success stories.

Emebet lives in Debre Berhan . She lived with her family and was in school until she was eleven. When she was eighteen she became pregnant, fell out with her family and left home to live on the street. Her daughter is now seven years old and in school. Emebet also has a two year old son. They all live together in one small room, which Emebet rents from the local government authority for 1 birr (5p) per month. However, each month is a struggle to meet the basic needs for her family.

Emebet attended the Street Banking training in June 2009. She says that the training taught her how to save money to market her business making and selling injera, the local staple food. This enabled her to calculate her profit much better. She learned from the games on the training that if you produce your product quickly you would be able to make more money, which she applies to her current business. She says the encouragement from the trainers was also very important for her in making her believe that she could change her situation.

Since the training and applying everything she learnt to her business Emebet has been able to change her life and those of her children. Everyday she makes and sells injera to local hotels and families. Emebet has learnt to seize opportunities during local festivals when demand increases to further increase her profits. Along with other local residents in her area Emebet is able to save money each week to enable to group to further expand and start three new businesses.

With the skills and confidence Emebet gained from Street Banking she was able to submit a business plan to the EDA competition to expand her business. She has been awarded a £40 grant and will use it to buy more cooking utensils, containers and ingredients. Emebet will also be able to rent a space to sell her injera from as she currently makes and sells it from home.

Street Kids International has enabled Emebet to change her life for the better. Emebet is now part of a community of local business who all support and work together. Emebet says she is very busy but very happy.

Ajay is 19 years old and lives on the platform of a railway station just outside Mumbai. Before attending the Street Business training he was earning money by selling balloons on the street. His income was sporadic and not enough to allow him to move his life forwards.

Within just one week of attending the training Ajay had made changes to the way he runs his business and commented to the youth worker supporting him from local NGO Premankur Samajik Sansthan, about the positive impact the changes had made. Following the training, rather than buying small quantities of balloons Ajay invested 400 rupees to bulk buy balloons at a lower price. He took his new stock to two local festivals and applied what he had learned about marketing himself and his business to treat his customers differently. His new approach was so successful he turned his 400 rupee investment into 900 rupees.

In less than a month Ajay went on to invest his earnings from the balloon sales to set up a small bicycle repair shop. Having learned about the importance of choosing a good business location he positioned himself near the public toilets and washing facilities in his community. Ajay says that as the majority of people in the area don't have running water in their homes almost everyone visits the public toilets and therefore the whole community is aware of his business.

While working in his new location Ajay spotted a unique business opportunity - ironing people's clothes while they have their morning wash – and has recently expanded his business further to offer a street side ironing service alongside the bicycle repairs.

Ajay says the training has impacted his personal life as well and, in particular, says his relationship with those closest to him has improved, as he is able to communicate better with them. Ajay hopes his new businesses and more regular income will allow him to meet his day to day needs and plan a better future for him and his wife.