Mina lives in Alirajpur district, Madhya Pradesh, with her husband and two daughters. Both were very less educated and were doing labor work to earn money.

Mina always felt ashamed while working on the roadside. Finally, she decided not to work as a laborer. She rented a sewing machine and started earning, but half of her income went toward the machine's rent. At a village meeting, she joined tailoring classes, and a financial assistance program run by PRAYAS. She learned various stitching designs and, after a few months, received a loan to buy a better machine. Now she earns with dignity.

A few months later, Mina taught tailoring to her husband and bought another machine. Now, they both earn 12-15,000 rupees per month. Both of Mina's daughters go to school, and her husband has bought a bike to deliver clothes to customers. When they look back, they feel proud of how far they've come, enjoying better living conditions, schooling for their children, and aspirations to expand their business. (Alirajpur, MP)

Hawa Bai's husband has been driving a truck for 20 years and remains outside home for months. Children are involved in their own families.

She used to work as a labor in a farm and sell potatoes and vegetables. But she and her husband was not earning enough money to meet the family expenses. She was thinking to start a new business but was clueless. During on of the Women Entrepreneurship session, she got an idea that that instead of selling potatoes she can make its wafers. She discussed the cost, demand of nearby market and her customers with the FE and decided to sell potato wafers at Rs. 400/Kg.

For now she is selling fresh unpacked wafers but soon will start selling it in small packets. Prayas team also helped her to get Ujjawala gas connection to reduce the cost of frying wafers. (Kutch Gujarat)