her little daughter. She found home back with her parents after she was thrown out from her married home for having borne a baby girl. But the going got tougher when her mother became fatally ill. For her treatment, they ran up huge medical expenses that they had to incur huge debts to pay, and despite their best efforts, they could not save her. Her dad, a dhobi (washerman), was the sole breadwinner for the family, but that would not suffice and they struggled to even feed the baby properly. Manisha couldn’t start a job yet as her daughter was still little, so Dreams Foundation has helped her set a beauty parlor in her two-room home. She is looking forward to a brighter future.
Ratna behn
Dream: To support her daughters with a provision store shop
Ratnabehn lives in Kutch with her two daughters. After her husband’s death, she was left with no income at all. She has now started a provision store with a loan of Rs. 50,000 and has overcome her struggles.
Sufiyabehn
Dream: To start her own garment trading business to support her big family
Sufiyabehn lives with her family in Bhuj where she and her daughters used to earn Rs 5000 a month making bangles, a meagre sum for a family of seven. She shifted here from village Nalliya after she lost her husband in an accident while driving a truck. She had been struggling to make ends meet. Now, with a loan of Rs 50,000 from Dreams Foundation, she is very excited to be starting a small business of her own for trading in garments sourced from the wholesale market in Surat.
Suresh bhai
Dream: To be setting up his own mobile shop and earning his livelihood from his village
Suresh bhai and his family had no means of earning a living in their village and wanted to migrate to the city. With Dreams Foundation backing his dream of setting up a mobile shop, he now runs Maruti Mobiles, a Sales and Service shop in Siddpur village. His family is now settled and doing well.
Daniben
Dream: To support her family of women and free the family of debt
Daniben is one of the 40,000 amazing rag picking women of Ahmedabad. Since her husband’s death, she had been the sole bread earner for her family of all women- her daughter and her mother-in-law. When she took a loan from a middlemanto get her mother in law treated, she had to agree to an exorbitant interest rate and very soon things turned very ugly when the middleman started exploiting her in all possible ways. She, with the support of Dreams Foundation, repaid her loan and set herself free from debt. Moreover, she is now able to sell her collection to the ParyavaranMitracentre where she gets best possible returns for her collection