Mrs. Anis is a cheerful middle-aged woman who lives with her husband and five children in the Wirosari district of Central Java Province, Indonesia. Though her husband is a cloth and paper printer, their family income was barely sufficient to cover their basic needs and their poverty made it impossible to send her children to school.

Around that time, she heard about an organization named Yayasan Ridho Mukti Farm (YRMF) which provided non-collateral loans to poor women to help them to invest in income-generating opportunities. After consulting her husband, Mrs. Anis decided to join YRMF and took Rp. 200,000 to start a cookie making business and soon she started selling the homemade cookies she made to some local shops in the neighborhood.

As her business grew rapidly, she began to contribute to the household income and she was gradually able to fulfill the basic needs of her family. But Mrs. Anis was still determined to send all her children to school. She took a subsequent loan of Rp. 400,000 to further expand her business. She is now selling her cookies to about 40 stores and she makes a profit of around Rp. 50,000 each week, which is enough for her to ensure timely loan repayments and meet all household expenditures. Her life style has not only improved considerably, but she is able to pay for her children’s education too. Currently four of her children are studying in nearby schools and the youngest one is under five years. As a result of her financial sufficiency, Mrs. Anis now has a greater sense of self-respect, pride and dignity.

Mrs. Anis is very satisfied with the service provided by YRMF and she is grateful to YRMF for giving her the means to bring her family out of poverty.