Roadside tea stall on a Tk 60,000 loan; sales fall in winter but the weekly installment is Tk 3,200

A woman from Islampur upazila in Jamalpur ran her household on her rickshaw-puller husband's income after marriage. As the children's school costs grew she took a garment factory job, but a sudden serious illness led doctors to tell her to quit. Back in the village she took an installment loan, built a small house and bought her husband a rickshaw. On someone's advice she then borrowed another Tk 60,000 and opened a small tea, paan and cigarette stall by the road in front of her house. For about two years she has opened at dawn and sat until late at night, with her youngest son sometimes minding the stall. Because it is a village stall, sales have always been low. They used to be Tk 1,200 to Tk 1,300, but fog and bitter cold keep people off the road and sales have dropped further. Her husband is also unwell and cannot drive the rickshaw properly in the cold. Meanwhile she owes Tk 3,200 in installments every week, and prices of goods are high. For lack of money she could not enrol her youngest son in class six, but she says she will educate him somehow. Local young men say she makes good tea.