MINI-STORIES FOR THE YOUNG AND NOT SO YOUNG It was early spring. Katinka could see that she was no longer managing. Her man was sick. He lay in bed all day and coughed. He was too week to work. They had four children, none of whom went to school. Their family was the poorest in the village, where other people had cows and pigs and a thriving fruit and vegetable market. Lately, their small field lay fallow and they subsisted on eggs from their six hens. Part of the eggs were traded for other necessities. Katinka made a decision. She was very afraid to do it, but there was no way out. She would go and borrow money from the Grameen (micro-lending) bank. She went to the Grameen banker in the village. He was a cheerful man and he assured her that if she worked hard she could start a small business for herself and her family. He gave her a loan of $50 without collateral and he told her she would have to pay it back with 20% interest in six months. If she did this , she could apply again. Katinka went home and did some figuring. They still had farming tools from the time her husband was well. She would pay one of her neighbors who had a bullock and plough to plough her field. She would pay another one who kept cows for manure. She would buy seeds and plant melons and pumpkins on the upper part of her patch, and plant flowers on the lower side. She knew about flowers from a relative who had kept them. They brought good money from the richest people in the village. She went to work on the field, helped by her older son aged twelve and his sister aged eight. She told the younger children, who were seven and five, to take care of their father and the chickens. Soon the rich, fertilized soil produced a thriving melon and pumpkin plantation, and the flowers began to sprout. The heaviest part of the work was carting water from the center of the village, but they were lucky. The spring rains were plentiful and not too violent. It was hard, waiting for the crop to mature, but even her husband seemed more cheerful. At last the first melons and flowers appeared. Katinka traded one egg for three wheel-barrow rides to the market. The melons and flowers sold quickly. In the first month of the growing season Katinka managed to make $25. In the next she made $31, and in the third $36. As she anticipated, the flowers were a good idea. Some of them bloomed late into the fall, when the melon and pumpkins were already gone. On this lot she made another $24. Thus after paying off her loan, she had cleared $56. Katinka was overjoyed. She first paid the doctor in the neighboring village to treat her husband. That cost her $25 plus $8 for the medicine, but her man got visibly better and began getting up during the day. Next she improved her family's diet and bought second-hand shoes to get her children ready for school in late October. As soon as six months were up, she took out another loan, this time with a different enterprise in mind. Katinka was an expert mender of clothes, and she knew something about sewing. She paid to have a notice posted in the village that she would mend clothes for a modest sum. Then she bought scissors, needles, thread and odds and ends of materials commonly worn in the village. She was ready to start. By November people were bringing her their damaged clothing. To her delight, her husband announced that he would help, and learned to patch, darn and hem. Their older boy was also able to help them after school, ironing with an old flat-iron and hemming. Katinka had another idea. She would embroider flowers or birds on patches and sell them for 15c or 20c each. Soon her husband and her older girl joined her in this endeavor. The people in the village wore the artfully patched clothing and spread the fashion to other villages. Katinka's family made enough to eat well, send their children to school, maintain their health, and even improve their dwelling. Children in the village began to call Katinka " the flower Auntie". When spring came, Katinka's husband was able to do his share with maintaining their garden plot. They bought more hens and a cart for hauling water and produce. Katinka thanked the Good God for the day she decided to change her lot by going to the Grameen bank. |