UNIFEM Responds to the Tsunami Tragedy

Ena and Her Kiosk

Ena, her brother, her husband and child, are among the very lucky few who survived the tsunami in December 2004. Her village of Ulee Lheu was one of the most decimated in Banda Aceh. Left with nothing, her family went to the Lhong Raya Barracks, a temporary shelter for survivors, where they currently live.

As soon as she could, Ena joined a cooperative called Kelompok Swadaya Masyarakat (Self empowered community group) managed by the Matahari Foundation, a local NGO working with UNIFEM. In a few months she received seed capital of Rp. 500,000 (about US$50) to start a kiosk selling cookies, soft drinks, cigarettes and other small goods, which she set up right in front of her 4x6 square meter living quarters in the barracks.

"I started the kiosk hoping that I could make more income to support the family. My husband is just a Becak (a motorized-rickshaw) driver. I realized that his earnings will not be enough, so I decided to open a kiosk."

She said that she had initially received training by Matahari to learn to make abon, a shredded fish product, but had not really liked it. "I prefer to focus on my kiosk. So I applied for an additional loan of Rp. 2,500,000 from the cooperative to fill up more goods in my kiosk."

Evi, a program coordinator from Matahari described how hard-working Ena was - she applied for the micro loan in June 2005, and according to Evi, never missed a daily payment of Rp. 20,000, so that the loan was already repaid in full by October. "I was really happy to get the loan from Matahari," Ena says, "Before, there were a lot of things unavailable. When customers came to buy and asked for certain things, I usually did not have it. But, now as many things are already available in my kiosk, people in the barracks do not have to go far to buy things," she explained, smiling.

Ena's income is steadily increasing. "Before, I could only make about Rp. 50,000 a day or at most Rp. 150,000. But now, praise to God, it has doubled." She has just gotten approval for her second loan for double the amount of the first one. Evi said that the approval for the second term completely depended on the borrower's performance and discipline in paying off the first loan. "Ena proved that with her determination and discipline she deserves the next loan. She's going to use the money to expand her kiosk even more, with much more goods. We wish you lots of luck Ena!"

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