INDIVIDUAL(S) PHOTOGRAPHED: Fakhira Anwar. LOCATION: Khurramabad, Landhi, Karachi, Pakistan. CAPTION: Fakhira Anwar stiches fabric using a sewing machine at her small in-house stitching workshop in Karachi, Pakistan. Fakhira has been stitching for the past 15 years. A housewife with three children, she started her home-based stitching business in 2006 when she got her first microfinancing support of Rs. 20,000 (£140) from the First Micro Finance Bank (FMFB). She has since been through several cycles of financing, and each time she has successfully paid back what she borrowed to the bank from her business revenue. Over time, she has been able to scale her business, and thus her income. Her most recent loan was Rs. 200,000 in July 2017. Today, she earns an average of Rs. 40,000 per month from this business. Fakhira’s dream is to purchase an automated stitching and designing embroidery sewing machine; this will cost her Rs. 500,000.
