What our customers say about us

Our customer’s trust, belief, and support encourage us to think beyond boundaries and multiply the number of lives we are positively impacting.

Laxmi

Kalburgi

Laxmi - Kalburgi

Laxmi from Kalburgi who is associated with WHITE-ELEPHANT for the last 7 years, shares her journey with us. Laxmi’s family faces a financial challenge as the income level is on the lower side. With an aim to combat and overcome those challenges, Laxmi took her first step by availing of a loan from WHITE-ELEPHANT and starting a general store. The income generated by the store became a major source of income for her family over time and steadily uplifted their standard of living. Laxmi feels grateful for WHITE-ELEPHANT services.

Shakuntala Devi

Salon, Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh

Shakuntala Devi - Salon, Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh

WHITE-ELEPHANT feels glad to give wings to the dream of our customer Shakuntala Devi who explored different businesses and became independent. Shakuntala Devi who hails from Raghupur village took her first loan of 20,000 from the Salon branch of the Ayodhya division. She invested the loan amount in brinjal farming and earned fair returns from it. This encouraged her to explore her business skills and set up an eatery shop. Along with successfully running her business she also contributed a fair amount of her profit to the construction of a local temple. WHITE-ELEPHANT extends support to all such inspiring customers wish them a thriving future ahead.

Nagamma Hanumanthaya

Jaglur

Nagamma Hanumanthaya - Jaglur

Nagamma hails from Jaglur, Karnataka, and is associated with WHITE-ELEPHANT for the past 10 years. Her husband used to earn the bare minimum income which was for certain not sufficient for the family. She faced adverse situations in her life and desired to make it better. She always wanted to financially support her family and do something on her own. She decided to start stitching clothes professionally but the investment in a sewing machine was a barrier. While figuring out the solution to her problems she spotted WHITE-ELEPHANT poster near her house. She formed a group of 25 like-minded women and played the role of the group leader. Her first loan was Rs. 10,000 which fulfilled her need for a sewing machine and thus supported her husband to start a stable life. She took another loan of Rs. 25,000 and bought sheep to start animal husbandry too. Post earning a decent amount and gaining confidence in herself, she took a large amount of loan of Rs. 50,000 and invested in farming along with backing quality education for her children. While sharing her journey with one of our team members she said, “This kind of small financial help gradually transforms our life and makes us feel empowered.”

Ashabai Bhendale

Paithan, Aurangabad

Ashabai Sopan Bhendale - Paithan, Aurangabad

Determined, futuristic, and accountable, these are just a few adjectives that describe our women customers and we are super glad to have their trust as our strength. Ashabai is one of those strong businesswomen who dare to take risks. Ashabai Sopan Bhendale resides in Bhoigaon center, Paithan, Aurangabad used to work as a farm laborer. Ashabai faced the problems of irregular employment and found it difficult to meet her daily expenses and to fund the education of her children. She decided to start selling women’s garments in her spare time to have essential economic support. She was unable to earn sufficient profit in that due to a lack of capital. She got to know about the financial services provided by WHITE-ELEPHANT by one of the CREs. She took her first loan of Rs. 25,000 and decided to invest in her business. Eventually, her business started flourishing and problems started getting resolved. Ashabai has raised her standard of living by earning a minimum net profit of Rs. 800 to 900 per day. Ashabai Bhendale paid the installments regularly and also inspired the women of the Bhoigaon area. WHITE-ELEPHANT feels fortunate to extend the support of Ashabai in the process of stabilizing her business. WHITE-ELEPHANT inspiration is the satisfaction she expressed by looking at her self-established business. After repaying the first loan, she took Rs 50,000 loan from WHITE-ELEPHANT, emphasizing on expansion of the business. Along with women’s garments, the kids’ wear business has also been started. Ashabai Bhendale is an inspiring example of raising one’s standard of living.

Soni Kumari

Gaya, Bihar

Soni Kumari - Gaya, Bihar

One of the most significant parts of the vibrant Indian festivals is the idols of the deities being worshipped by the diverse culture of India. WHITE-ELEPHANT’s customer representative met one such customer, Soni Kumari who is engaged in the business of idol making for the past 10 years along with her husband, Amit Kesri. They hail from Patharkatti village, Gaya, Bihar. WHITE-ELEPHANT’s timely financial aid to many such small business owners helps them grow. Continuous support of the microfinance industry played a vital role in overcoming the adversities raised by the COVID-19 pandemic in the life of common people. WHITE-ELEPHANT feels fortunate to be able to contribute in bringing stability back in many such lives.

Mahadevamma

Obanahatti

Mahadevamma - Obanahatti

A death in the family is never easy to cope with and can have long-lasting effects on those who are left behind. This impact is amplified when the one who passes away is the sole breadwinner of the family. Nevertheless, for Mahadevamma of the Obanahatti village in Karnataka, life had to move ahead quickly with two sons and a daughter’s mouth to feed. She came to WHITE-ELEPHANT soon after the sad demise of her husband, with a plan in her head. She has been one of the earliest members, having been associated with WHITE-ELEPHANT for nine years now. With the first loan amount of 10 thousand rupees that she received, she invested in a bore well for her small agricultural land of 2acres, having moved into a shack on the same field to save on rent costs. Income for the repayment of her EMIs came from the small amounts of vegetables and other short-term crops she grew partially on her field while the rest of the field was used for a long-term crop. “At the end of the first cycle of my loan I earned 2 Lakh rupees from the onions and had repaid my loan also,” she says proudly thinking back to 8 years ago. Mahadevamma never lost her hope and drive to give a better life for her children. Though she still lives in the house on her field, she has systematically worked hard to achieve her goals. In the past 8 years, she has set up two more bore wells for her fields and continues to harvest both long- and short-term crops. She has recently started her brick forming business and employs anywhere between 3 to 9 people depending on the demand for her bricks. Her eldest son is married and lives with her while working as a construction contractor in the local area, her younger son works in the industrial town of Hosapete and her daughter lives happily married in a nearby village. Mahavdevamma continues to work with WHITE-ELEPHANT, telling them she is not yet done and recently took a 50 thousand rupees loan to expand her brick forming the business and give employment opportunities to others in her and neighboring villages.

Chandni Kaur

Jharkhand

Chandni Kaur - Jharkhand

Chandini Kaur resides in the small community of Kedli Kala in the state of Jharkhand and has been a customer of WHITE-ELEPHANT for two cycles now. She comes from a family of traders who primarily make decorative showpieces for homes and offices. They have been in the business for two generations now, starting with her father-in-law. The gents of the family travel to different towns and villages either to acquire the raw materials or to sell the finished goods.
After raising some capital through WHITE-ELEPHANT, they increased their workforce by around five people, thus excluding the house members who work alongside them. They sell their products primarily in the fairs and flea markets around their area and have their highest profit margins there. Though now having the ability to scale up their output, the family business has begun to take some wholesale orders from the local shopkeepers. They boast of how their entire business’s turnover averaged around 25 to 30 thousand before joining hands with WHITE-ELEPHANT, and now just their retail part of the business easily gives them 30 thousand worth of business in a month.