Junubia Relies on Her Small Business to Make Ends Meet

Junubia’s difficulties have been compounded as her business has suffered from the pandemic and the earthquake that hit West Sulawesi. Global Wakaf – ACT supports Junubia’s business by providing business grant waqf.

Junubia at her shop where she sells the produce of her garden. (ACTNews)

ACTNews, MAMUJU - Junubia (46) makes a living by selling the produce of her garden such as bananas, papayas, and sweet potatoes. Sometimes she also sells the produce from other people’s garden.

She works together with her husband Latif, a farmer who takes care of their garden. Every day, they earn only hundreds of thousands of Rupiah a day. However, they are still grateful that they can still make their ends meet.

"Every day, I earn around IDR 300,000 a day," said Junubia whom the locals call Inna Melia, Monday (2/8/2021).

Sadly, Junubia’s income has fallen since the pandemic that broke out almost a year ago. To make it even worse, the magnitude 6.2 earthquake also severely affected her livelihood.

"Since the pandemic, it’s difficult to just earn IDR 100,000 a day. I often earn less than that. However, I am still grateful to be able to keep my business running,” said Junubia.

Four weeks after the earthquake, Junubia opened her shop to rebuild her family’s economy after the disaster that hit in mid-January.

Global Wakaf’s Support

After the earthquake, Global Wakaf-ACT quickly acted to assist the earthquake survivors, including MSME owners. By providing business capital waqf, Global Wakaf – ACT hoped to be able to rebuild the locals’ economy and support the local MSMEs. Global Wakaf has performed assessments before distributing the waqf for business assistance to ensure that it is right on target.

Raka Ginanjaya Gumelar from Global Wakaf-ACT said that small businesses in Mamuju and Majene have been severely affected by the earthquake. Many business premises have been damaged and the business owners displaced. Right now, Global Wakaf– ACT focuses on supporting businesses in disaster-hit areas in West Sulawesi by providing Waqf for Business Capital.

"Your contribution to small businesses is very much awaited by small-business owners who are rebuilding their lives amidst the pandemic and natural disasters," explained Raka, Thursday (2/11/2021). []