ACTNews, BANJARMASIN - Yulia Pitriani's face was glistening with joy as Global Wakaf – ACT South Kalimantan visited her stall at Sungai Jingah, North Banjarmasin District, Banjarmasin City. "Alhamdulillah, now my income has started increasing again because I now can peddle my pempek cart in the morning. The tires had just been repaired and I just bought a new stove,” said Yulia when asked how her business was doing on Friday (11/20).

Yulia benefitted from the Waqf for Micro Business Capital program in October, and now her business has been running quite smoothly. The only problem is that the price of fish, the main ingredient of the pempek fishcake, has been increasing. Even so, it is never a significant problem for Yulia. "The price of fish sometimes soars, but I still get in covered, Alhamdulillah,” she said.

She wants to reach even more consumers not only by peddling her cart, but also by partnering with food delivery apps. When it rains, people rarely come out of their houses, so it will be easier for het to take order if she partners with online food delivery apps.

"Yulia has been encouraged by her mentor to sell her frozen pempek in a more attractive packaging using the brand Pempek Barokah to further develop the sales. But she admitted that she still had difficulties sometimes with keeping track of finances," said Retno Sulisetiyani, Global Wakaf – ACT South Kalimantan Program Coordinator.

Yulia hoped that, in the future, she can learn about packaging her products and managing the finances to further develop her business, and this is what Global Wakaf – ACT is trying to do. "In each mentoring, we try to make the beneficiaries find solutions to their business problems. We hope that, Insha Allah, we can help Yulia solve her problems," hoped Retno.

In addition to monitoring individual visits, the beneficiaries are also required to repay the funds on the first installment in November. Retno hoped that the benefit of the program can expand, especially in South Kalimantan. "Because the assistance we provide is not only capital assistance, but also the assistance to develop the businesses. We hope to empower the beneficiaries in these difficult times. We are inviting generous benefactors to further expand the benefits of this program," said Retno. []