Self-determination and hard work change people's lives. This is what happened to a single working woman from Mihmyntdu village named Lumbiang Sana.
As a poor single mother, Ms. Lumbiang Sana has to look after her three children since her husband left her. Furthermore, her burden becomes even greater as she has to take care of two more children of her disabled sister and her poor old father.
In order to support the whole family, Lumbiang Sana does not have a regular job. She has to go from house to house asking for work, sometimes getting work washing clothes, washing dishes in the tea shop and sometimes knocking stones in the mines. Since she cannot find a permanent job, she has problems feeding and educating her children, which is why she has to send her children to a free school with a low level of education.
It was in February 2022 when Lumbiang Sana came into contact with JHDS through a local catechist. In addition, she also personally met Mr. Gerhard Albert, Chairman of Khublei Germany, during his visit to Meghalaya. After this meeting, JHDS and Khublei decided to help this family by providing educational sponsorship to their niece, Glory Sana. At the same time, the two organizations decided to also support the woman financially.
In recent years, Ms. Lumbiang Sana had worked in a restaurant for a while and therefore has experience in making chow and momo, the famous fast food in Meghalaya.
In order to generate additional income for her family, the woman decided to start making homemade food with a small investment and the financial support of Khublei Germany. She started preparing the cooking materials in the evening after dinner and started cooking early in the morning at 4:00 a.m. In the beginning, she sold the packaged food items by going door to door and sometimes to a local tea shop.
After a few months, her business grew as she received orders from three customers within a short period of time who found her food very tasty. Now she no longer has to go door to door to sell her products, but receives constant orders from three salespeople.
Personal words from Lumbiang Sana:
“Now I no longer worry about daily work, I no longer have to go door to door asking for work. If someone calls me to work, I go, otherwise I can support my family with this business. However, this is part of my additional income. I can also provide daily wages if an employer needs me because I can only run this business in the evenings and mornings. I am very grateful to JHDS and Khublei Germany for giving me this opportunity. My thanks also go to the person who supports me financially and the godfather of my niece Glory Sana. May God bless them all.”
