CASE STUDY PROFILE

Ashiya, Bangladesh

Ashiya is a 25-year-old mother of one. She was born in a poor family in the village named Singrai under the upazila & district Bagerhat. She and Anishur wed in an arranged marriage. Though it was an arranged marriage she was completely victimized for early marriage. Her husband used to grow crops on leased land and would sell the surplus after meeting household needs. But it was very difficult for him to put aside the surplus quantity of crops let alone sell it. As a result he had clearly fallen on hard times. Just after two years

from the date of their marriage, she gave birth to a boy child. After the happy event one day her husband became seriously ill and was taken to Bagerhat Sadar Hospital when her child reached the age of six months. He was diagnosed with brain cancer. After one month treatment rigorously in the hospital her husband died of cancer in the year 2002. Her dream had been shattered at the age of 17. After the funeral, she stayed a few months in her father-in-law’s/husband’s house and went back to her own parents’ house. In this situation the mother and the six-month-old child was a burden to them though they were in desperate need of food and shelter. She was deeply depressed from losing her beloved husband. She did not like being a burden on other people. She was searching any kind of work as she had a little education. She was in school until the 5th grade, but had to leave at the age of 12 in order to carry out the household activities. At last, one of her aunts helped her largely to find a job in a garment factory located at Ashulia, Savar, Dhaka. Accordingly he came to Dhaka with her 10-month old child in search of good luck. After joining in the factory as an ordinary garment worker i.e. helper she was leading a very laborious life. In fact, a job at a garment factory may mean long hours and no free meals, but this has not prevented her like thousands of workers from monotonous work. Her day starts very early in the morning and ends at about 8 pm. She starts for her workplace at about 7 am. Generally she walks to her factory along with other girls working there. Sometimes she has to get on a crowed public bus to reach her factory. On the way to her destination, she is infected with slang words from various corners. She becomes an object of pity for others. She has to tolerate bad comments though it is miserable for her. In the factory she is not in a congenial atmosphere. She works in a congested room with full of dust. She has no seat to sit upon. Sometimes she works whole day resting at her feet. She eats the poor lunch with her colleagues in the factory. Almost every day she takes lunch from her house. She is given a break for half an hour. Within this time she has to take her prayer and lunch. After the break, she has to be at the factory up to 8 pm. In spite of her long hours of work she is not remunerated properly. She likes working in a factory rather than in a household. She is not longer confined within the four walls of her parents or husband’s house. She has come out of the kitchens and is working hand in hand with men in the factory. But long hours of work make her sick frequently. She is used to excessive working. So she gets tired

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“One can become learned person by studying and without receiving education, he will be ignored.”

and bored with works. Most of her colleagues are friendly, but male colleague are not. They feel jealous of her independent work. Sometimes they try to harass her. Though she works hard for long hours of the day, she has to go to an uncertain future. Eleven years have been passed since her work in the garment factories. Now she is about 25 years old and is frequently haunted by the thought of an uncertain future. Above all, a job at a garment factory gives her not only a steady income but also independence and dignity. But it has changed poverty or circumstances; the fact is that the scenario has changed a lot. Still Aysha is happy about the fact that she can earn their own living and manage their families. With the earning power, she has found greater respect in the family & community and hence greater role in decision making. While Ashiya does not feel empowered in her marriage, she does feel empowered working hard in the garment factory for her family. She also hopes to be able to provide her son with sound education: “One can become learned person by studying and without receiving education, he will be ignored.” She believes whole-heartedly that both financial and educational prosperity is required to attain leadership in the community to have influence on community matters. Ashiya is self-sufficient to a

great extent and she is providing education for her son. Now her child is in grade five. She believes that women should work hard to earn income for her family. Ashiya sees her health and the health of her child as her most important individual assets: “The whole thing in the world appears terrible if our health is not good.” That is why, health education and health care services are being received by her from the Link Up Project implemented by IACIB. She also disseminates health messages related to sexual and reproductive health among her co-workers.

Ashiya is empowered according to the Women’s Empowerment in Wage-earner Index. In the Index diagram, the outer ring identifies the domains. The shaded segments inside represent the indicators in which Ashiya has adequate achievements.

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CASE STUDY PROFILE

Beauty, Bangladesh

Beauty is a 25-year-old mother of two. She was born in a poor family in the village named Behala under the upazila Taltoli of Borguna district. She got married with Nikhil of Uttar Kathkhira of Bamna upazila under Borguna district. Though it was an arranged marriage, she was completely victimized for early marriage. Her husband had a grocer’s shop in the village market and with the earnings of the shop her husband tried to fulfill the household expenses as he lost his father in his childhood. In this way they lived within their means. Though they were poor she feels content, saying

“We are happy. We have two sons- one is nine years old and the other five years.” The other day her mother-in-law’s left hand was broken all of a sudden by dropping down on the slippery ground. She was taken to the Borguna Sadar Hospital. At that time they had no sufficient amount of money to treat her mother-in –law at once. Having no alternative her husband borrowed a total of BDT 30000 from Grameen Bank for his mother’s medical treatment. Her mother-in-law was diagnosed with a ruthless fracture of bone. After three months treatment rigorously in the hospital her mother-in-law became cured. As a result, they had clearly fallen on hard times. Since they were hardcore poor, they ran into debt rapidly. In order to repay the debt of the bank they had to sell the homestead, the last possessions of his ancestors. In this situation the aged mother and the two younger children were a burden to them and they were in desperate need of food and shelter. Immediately they became displaced persons and moved to Dhaka city in search of good luck. As they are belonging to a religious minority person they did not get any help in the community. As they did not like being a burden on other people they were searching any kind of work. She studied up to eight grades because her parents were strongly opposed to the female education. They thought female should be confined to the kitchen and household affairs only. That is why she was forced into arranged marriage with such an illiterate person, Nikhil. They did not know that early marriage is one of the hindrances of female education, growth and development of their capacity. Anyway, female workers are always in demand in the garment sector. Consequently Beauty got a job in a garment factory located at Ashulia, Savar, Dhaka, within the very short time. On the other hand, her husband could not find employment as he is an illiterate person. After joining in the factory as a Trimming Helper she was leading a very laborious life. Her day starts very early in the morning and ends at about 8 pm. She starts for her work place at about 7.00 am. Generally she walks to her factory along with other women working there. On the way to her destination, she is infected with slang words from various corners. She has to tolerate bad comments though it is miserable for her. In the factory she is not in a friendly atmosphere. She works in a congested room with full of dust. Previously she had no seat to sit upon when she worked as a helper. Presently she has her own seat because she is working as a Supervisor in the Trimming Section. Sometimes she worked the whole day resting on her feet in the early days of her job. She eats the poor lunch with her colleagues in the factory. Almost every day she takes lunch from her house. She is given a break for an hour. After the break, she

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“Man is more powerful than woman physically but actually a woman can play the same role as the man does.”

has to be at the factory up to 8 pm. She likes working in a factory rather than in a house. She is not longer confined within the four walls of her parents or husband’s house. She has come out of the kitchens and is working hand in hand with men in the factory. Most of her colleagues are gracious, but male colleague are not. They feel envious of her independent work. Sometimes they try to annoy her. Eleven years have been passed since her work in the garment factory. Above all, a job at a garment factory gives her not only a fixed income but also independence and dignity. She is happy in the sense that they can earn their own living and manage their families. With the earning power, she has found greater admiration in the family & community and hence greater role in decision making. Beauty feels empowered working hard in the garment factory for her family. She also hopes to be able to provide her two sons with sound education: “I want my children to receive higher education for becoming educated citizens.” She believes whole-heartedly that both financial and educational prosperity is required to attain leadership in the community to have influence on community matters. On the contrary, she has set up a small business with all her accumulated amount of money at Ghoshbagh Stand, Zirabo, Ashulia, Savar, Dhaka, for her husband to sell grocery items and vegetables. She says “I am happy to be self-sufficient now. I had nothing of my own before, but now I have so much. It has been possible through my hard labor & perseverance. I think- self-

reliance is the master-key that unlocks all the difficulties of life.” Beauty and Nikhil respect each other and resolve arguments through discussion. She says, “Man is more powerful than woman physically, but actually a woman can play the same role as the man does.” Beauty sees her health and the health of her family members as her most important individual assets. That is why, health education and health care services are being received by her from Link Up Project implemented by IACIB. She is also playing a role in disseminating the necessary health messages amongst all her co-workers and neighbors.

Beauty is empowered according to the Women’s Empowerment in Wage-earner Index. In the Index diagram, the outer ring identifies the domains. The shaded segments inside represent the indicators in which Beauty has adequate achievements.

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CASE STUDY PROFILE

Kazol, Bangladesh

Kazol is a 24-year- old mother of two. She was born in a poor family in the village named Thunia under the upazila Baliadangi of Thakurgaon district. She and Sahabuddin wed in an arranged marriage in the year 2001. Sahabuddin lived in the neighboring village Ziabari. Though it was an arranged marriage, she was completely victimized for early marriage. Her husband was a landless farmer who

used to work on other people’s land. As a consequence, he was prosecuting his family by some means. After the marriage, she gave birth to two boys. Though the birth of the children brought happiness to the family, but he could not afford to buy new clothes and food for them. Her husband was completely frustrated to bear his family expenses with such a hard-earned income. On the contrary, his wife was rearing up their two children, nursing her husband, and cooking foods for the family members. Their days were going on in this way. One day her husband became seriously ill and was taken to the Mission Hospital at Parbotipur. He was diagnosed with gangrene as a result of chronic diabetes. His left leg was cut off because it was infected with gangrene. Thus he was handicapped physically and became dependent person. It was happening in the year 2008. The ill news was a bolt from the blue to her and she became very much vulnerable. Extreme poverty, then forced her to look for any kind of work. One of her relatives helped her largely to find a job at a garment industry. She came to Dhaka, along with her family to try her luck and she joined at a garment industry (sweater) as a trimming helper. After joining in the sweater factory she was leading a very painstaking life. In the early days of her joining she had to work 12 to 14 hours a day, but presently she works 8-10 hours in the factory. Her day starts very early in the morning and ends at about 8 pm. Generally she walks to her factory along with other women working there. On the way to her destination the wicked people are smiling at her teasingly and keeping a joyous eye on her occupation. She is assaulted with slang words from various corners. The other people try to provoke her in a playful or unkind way as if she is committing a sin. She has to tolerate bad comments though it is despondent for her. In the factory she is not in a congenial atmosphere. She works in a congested room with full of dirt. She has to work sitting on the floor. She eats the poor lunch with her colleagues in the factory. Almost every day she takes lunch from her house. She is given a break for an hour. Within this time she has to take her prayer and lunch. After the break, she has to be at the factory up to 6 pm. In spite of her long hours of work she is not remunerated properly in the early days but presently all the workers are compensated timely. She likes working in a factory rather than in a residence. She is not longer confined within the four walls of her parents or husband’s house. She has come out of the kitchens and is working hand in hand with men in the factory. But long hours of work make her sick frequently. So she gets tired and bored with works. Most of her colleagues are friendly, but male colleague are not. They feel

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“Women are considered subservient to men in our traditional society. They have no say in the family and their opinion is considered unnecessary even in an important issue.”

jealous of her independent work. Though she works hard for long hours of the day, she has to go to an uncertain future. She has remained associated with the sweater factory for the last seven years. She is living in brick-built house at Pukurpar, Zirabo, Savar. Her two sons are receiving formal education. Though she studied up to class five she wants her sons to receive higher education to become well-educated persons in the society. She is empowered to the women’s empowerment in the garment sector and has achieved gender parity to a great extent with her husband. She says “women are considered subservient to men in our traditional society. They have no say in the family and their opinion is considered unnecessary, even in an important issue. Women are the only mother and wife. Her duties are restricted to rearing up their children, nursing their husband, and cooking food for the family members. They are not allowed to go outside their house. In this way the rights of women are neglected. But actually a woman can play the same role as the man does. They can share their male counterparts in all household activities.” Through hard work and devotion, she has managed to turn the wheels of fortune. A job in the sweater factory gives her a lot of opportunity to earn her own living and manage her own family. Her earning power helps her to obtain

respect in the family & community and play a greater role in decision making. Health education and health care services are being received by her from the Link Up Project implemented by IACIB. In the free time she also disseminates the necessary health messages suitable for the women in the midst of the co-workers and neighbors that she has received health education earlier from the Peer Educators in the garment factory. In fact, through the acquired knowledge, hard work and preservation she has brought prosperity to her family.

Kazol is empowered according to the Women’s Empowerment in Wage-earner Index. In the Index diagram, the outer ring identifies the domains. The shaded segments inside represent the indicators in which Beauty has adequate achievements.

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