Case Study - 1:

Pedamalla Adilakshmamma has two daughters: the elder one is married and the younger one lives with her. Adi Lakshmamma does not live with her husband for family problems and therefore she has to feed her daughter alone with her own income. She and her daughter used to go to for agricultural works and they used to earn about 20 Rs. per day. In 2003 Adi lakshmamma participated to ASSIST development activities and she demonstrated to be a very active person. She became member of a Self-Help Group and she used to save money regularly. Then she obtained a loan of 10,000 Rs. to start a petty shop in her village. Before obtaining the loan she assessed the situation and prepared a business plan with the assistance of ASSIST field workers. With that loan she purchased a wooden shop for her business and she started to buy the required provision from Podili.

Now Adi Lakshmamma and her daughter are engaged in their own petty shop business. Monthly she goes to Podili to purchase the provisions while her daughter stays in the petty shop to sell the products. They earn around 100 Rs. per day and their living conditions have greatly improved.

Case Study - 2:

Siva Kumari is a 42 year old woman. Her husband died 4 years ago due to coronary attack and now she lives with one daughter and one son. After the death of her husband she has become the only bread earner for the family. Along with her elder daughter she used to go for agricultural works and they used to earn about 20 Rs. per day. Because of the low income level she was in a critical state to run the family.
Through ASSIST she became a member of a Self-Help group. She actively participated to village development activities and learnt to save money regularly. To feed her family and bring them out of a critical state she planned to develop a micro entrepreneurship. She approached the field staff of ASSIST seeking assistance and in 2006 she obtained a loan of 5,000 Rs to establish a canteen serving snacks and tea in the premises of her house. The canteen has become a great success. Thanks to her kindly nature, efficiency and the excellent quality of food villagers have become regular customers. The canteen has flourished and now breakfast and snacks are available throughout the day. During the peak hours, before and after school, children help their mother in the activities. Siva Kumari now earns around 100 Rs. per day and with these earnings she has successfully repaid the loan taken from ASSIST and part of the earnings are saved in her group. With growing confidence and interest she wants to extend her business by preparing more items and also by expanding the present canteen into a big hotel, in order to provide employment to needy people.

TSiva Kumari expresses her heartfelt thanks to ASSIST for the timely assistance provided and the change reflected in her life with a better position in the society.