Misha is one of the many single mothers living in PPR Taman Putra Damai, a community located in Lembah Subang. Being a single mother, a lot of responsibility rests on her shoulders to provide & care for her family of 2 teenage daughters. She would rely on sewing to bring in money for her family, but would only get by every month with barely anything in her savings.
Misha first came into cotact with Generasi Gemilang (GG) through a project we did in partnership with Taylor's Hostel Management--DOTS (Developing Opportunities Through Serving). Through that program, we brought together a group of single mothers from PPR Taman Putra Damai and provided them with basic trainings on how to setup their own business to earn a living. The single mothers were taught how to make jams, package the jams, and create their own branding before putting the products up for sale.
Right after the DOTS project ended, Misha had newfound friends who were fellow single mothers from her own community. They bonded and supported each other, even going to the extend of working together to start a business. But Misha and her friends didn't stop learning, they attended a financial literacy program we ran in the community, which provided basic skills on saving & managing the money they were earning.
Having learnt the importance of saving a portion of her earnings and how to budget her spending, Misha finally saved enough to rent a space in a shopping complex to sell tudungs (headscarfs) and homemade cookies during the fasting month. From a mother who was entirely dependant on one skill to earn money, she's slowly learning how to manage her small business and diversifying her source of income. Her daughters even helped her design the packaging for her cookies and would go out to the stalls to help out!
Seeing hope restored to individuals like Misha gives us hope to continue doing what we do.