Shahnaz has lived in Lahore in a two-room brick house with her family for the last 10 years. Lahore is the second largest city in Pakistan. A very talented Shahnaz owns & operates her embroidery business at her home. She makes embroidered dresses for her neighboring clients. Earlier, she made embroidery dresses for her relatives but now she is receiving orders from her neighbors as well. She is good at her art and knows many embroidery techniques. She crafts beautiful embroidery designs on clothes, which are admired by her customers and this gives her encouragement to work with more dedication and enthusiasm. She earns a good profit by completing orders. The earnings allow her to pay for the household utilities. Her husband appreciates her for her helping and caring nature towards the family.

She is the mother of six children. All of them are illiterate and couldn’t get an education due to financial constraints. Her husband is a government employee and her eldest son has an embroidery shop in the market where he embroiders dresses and contributes financially to his family. He started learning this art from his mother at an early age.

Shahnaz has applied for a loan from Kiva partner Asasah for her son’s business. With the loan, her son will buy embroidery items such as beads, colored thread and clothes in bulk, which will enable him to make more embroidered dresses to display in his shop to attract customers. Shahnaz is hopeful that, by investing the loan money in her son’s business, her son will be able to expand his business and increase his income as well. This is her first loan and she hopes that it will be a profitable experience for her family.

Note: In the photo, the lady who is slightly raising her hand is Shahnaz.