The Entrepreneurs Associates (tEA) conducted their “Uplifting Women Street Vendors Programme,” for the women street vendors on August 24, 2024 at the Office of the Entrepreneurs Associates in Dimapur. The program commenced during the early hours of the day in an intimate setting with 6 women street vendors and their spouses.

The program was chaired by Vezou Venuh, Branch Manager of Dimapur Branch at tEA. Tsinshe Yimchunger, a tEA member and street vendor blessed the program with a heartfelt invocation. It was then followed by Supongchiba, Community Mobiliserat tEA, who spoke on the importance of being financially savvy and cultivating the habit of savings to live a comfortable life. He highlighted the need for the vendors to save with the intent of achieving financial stability and not habituate the recurrent pattern of seeking loans.

Vezou Venuh, Branch Manager at tEA apprised the women on the organisation’s motivation behind initiating the provision of zero interest loans. She stated that this support sprung forth during the Covid-19 pandemic when majority of the street vendors’ businesses were in complete disarray. The zero interest loans served as a window for the women to restart their businesses and recoup what they had lost. Today, this aid is still provided to struggling women street vendors across the states.

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All 6 of the beneficiaries were recipients of the zero interest loans. This financial support will be instrumental in expanding the inventory of their current businesses. A Vote of thanks was given by Yanbemo Kikon; husband of Neivole Kikon, a tEA beneficiary. He expressed his delight to The Entrepreneurs Associates for continuing to lessen the burdens of street vendors through its wide range of networks.The program came to a close with a mass prayer.

The Uplifting Women Street Vendors Program is a flagship program of The Entrepreneurs Associates, launched in October 2017, to empower women involved in the network of marketing farm produce. The program is unique to tEA and one of a kind in the entire NER India. It engages with women street vendors, producers who also sell their yields, and aggregators who link rural products with the urban markets.

Till date, tEA has trained and worked with 10000+ women street vendors in Nagaland, Manipur, Assam, and Arunachal Pradesh with plans to branch out to other neighbouring states in the upcoming days. Under the program, tEA has been providing training on financial & business management, skills training, zero interest loans, health and legal services, mentorship and linkages to markets. tEA hopes that by 2025, more women street vendors will be impacted under the program.