Ruby Jameel

Enterprise Loan

PMIC and its borrowers take a lot of pride in supporting strong women entrepreneurs to achieve great success for themselves and their families. Ruby Jameel is one such inspiring story, which enthuses other women to be independent and set an example for others to follow. Ruby belongs to Sindh and is now settled in Lahore with her husband and two children. Her husband worked as a cobbler and they struggled to make both ends meet. She has been a client of the CSC Empowerment and Inclusion Programme CEIP – one of PMIC’s Borrower) for 10 years and started by helping her husband in his cobbler business.

Her cousin once inquired about women from her vicinity, who are skilled in beading/embroidery on women’s clothing. With the intention of helping her family, she volunteered herself to find and manage a group of women to avail this business opportunity. It worked well as she started taking orders from her, and passed them down to women in her neighborhood, sharing the earnings with them. There are about ten women in her team that has found livelihood through Ruby’s beading business. She receives semi-finished kurtas from her cousin, which she passes down to these women, along with the materials and tools for beading/stoning. She took a loan from CEIP to purchase the stones/beads and other embroidery material which she provides to the women who work to complete the unfinished women kurtas. She earns PKR. 10,000 a week of which she pays PKR. 6000 in labor and keeps PKR. 4000 as profit. The beading business which she started 3 years ago has brought a lot of good fortune to her. She was finally able to provide well for her two children, who now attend a local school. Ruby hopes that one day she will be able to become a wholesaler herself, increasing her profit margin and generating further employment opportunities for other women.

PMIC appreciates the role CEIP’s team played in helping Ruby set up and grow her business. PMIC also salutes such women of strength who are not only helping their family but also benefiting other women to stand up on their feet and become financially independent.