Local Business in Kaung Wine Does More than Help the Individual
It Helps the Whole Community
U Maung Boat's Grocery Store and Tea Leaf Businesses
In the Myanmar village of Kaung Wine, most families struggle to have enough to survive through subsistence farming. If there is extra, farmers sell it at the market 6 miles away in the town of Tingit. Many families worry that they will not have enough to feed their family, let alone bring in extra income. As part of Shanta Foundation’s six-year partnership, creating a Community Bank (CB) within the village is essential for individuals to have the capital needed to diversify their income-generating activities.
U Maung Boat is a Kaung Wine villager whose story exemplifies what a Community Bank can do for individuals and the community. He is 45 years old with a wife and three children. Although U Maung Boat was only able to finish 2nd grade in school, he had dreams of starting a business and helping his family and his community. However, because his family only made about $300 annually on agriculture, he could not save any money to rise out of his current situation. All he could see in front of him was a life of fear and insecurity about his family’s ability to survive.
U Maung Boat decided to take a chance and borrowed $323 from the CB in 2019. He invested $194 in a tea leaf business, which consisted of going to other villagers to collect tea leaves that they picked and selling them in the Tingit market. He invested the remaining $129 to start a small grocery store in Kaung Wine. He used the profit from both businesses over the first month to expand the grocery store. After one year, he had made a profit of $971, almost three times the amount he was making annually on agriculture! He was able to pay back the loan to the CB, start a savings account, and invest in his children’s education.
At the beginning of 2021, U Maung Boat created a business plan with the help of trainers from Muditar, Shanta’s staff on the ground in Myanmar, and borrowed another $323 to continue expanding his store and tea leaf business. According to U Maung Boat:
“With the target of profit around 2,500,000 kyats (~ 1,619 USD) by the end of 2021, I am now doing these two businesses. My plan is to buy a small truck in 2022 to do transport service business for farm products.”
U Maung Boat’s success is having a positive impact on the Kaung Wine community as well. His loan repayment with interest increased the value of the CB, allowing for others to borrow or for the village to invest in infrastructure projects. In addition, his grocery store alleviated the necessity for villagers to walk 6 miles to Tingit for essential supplies, creating more time for other activities during the day. U Maung Boat also allows the poorest in his village to pay with tea leaves at his store. He can then sell these for a profit, benefitting his business while also providing a safety net for struggling people.
U Maung Boat is jubilant about how the opportunity to borrow from the CB changed his life.
“Before starting these businesses in 2019, income was not stable and nearly all of what we earned had to be spent for farms and family consumption. If there is any emergency condition such as health problems, we don’t have any saved money. Now, conditions change a lot. By doing these businesses, I have more networks and wider view. I also learn a lot from doing businesses. More than that, my family now have savings so that we don’t need to worry like before. These businesses cannot be done without community bank in the village. If the village does not have such a revolving fund, I am not able to start anything. So I’m so grateful to village fund and donors.”
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Shanta Staff Visit Africa
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As this November Newsletter goes out, Wade and Dan Osnato, Shanta's Program Manager, are in Zambia meeting with prospective NGO and village partners. They will return at the end of November with many answers to the questions around our expansion. This is an exciting step forward in Shanta Foundation's evolution. We look forward to unveiling our plans for 2022.
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