Economic empowerment: How the Women of Will programme transformed the lives of women at PPRs
Divorced, widowed or born into poverty, many of the women of the B40 communities living in the public housing system fall into a cycle of poverty. They remain dependent on social assistance that are not designed to empower a sustainable earning potential. When presented with the agency to earn, these women rally their courage, grit and confidence to learn and rise above the challenges to make a better life for their families.
Empowering women of B40 communities with financial literacy and earning potential positions them as agents of change to lift their families out the urban poverty trap. However, entrepreneurship demands navigational prowess beyond the reach of the average B40 woman. Women of Will (WOW) aims to change that.
“We have transformed the lives of 600 women from the PPRs through a micro-credit financing program that runs in parallel with the Entrepreneurial Development Programme (EDP). We have seen participants’ household income increase by 31% on average,” explained Lakshwin Muruga, the chief operating officer at WOW.
The EDP aims to optimise the financing provided to these women through training programmes that will equip them with the basic skills of managing a business – financial management, marketing and communications.
The women are also supported through networking opportunities and events where they may sell their products. Noraini Binti Mat Ali, 43, a single mother with four children said WOW introduced her to a network of entrepreneurs involved in catering. This network of entrepreneurs was constrained to provide a full menu for their gigs. Through WOW, they learned to leverage on each other’s strengths and specialisation to fulfil customers’ requirements.
According to WOW, their programmes are implemented on a community basis aimed at residents of the PPR who largely live below the Poverty Line Income (PLI) of RM2,208 per month. On average, 30% of these women have increased their household income above the PLI.
Ramlah Binti Mamat, 58 from PPR Taman Wahyu said her business turned around after she started the WOW programme last year. With the RM2,000 loan, and online marketing knowledge, she listed on Food Panda and utilised WhatsApp to promote her food business securing multi-channel orders, reducing her reliance on income from only night markets.
Her earnings rose to an average of RM2,500 a month. Meanwhile, fellow resident Wan Syrul Niza Binti Wan Yusof, 42, noted that her Korean Gold business grew more than 20% after she learned how to run promotions and position her business on the online platform.
Solution to a sustainable livelihood
Each woman participating in WOW’s programme is assigned a business coach and mentor for six to twelve months supporting the development of a sustainable business, and simultaneously ensuring they lead balanced and wholesome lives. The business coaches comprise volunteers who have undergone a prior workshop run by WOW. The programme’s continuity stems from the loan repayment which helps fund other disadvantaged women and their communities.
Aside from the EDP, WOW strives to equip the women at PPRs with practical skills – sewing, cooking and baking, to elevate their product quality and be more competitive in the marketplace. Its poverty eradication agenda empowers the women to run Community Projects addressing the specific needs of their community.
To select participants, WOW works in concert with the Residents’ Association of the PPR to identify suitable candidates for the micro-credit loan and the EDP. These are women with a household income below RM2,500 and have dependents in their care such as children below 21, elderly, or disabled individuals. Through briefings, interviews and house visits, WOW evaluates their ability to run a business, experience and knowledge. Applicants are expected to commit their attendance for all activities and meet with a Business Coach to design their business plans and strategise expansion.
WOW gauges learning and knowledge acquired through pre and post-tests.
A sustainable programme that stays its course
According to Lakshwin, a key proponent of the programme is to nurture a support system for the women entrepreneurs.
“In our case we develop some of the women as local leaders who are able to better address the needs of the community and mobilise community members to support themselves,” he explained.
Recognising that the women juggle multiple roles, WOW ensures they stay on course and still lead balanced lives by assigning them a coach and mentor for six months to a year who will support them and ensure they develop their business sustainably.
Finding the right candidates for the programme is perhaps the biggest determinant of success, shared WOW’s COO. As is identifying the right communities and participants, and ensuring they stay engaged during the programme.
The programme also requires WOW to invest substantial time and resources to develop relationships with stakeholders such as Residents Association, other NGOs and government agencies.
WOW constantly evaluates the EDP programme and identifies components for improvement and updates, driving success rates and creating better success stories.
The women with the will
Ramlah Binti Mamat, 58, from PPR Taman Wahyu is a single mother with a 27-year-old disabled child. She sells putu piring and nasi lemak at the night markets, earning below RM2,000. The lockdown periods were particularly hard for her as the night market closure resulted in no income. WOW entrepreneurial programme helped her regain an income source as she learned to take her business online and better manage her costs.
Lalitha A/P Muniandy, 45, lost her husband, the family’s sole breadwinner in an accident nine years ago. She took on a permanent job but was forced to leave due to illness. With no skills and minimal education, Lalitha started selling sundry goods and snacks from her house but it barely met daily expenses for her four children. WOW’s programme not only taught her to overcome the challenges of running a home business, but she also learned basic accounting allowing her to better manage her costs, stocks and more accurately account for profits. WOW’s programme coordinators also provided her counselling and motivated her preventing her from giving up when things turned rough.
Noraini Binti Mat Ali, 43, a single mother with four children was introduced to the WOW programme through a visiting politician. Once reliant on her ex-husband for finances, now she has plans to expand her business into a café and has even gained the confidence to submit tenders for government catering projects. She dreams of purchasing a landed home outside the public housing system one day, taking her children out of the poverty trap.
Wan Syrul Niza Binti Wan Yusof, 42, embarked on her entrepreneurial journey about two years ago when she stumbled upon the Korean Gold business. She joined the programme last year and it helped her grow the operations by adding a new branch. Niza, who grew up in the public housing system, actively contributes to the community arranging sewing and cooking programmes for skill enhancement. She liaises with Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) to organise educational programmes for the children at PPR Taman Wahyu.
