“It was so difficult providing education for my children,” remembers Baturjav, looking down shaking his head, as he talks about the old days.

Baturjav’s job is seasonal for summer only, building, renovating and painting walls. Sometimes even in summer he struggles to find work.

In the past they were concerned about the education of their children especially in August when their was a lot of expenses involved in sending their children to school.

They would borrow money from friends and their hard earned money from building renovations which were meant for food had to be given away to pay off their loans. They could not get out of debt neither could they feed their family sufficiently.

They seldom could afford to eat protein. Instead they usually had spaghetti soup with bits of vegetables. Neither could they afford to buy firewood to keep their home warm instead they would go to the forest to collect wood scraps.

They were unable to get a loan from the bank because their property was too small.

When they were informed of the possibility of a non-collateral loan through VisionFund Mongolia, Baturjav’s wife Tsetsegmaa did not need to think twice.

Her first step was to became a member of a solidarity group in May 2006. The members of the solidarity group run various kinds of businesses such as PC games, welding services and grocery store.

Before receiving the loan Tsetsegmaa enrolled into 6 months business trainings where she learnt the keys to becoming a successful entrepreneur.

For Mongolians starting a business is a totally new concept, having lived the past seventy-five years under communism where everything was provided by the state. After the collapse everything came to a stand still.

Mongolia moved from a socialist society to a free market society of which the mass majority knew nothing about and struggled to survive.

Through a loan from VisionFund Mongolia Tsetsegmaa was able to run a lucrative business with her supportive husband and break free from subsistence farming from hand to mouth struggling to survive on a daily basis.

“I learnt many things. The most important thing I learnt was how to start a business,” said a proud Tsetsegmaa. When she talks about her achievements, she has a permanent smile on her face.

Tsetsegmaa received her first loan of 100 000 T in September, 2007. It had a six months repayment period due every two weeks. With that she was able to buy three, three month old piglets. Now they have a total of eleven pigs (1 male pig, 3 female pigs, 7 piglets).

A pig can give birth at a young age of 9 months. Pigs give birth two times in a year. They eat vegetable peels mixed with wheat and water, twice a day in the morning and again in the evening.

By March 2008 Tsetsegmaa had repaid her first loan and was able to receive her second loan of 250 000 T which she also repaid over a period of six months. She purchased various kinds of vegetable seeds e.g. potato, carrots, onion, watermelon, as well as one female pig.

“I am very happy now. Through the Vision Fund loan our income has increased and we have been able to extend our property so that we can grow more vegetables and sell more vegetables thus increasing our profit,” said Tsetsegmaa with a big smile. Now her family is able to sell more vegetables as a result of VisionFund Mongolia loans.

They earn US$521 from just selling potatoes. Their pickled vegetables and pumpkin salads also sell well. They have sold more than 100 bottles of pickled vegetables for about a dollar each.

In the future they would like to continue selling vegetables, but expand their production into other areas such as livestock (sheep and goats) and chickens.

Now they can afford to buy school stationery and school clothes for their children. Through Vision Fund loans their income has increased and now they are living debt free for the first time in eighteen years. It’s no wonder Tsetsegmaa has a beaming smile.

Besides growing vegetables they have also started pig farming. Recently the sale of a ten month old pig for New Year celebrations brought them US $70. As the number of pigs increase they will be able to sell more and more pigs.

Baturjav enrolled into a World Visioin forty-five day building training which will give him an advantage in competing for jobs. Baturjav was able to enroll in this training because his daughter is sponsored by World Vision. His skills have increased, has learnt many things and as he continues to work hard he will have a brighter future for his family.