Name: Hanifa Bai
Home Town: Malir Town, Karachi, Pakistan
Business: Embroidery
Loan: Rs 20,000

For 35 years, HANIFA BAI and her relatives have run an embroidery workshop out of their home in Malir. The detailed and delicate designs are sewn by hand onto material that is stretched across a frame and the finished pieces are bought from Hanifa by salesmen who supply various outlets and designers across the city. “Never in all these years did we even think we could get a loan” says one of Hanifa’s seven brothers, “but Tameer gave us a loan and now we working more and earning more. Tameer bank! Karak bank!!” Three other members of Hanifa’s household also took a loan from Tameer and by pooling their finances they have bought large supplies of raw materials at a cheaper price than normal.