Kulsums (a Collection of Success Stories of the Disadvantaged Women of Bangladesh) Edited by...

7/24/2019 Kulsums (a Collection of Success Stories of the Disadvantaged Women of Bangladesh) Edited by Anirudha Alam

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/kulsums-a-collection-of-success-stories-of-the-disadvantaged-women-of-bangladesh 1/116

D:\AnirudhaAlam's Gateway Folders\anirudha alam_GateWayFolder\ANIRUDHA (E)\ANIRUDHAALAM\IDCCell\Kulsums- final.doc

K U L S U M S



2



3

KULSUMSA Collection of Success Storiesof the Disadvantaged Women

Chief Editor

Saiful Islam Robin

Editor

Anirudha Alam

Script

Anirudha Alam, Lubna YasmeenTowhidul Alam Chowdhury Nipun Alam, Selin Yasmin

Bangladesh Extension Education ServicesHouse 183, Eastern Road, Lane 2, New DOHS, Mohakhali, Dhaka-1206



4

KULSUMS (A Collection of Success Stories of Disadvantaged Women) Chief Editor: Saiful Islam Robin Edited by Anirudha Alam Published byInformation & Development Communication Cell, BEES (BangladeshExtension Education Services), House 183, Eastern Road, Lane 2, New DOHS,Mohakhali, Dhaka-1206, Bangladesh, E-mail: [email protected], [email protected], Website: http://www.bees-bd.org Printed by GraphicPoint, 27/11/3-A, Topkhana Road, Purana Paltan, Dhaka-1000 FirstPublished: February 2004, Falgun 1410 Cover Design & Graphics:Anirudha Alam

Price 100 Taka, US $ 5All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, or translated in anyform or by any means without written permission from the publisher.

mailto:[email protected],bees






5

To the Kulsums,

the women of Bangladesh,who are mostly disadvantaged &

deprived of all kinds of human rightsas well as the mainstream beneficiaries of BEES Samities,

whom we have dedicated ourselves to entitle to empowerment



6



7

CONTENTS

Foreword 09Preface 13Arati is after a Far-reaching Ambition 19Fatema, the Name of a Success 24Sakina Emerges as an Epitome of Emancipation 28Moyzan Bibi Makes Her Life Meaningful 32Helena Climbs up the Stairs of Establishment 36An Example of Self-reliance 39

Leading the Luckless Lot 45 No More Exploitation 49Maksuda, the Dream Merchant 52The Secrets of Success 56The Rise of Rasheda Begum 60Gifted with a New-found Hope 64Graced with a Higher Insight 68Anita Exceeds Her Unbearable Affliction 72A Weapon Against Poverty 76BEES- a Friend in Need 79Being Productive is a Blessing 83Healing the Woes with a Great Success 88Jyotsna, a True Entrepreneur 95Honest Efforts Can Bring Happiness 100Farida Finds a Better Meaning of Life 103

Rina – Leading Ahead of the Darkest Despair 108Hasina, the Hardy Woman 112



8



9

FOREWORD

BEES (Bangladesh Extension Education Services) has beenconducting the poverty alleviation program for pioneering thedevelopment work all over the country. BEES first set to workin 1975 with splendid confidence to empower thedisadvantaged people especially women of the society throughtaking up socio-econo-cultural development program, leadingtowards self-reliance.

Now BEES is well equipped with all kinds of eclectic endeavorto be dedicated and more committed on a great scale to thecommunity by way of implementing such poverty alleviation programs in field level as Micro-credit , Micro-enterprise Development , Women Empowerment , Agriculture and Social

Forestry, giving special emphasis on Agriculture

Diversification and Intensification, Smallholder Agriculture Improvement , Poultry and Livestock as well as Education

Program. In addition Community-Based Health Project incorporating Maternal & Child Health and Family Planning , Nutrition Initiative Program, Urban Poor Development

Program and so on have embellished and sustained themainstream of poverty alleviation program in down-to-earth

method.



10

Over 28 years beside the poor BEES has been successful to

engender the prosperous future and bring off promising changein the distressed destinies of many disadvantaged men andwomen. Accumulating from the first-hand experience of a totalupliftment at individual level of numerous disadvantagedcommunity people, we have aspired recently to publish a bookon case study, which encompasses mostly the success- storiesof those disadvantaged people who had even no ways andmeans to survive. We have selected the stories of only thewomen as the theme of the book entitled Kulsums. Worse luck,women are deprived of all kinds of human rights in the perspective of our country as the whole. But women form 50%of our population and it is not possible to materialize asustainable development of the country without the overalldevelopment and empowerment of women.

In the sphere of family oriented empowerment, social and political empowerment, nowadays women have no right to pursue their career or establish their status as a human being. Itis true that women‟s life-style of a country represents the realreflection of the development of a country, specially thedeveloping country like ours. Thinking over these aspects wehave decided that the collection of the selected success stories

of the underprivileged people should be brought outhighlighting women‟s contribution and participation in social,spiritual, political and economical amelioration. Herenoteworthy 23 success stories of former impoverished but presently established and diligent women have been embodied.They were inspired, motivated and attracted by the povertyalleviation program executed by the micro-credit plus program

of BEES for the sake of their flourishing future.



11

In the view of this documentation by means of compiling

significant and outstanding success stories of the deprivedwomen to be empowered, we hope that the book Kulsums will be appreciated by the readers for our flowered endeavors andinitiatives derived from Micro-credit Plus Program.

I‟m very grateful to them who have teamed up and helped to

publish this book collecting data in field level and encouragingin various ways as well as writing the touching and authentic

case studies based on the collected information and extendingtheir dedicated and untiring efforts to make this publication asuccess.

Our initiative will be of success if this book can contribute inkindling the spirit of women-empowerment among the potential implementers and policy-makers throwing an

enabling light on millions of deprived women of the country.

Saiful Islam RobinExecutive Director

BEES

February 12, 2004



12



14

various aspects of their cursed previous life-background have

not been cited in details in every success-story.

Adhering to the prime emphasis on women empowermentBEES has been concocting the remedies for combating thesocial narrowness and salving the wounds of our socio-economic condition hypothetically as a whole. The grim realityis that the prevailing male hegemony in our country makeswomen prolong their dependence on men. So with the zeal to

expedite the development from grassroots level BEES initiatedmicro-credit plus program for empowering women through bringing stability in their income flow. By way of lavishingmicro-financial assistance BEES tries to make womenempowered that they may surmount the contemporarylimitations on the society. Activating its micro-finance services by means of group formation, regular courtyard-session,

respective training and orientation, motivation-class, BEESstimulates their ardor for economic and social emancipation.

Only economical assistance can not give the Kulsums moremastery on their lives. Thinking over this moot point BEES isorchestrating the demand-driven programs pragmatically underthe title of Credit Plus. The Credit Plus Program of BEES not

only ensures the credit facilities but also provides training forskill-development, serving-package to make them aware ofhealthcare and nutrition, materials and other inputs needed for productive employment generation, educational facilities to getrid of illiteracy and ignorance by way of Human Resource

Development (HRD) and Occupational Skills Development (OSD).

Capitalizing on the purpose of improving family well being byvirtue of Kulsums‟ access to credit plus program BEES has



15

been competent to help them materialize their equal

entitlements to resources and equal opportunities to developingthe quality of life. BEES is on the look-out to work with theinstruments of indigence alleviation to engender authentic blessing to the poverty stricken people. Side by side its creditand savings program is going on with the comprehensiveaspirations- first to make micro-finance services obtainable tothe Kulsums who do not get any credit facility, guide and ifnecessary train them in line with proper utilization of thecredit, and at last to spur their inner beings to commit savings.

In the course of ensuring micro-finance assistance BEES firststeeps to conduct personal contacts in the respectivecommunity among the target group and brings off groupdiscussions according to the findings of informal previoussurvey-report. The group discussions in the process of group

formation and the weekly sessions of the groups have been being conducted by arranging „Uthan Baithak‟( Courtyard

Meeting). The Courtyard Meetings are like „mini parliament‟

where the participants participate spontaneously and give theiropinion and at the same time become enriched with relevantknowledge, know-how, proper directions and so on. Thetrickle-down benefits of development are being engrossed with

relation to BEES Samities at the root level enhancing self-reliance efforts of more than 1 lac people. Up to December2003, BEES has disbursed more than TK.100 crore(cumulative) to more than 50 thousand beneficiaries(household women) in the field level of assorted performing-areas through micro-credit program. The auspicious recoveryrate of its loan is 99%. The savings balance of the syndicate

members i.e. members of BEES Samities as on December 2003has been Tk. 10 crore. Implementing the economical assistanceoriented plan of action it has inaugurated more than 1600 self-



17

Cell would like to illustrate a vivid outline of desired success

and achievement of BEES-micro credit program to be furtherevaluated and guided by any kind of creative opinion, review,advice as well as kindling conception. We believe that thefindings derived from the case-studies would be helpful to theresearchers, social workers, sociologists and so on to befamiliar with the common plight along with the aspirations tohelp make self-reliant the neglected and deprived women ofBangladesh. As the famous poet Robert Frost says-

‘But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep...’

The Kulsums of this book have intended to go ahead likeRobert Frost as well. They are very much diligent, tireless andalways engaged to fight against any kind of poverty and

ignorance to attain the high-water mark of success.

Our field workers and many of the colleagues have pitched into publish this book providing valuable information, profoundideas and grave opinions. We are, indeed, grateful to themextensively and thanking for their great contribution. Theendeavors of publishing this book will be successful even a

little if somebody might be benefited from this book in anyway.

Anirudha AlamAssistant Director

Information and

Development Communication CellBEES

February 12, 2004



18



19

Arati is after a Far-reachingAmbition

From my salad days I was always keen on making meacceptable to others around me, though due to severe povertyof my family I was neglected by the neighbors purposely. Sowhen I got the chance to join the BEES program I dreamt that Ihad to materialize my desired inclination through its povertyalleviation program. It was really hurting for me that therewere times when my neighbors did not want to lend me only

ten taka. Now they do not hesitate to loan me even tenthousand taka. To my utmost satisfaction, I have achieved thisthrough social empowerment.



20

My name is Arati. When I was 16 years old I was wedded off

by my elder brother without caring for my opinion. Myhusband was a carpenter. After my marriage I came to knowthat I was not his first wife. I was very much outraged mentallyhearing this shocking news. So I decided that I would not stayin my husband‟s house any longer. Since then I am staying in

my elder brother‟s family. Now I am 45.

When I remember the woeful days my cheeks are flooded with

tears. In that cursed period we had to go without food almostevery day. BEES first stimulated my hidden potentials to bringchange in my distressed fate, by becoming a group member.

We had a tiny restaurant at the footpath in the peri-urban areasof Sreepur under the district of Gazipur operated by the familymembers. The income from the restaurant was not so well tofulfill the demand of food everyday. It was necessary to invest

more money in the restaurant in order to increase the earning.But how would the additional money be managed? When I wasthinking over this great problem a group-leader of BEESadvised me that I could extend the restaurant-trade by taking aloan from BEES if I became a group member. Hearing thisoptimistic word I was electrified with a spark of hope instantly.Then I was enrolled in BEES Samiti. At first the Samiti loaned

three thousand taka to me under the Micro-credit Program ofBEES in August 1998 which I invested in my restaurant. Myrestaurant trade oriented enterprise was going on in full swing by means of diligent endeavor and tireless perseverance. After paying back the money in installment next year I took five-thousand taka loan for the same purpose. The motivation ofBEES has capacitated me thinking and proving that women

should be empowered for the sake of a better future. The mostimportant point is that, somehow women have to be aware in



21

order to be not only good mothers but also prove themselves

effective and as best human resources.Although from long ago I was very much fascinated by BEES‟

activities, especially by the poverty alleviation program, but Iwould not dare to become a part of BEES-program. Because Ihad some misconceptions about it too. One day I wasobserving weekly sessions of BEES at a courtyard close to myhouse from a distance with profound eagerness. The group-

leader marked me and asked me to come to her. Then Idisclosed to her my distressed condition. Hearing the details ofthe painful events in my life she suggested me to be enrolled inBEES in order to be provided with reasonable loan andsubsequently become empowered economically, socially, politically and culturally availing „BEES‟ seba package.

As the saying goes, man is the architect of his own fortune.

Strong confidence and far-reaching initiatives can groom upthe potentials more efficient and edified. So to upgrade myselfwith success in life I intended that I would have to continuegathering courage to combat the misfortune of poverty. Incourse of time with more loans from BEES I have built myhouse and promoted the restaurant-trade respectively. Now Iam not dependent any more. I have not to ask any one for

assistance as a compassionate charity. Lastly I took twelvethousand taka loan for a new initiative, i.e. goldsmith-trade.Thus my desired goal has begun to be successful. As a rewardof my sustainable endurance and assiduity now I am the proudowner of a restaurant, a house and a goldsmith-trade center. Now my monthly income is about Tk. 7,000. After meeting thefamily expenses I can save Tk. 1,500-2,000 per month, which

is a great achievement for me.



22

The whole enterprise has helped me to make a total change in

my lifestyle. As I had been humiliated by my husband in the past, now I feel that I have to go ahead by any means to makesure sign of success standing upon my own feet. I had noimportance in my family and society before being member ofBEES‟ group. I was deprived of taking part in community-activities and giving opinion or advice in social context. Nowwithout my opinion no major decision is approved in thefamily. Many of the neighbors come to me to take advice onvarious purposes. BEES gives me not only economical support but also assistance through education-health-nutrition-rightsoriented outreach program. Various support services of BEESlike the adult education program, door to door generalhealthcare services and satellite clinic guided by a doctor,training support for reducing malnutrition through homesteadgardening, distributing high yielding variety crop seeds and

saplings, etc. have really helped me especially to beempowered with knowledge, attitude and practice for overalldevelopment. After leaving my husband‟s house I was very

much helpless. BEES has guided me to break the spell ofhelplessness as a great emancipator.

Apart from enriching me with the practical knowledge andknow-how, BEES has developed me spiritually andaesthetically. Now I can decisively initiate certain socialresponsibilities such as resisting early marriage, campaigningagainst dowry system, inspiring to be aware of environment,conducting sessions for gender development, influencingothers overcoming superstitions and religious dogmas and soon, not to mention my own orientation and awareness on theseissues. Participation in the weekly group meetings has enrichedme towards this direction by means of detailed participatorydiscussions on these issues.



23

My future plan is that I would branch out into some projects

like poultry farm, dairy farm etc. Now I have employed fourstaff at my restaurant and two staff at my goldsmith‟s shop. It

gives me immense satisfaction that my business has expandedand I have become capable of income generation. I owe a lot toBEES for enabling me to stretch out my ambition while Ididn‟t even know the true meaning of ambition. From my

drowning condition, BEES has pulled me out on firm groundand taught me how to tread confidently.

BEES has made me ever grateful to it. I will never be able torepay the debt of BEES as a whole.



24

Fatema, the Nameof a Success

“I wanted to die, but the faces of my daughters came in front ofmy eyes. What will happen to them? Who‟ll look after them? I

resisted myself. I thought that I have to live for my daughters

or they will be in the same position like me”, in this way

Fatema started to tell her story. It is not a fiction. It is the

reality Fatema had to go through four years back.



25

Fatema Begum, age 35, lives in village South Billalpur of

Joydebpur upazila of Gazipur district. She was married toMohammad Selim, whose family was equally poor likeFatema‟s. He was the only earning member in the family and

his income was not regular. He was apathetic. Always he usedto scold her in front of other people and one day he divorcedher. “I went out holding the hands of my two daughters. My parents were also very poor. It was not possible for them tofeed extra three mouths. So I took only shelter there. No onecame forward to help me. One day I noticed that, some womengathered at our neighbor‟s house. And a lady was advisingthem. I went forward and enquired about their activities. Thegroup leader of the Samiti, Sajeda Apa helped me tounderstand the services of BEES. I felt encouraged and wantedto take loan. But the Field Officer Sir asked me what I woulddo with the money. I kept silent. Then he asked me about my

knack. I spontaneously replied that I knew sewing. He advisedme to buy a sewing machine. I‟m ever grateful to him for his

kind suggestion.”

At the first phase Fatema Begum took loan of Tk. 4,000 withwhich she bought a sewing machine and started her business.The income was not bad. Avoiding unnecessary expenses, she

saved some money. Then she decided to establish a nursery business. For that she took necessary training on nursery fromBEES. From sewing and nursery business her monthly income began to increase. At the same time her life style also improveda lot. Next year she took another loan of TK. 11,000 to expandher nursery project. After knowing about sanitation system shereceived loan for sanitation. She has been involved with BEES

group for the last four years and within this period she receivedfour times loan from BEES of TK. 37,000. In the mean timeshe also repaid TK. 14,200 of her total loan.



26

Before her involvement in BEES group, she had no income

because she was divorced by her husband. But now by sewingand from her nursery business she earns about TK. 4,000 permonth. After maintaining her family, she is also saving a smallamount.

Fatema Begum has two daughters. Her eldest daughter AfrozaAkter is 15 and she is a student of class nine. Her seconddaughter Selina is 7 years old, who is in class one. Now Fatema

is very much conscious about her daughters‟ future. She wantsto give them proper education, so that they can be self-dependent.

When she was divorced many people rebuked her and no onehelped her with a single penny. But now, she has her own business. She is able to maintain her own family. “I was in

darkness, as if I were in a vast sea along with my daughters. IfBEES didn‟t help me by giving loan and proper advice, we

would have died of hunger,” she says with eyes full of tears.

It is her determination and self-confidence which helped her to become financially solvent. She adds, “I realized that withouthard labor I couldn‟t be successful. Now many of my

neighbors are following my path. They also take loan andadvice from BEES and are trying to change their fate. They aretrying to contribute in the family. Moreover, now we are alsowell aware of primary health care, nutrition, environment,sanitation and hygiene. We, the village women know aboutgender issue. We can now stand on the firm ground where noone would dare to push us aside towards a subordinate positioneither in the family or in the society. While I was about to perish earlier, now I have become capable of protesting socialinjustice like dowry system, early marriage etc. Now I can also



27

cast my vote. Previously I had to endure utter humiliation and

rather the pitiless attitude of the society towards me as no oneconsidered me important, would not loan me lest I could notrepay, talked ill of me as I could not stay with my husband,rebuked me on many instances and so on. But now, I haveearned a respectable position in the society while my opinion isconsidered with due importance. And all credit goes to BEES.They are always beside us to give necessary advice fordifferent issues.”

Fatema Begum is thus economically and socially secured. Sheis spiritually empowered. She is a proud mother of twodaughters, whose main mission is to give them highereducation. She always tries to encourage destitute ladies not to be demoralized. She feels that women should work and earnfor their own safety. And this is the only way how a woman

can establish her position in the family and in the society.



28

Sakina Emerges as an Epitomeof Emancipation

“They‟ll convert you into a Christian,” this is what Sakina‟sneighbors used to tell her, as she became a group member ofBEES. But with time many of them followed the same path shedid. Now what‟s the secret behind this total change of attitude?Sakina herself goes on, “I was the second among four brothersand four sisters. My parents were illiterate and we were notallowed to go out to study. My father had very little arable land

and our days were full of struggle with poverty. I was marriedoff at the age of twelve to thirteen to Md. Bazlur Rahman of



29

Sherpur upazila under Bogra district. My husband‟s was an

equally poor family and he was the only earning member in thefamily, what was worse that he was a drug addict. I tried myutmost to cure him but all in vain. He would mix up with otherspoiled youths of the neighborhood and pass his time indulgingin useless pursuits. As his income was irregular we could nevercross the poverty line. Life was very much miserable.”

It was the brave venture of Sakina – her involvement with

BEES group activities, despite her neighbors‟ prejudiced predictions that marked Sakina‟s change of fate. While shereceived relief from BEES as a destitute woman earlier, after being enlisted in BEES group, Sakina dreamt of becoming anentrepreneur herself. The motivation of BEES and the properguidance played a significant role in case of Sakina‟s

involvement in group activities as well as taking up income

generating activities. She received a loan of Tk. 5,000 from theField Organizer of BEES Md. Faridul Islam. Following hisadvice Sakina bought two cows, her first investment into productive pursuit. Paying off the loan on installment basis shehad an increased income enabling her to multiply two cowsinto four and the four cows into eight. She sold four cows and bought three „ bighas‟ (99 decimal) of land. Now Sakina has

four cows, four goats, four „ bighas‟ of land and five bee-hives.Devoting herself to make profit from her assets Sakina has been making headway in life. Everyday her husband sells theircows‟ milk at the local market for Taka 100-120. Every weekthey are selling honey from their bee-hives for Tk. 500 – 600.The cropping land is yielding food for the family and also bringing some money.

At the end of the year Sak ina‟s net profit is about Tk. 8,000from her cattle, goats, cows, bee – hives and arable land. Her



30

husband who used to be a day laborer, no more has to sell

labor. He has joined his hands with Sakina and mainly looksafter their agricultural land. The scope of work and prosperityhas changed this man. Sakina‟s perseverance has succeeded at

last. Previously he would not consider Sakina an important person and always dominate her. Sakina‟s voice was not heard

in the family. Sakina‟s independence, her realization of life, her

disposition have earned her a status in the family and also inthe society. “I believed that my heaven was underneath myhusband‟s feet. I did not dare to go against him though it wasmy meek requests and persuasions I would apply to changehim. I would often tolerate his tortures. But I am no more thatmeek and helpless woman. I have been capacitated throughBEES‟ support,” Sakina states, Sakina has earned differenttraining, orientations and basic awareness on many issues fromBEES. Besides receiving training on homestead gardening,

forestation, cattle rearing, sewing etc. and basic awareness onsome important issues, Sakina also has been trained asTraditional Birth Attendant. Sakina believes her training asTraditional Birth Attendant is one of the most importantachievements she has made. “Using my knowledge andexpertise achieved from BEES‟ training courses I have been

cultivating vegetables in my kitchen garden, rearing cattle and

poultry scientifically, sewing „nakshi kantha‟, etc. As a TrainedBirth Attendant I have very often been called in the communityand it has earned me fame as an expert and dependable hand”,

says the proud and self-reliant Sakina Begum. Sakina hasreceived basic literacy from BEES‟ adult literacy program. Shehas also received basic knowledge on gender, health, hygiene,safe water, sanitation, nutrition, environment etc.

The sufferings Sakina had to go through in her early days, shedoes not want her sons to go through the same again. She has



31

dedicated herself to educate her sons. She says “I have sent my

sons to school with my little earning from sewing at the beginning. With the increased income it was not a problem atall to bear the educational expenses of my sons. I am happythat my sons are like me, not like their fathers, to be precise,not like the mean person he happened to be. My eldest son has passed S.S.C., second son has completed H.S.C and myyoungest son is a student of HSC level. A happy and contentmother of three sons, Sakina plans to wed her eldest son who is28 now. Dreaming of a more prosperous future Sakina wishesto buy more land, expand her bee-hives and other pursuits.

Sakina‟s development has worked to hammer the minds of hersarcastic neighbors. Many of the neighboring women wouldlike to take advice from Sakina. A number of them have become group members of BEES. The sarcasm, the prejudice

of the villagers have been transformed into administration,respect and pursuing the same path. Sakina emerges as atrendsetter, an epitome of emancipation in her locality.



32

Moyzan Bibi Makes Her LifeMeaningful

“Our day‟s income was only Tk.50. After the hard labor I andmy husband could by no way earn more than that. Naturally weeven had to starve at times and a scanty meal or two were whathad to be considered enough for the family,” Mst. Moyzan

Bibi, age 40, from Nijmaona village of Sreepur upazila underGazipur district recalls her fretful days gone by. Mst. Moyzanalongwith her husband Md. Nurul Islam used to work at other

people‟s house in the village. With no education and burdenedwith the pangs of poverty, Moyzan‟s woes were endless. They

were virtually living from hand to mouth.



33

But now life has a new turn for Moyzan. Her days have brightened up and she has come out of those nightmarishstruggles. The turning point of her life has been marked by herinvolvement with BEES. Back in 1998 Mst. Moyzan Bibi wasintroduced with a BEES‟ worker on the way adjacent to herhome. She explained to her the BEES poverty eradicationinitiatives in detail. When moyzan came to know about BEESand its micro credit program, she became very much impressedand interested to become a part of it for an overall upliftment oflife.

“I found a new ray of hope in the midst of utter despair. I

discussed with my husband and we decided to lease some landstaking loan from BEES. The easy-interest loan of BEESseemed quite convenient in comparison to the high-interest

ones available at the village level from the money lenders.Whereas the monthly interest for Tk.1000 at the village wasTk.100, from BEES we could avail Tk.1000 for a yearlyinterest of Tk.150. It seemed to be a very good opportunity forus to turn the wheel of our luck. Therefore I became a groupmember of BEES and got my first loan of Tk.3000 yielding mesure success through leasing of land”, Moyzan Bibi goes

through her period of transition. The first loan was the seed ofsuccess. Then through the successive years Moyzan and herhusband devoted all their efforts and perseverance to bringthem good luck. After leasing of land it was a clothes shop andtill now the shop is bringing them good profit. On and off theyhave been leasing land and the bigger the amount of loan, thelarger the venture and naturally it‟s the period of climbing up

the steps upward leaving behind the days of utter poverty.



34

Moyzan‟s life standard has risen up considerably. They can

now take nutritious food, wear decent clothes. The days ofstarvation seems to be some bygone nightmare. Moyzan issending her eldest daughter to school and hopes to send hertwo other children, a boy and a girl to school too when theyreach their age. While it was almost a life of non entity in thesociety before, now they have gained social respect and a voicethat counts. Their participation in any social program has become imperative. “Now I know the good from the bad. The

discussion sessions each week have enlightened me withvarious basic knowledge. Now I know that there is nodifference between men and women. We are all human beings.It‟s our duty to live a better life by maintaining cleanliness,

sanitation, hygiene, nutritious food intake, environmentalconservation, plantation etc.,” says a more enlightened

Moyzan.

“When I first started BEES‟ activities, my neighbors wouldtalk ill of me, predicting that it would defame me for myinvolvement with male staff of BEES, who are outsiders. Theyhinted that having any kind of association with outsider male persons severely hamper a woman‟s virtue and integrity. But

with time their eyes opened and they found that instead of

defamation I was benefited. My association with BEES wasmeant for uplifting me, not for any vile purpose or defamingme. Now, they come to me for my advice on different issues.My financial emancipation as well as my knowledge and my better way of living have impressed them. Although myhusband considered me important earlier, but now myimportance in the family has increased much further. I make

many decisions in the family”, Moyzan Bibi adds.



35

Moyzan‟s empowerment has been possible through her will

power and hard labor as well as the extended support fromBEES. She believes that such supports can emancipate the poorand backwards people like her. She smiles a happy andconfident smile and hopes that this smile will be multiplied in anear future among the poor people of the country if they getopportunity, she has been fortunate to avail.



36

Helena Climbs up the Stairs ofEstablishment

“Now he cares for me. He consults with me before taking anydecision. But situations were not like this. I had no voice in myfamily,” this is the way Helena recalls her past, smilingly. Mst. Helena Begum, age 35, inhabitant of Gilarchala village ofGazipur district was a poor lady eight years ago. Her husbandearned a little by selling vegetables. Their monthly income wasonly Tk. 1,500. They were hopeless about their future because

poverty was their regular guest.Helena goes on, “One day I met an off icial of BEES. Heinformed me about their services. I spent few sleepless nights,



37

thinking what to do. I was in dilemma, whether I should tell it

to my husband or not! I discussed it with some of my neighbors but they couldn‟t give me any suggestion. Then I talked to myhusband. He encouraged me. He said that if I could managesome loan, he could start a grocery shop.” That was the beginning for Helena Begum. She got involved with BEES. Atfirst she received a loan of Tk. 3,000 with which her husbandstarted a business of raw materials. Next year she received Tk.4,000 as credit from BEES and bought a cow by Tk.6,000. Sheadded Tk. 2,000 from her savings. In this way every year shetook loan from BEES, expanded her husband‟s business and

bought more cows and began to rear them. She got financialhelp unto Tk. 22,000 from BEES. She already sold five cowsworth Tk. 40,000. Now she possesses six cows. Helena says,“Now I have my own income. I‟m helping my husband to run

the family. I‟m cultivating vegetables in front of my house,

rearing cattle and poultry and selling them to market.” Beingattached with BEES for eight years, the scenario hascompletely changed. Helena‟s family has become well-knownin the village. Her husband is also doing well in his business. Now he possesses a large grocery shop. Now their yearlyincome is nearly about one lac.

“In my early life I had to go through a lot of sufferings, so Idon‟t want my children to go through the same. I‟m determined

to educate them properly. My daughter Nazma Akter is astudent of class six and my son Al Amin is in class three,” Helena states. Now Helena is the name of a successful lady inher village. It is her perseverance, self-confidence, patience andhard labor , with which she earned this success. “Eight years

ago, nobody considered me important, not even my husband.But now I‟m enjoying equal right in the family. My neighbors



38

also often come to me for different types of suggestions. I feel

secured financially and socially,” she says.

She also informs that BEES‟ activities are really praiseworthy

because they are giving advice on health, hygiene, sanitationand nutrition etc. She says, “It is BEES which helped us toknow about hygiene practices i.e. hand washing with ash orsoap after defecation, use of sandal during defecation, washinghands before meal. BEES also let us know about equal right ofmen and women, voting rights of women etc.”

Helena Begum informs her future plan. She wants to extendher live-stock project. She often gives advice to her neighbors,“Take help from BEES. They will give you financial supportand advice. If you are determined and hardworking, successwill knock at your door.”



39

An Example of Self-reliance

„A person is an architect of his own destiny‟. Mst. Fazila

Begum from Chakbhola Kha village of Shibganj upazila under

Bogra district believes it from the deep of her heart. Now she ishighly trained, economically solvent and empowered in her

own family as well as in the society that have made her an

outstanding model to be followed by other distressed women

who have even little positive dream upon their lives to get rid

of severe poverty. But some help is needed to foster one‟s

dream to make into success. Fazila Begum has materialized herdesire into practice with the help of BEES‟ poverty alleviation



40

program and her foresight and perseverance to develop her

family from pragmatic perspectives.

Being a member of a poor family, Fazila Begum experienced

the dark hand of poverty from her very childhood. Her father

was a petty farmer and found it very difficult to maintain a

large family containing eight members. Her father arranged her

marriage when she was only fourteen with a stranger without

her consent thinking that it would lower his financial burden.Her father‟s desir e proved to be ineffective because his son-in-

law was an idle person and disliked working. So they had to

live in her parents‟ house. Then the time was very miserable

for her. Her husband was not in a position to manage even food

for her. As a young woman, she could not satisfy her own

demand, not even a good shari. She had to restrain herself fromall types of amusement. In the meantime, she gave birth to a

son that aggravated the situation very badly. Her family fell

into a sea of miserable distress. That was the time she felt the

necessity to join the BEES program to decorate her inner desire

in the way of achieving outstanding success. Now she is at the

age of thirty-eight. At present she believes herself as a

successful entrepreneur and she unhesitantly confesses thatBEES is the organization that encouraged her to be self-reliant

and helped to materialize it in practice.

From the very beginning, she had no property except eight

poultry. They had to live from hand to mouth. Later on her

father gave her ten decimals of land and advised to make herlife meaningful on the basis of this piece of land. This piece of



41

land brought her additional thinking because she had no money

to cultivate it. She sought advice from her cousin, Amina, whodescribed her how she was benefited taking loan from BEES

and also advised her to be enrolled with BEES for getting a

loan. Hearing this, Fazila felt an inner sprit that gave rise to a

new desire to glorify her life. She promptly took decision to be

enrolled in BEES Samiti as she heard about several examples

of BEES‟ successful members. She along with her cousin went

to Kamrun Apa, who with the consent of all the members ofthe Samiti arranged all the means to make her member. The

members in the BEES Samiti listened to her painful story and

assured her of all kinds of help. At first, she received a loan

amounting to five hundred taka in 1995 from the Samiti for the

purpose of cultivation. She successfully utilized the money in

potato and paddy cultivation and gained a lot. After paying back the money, she took loan for second time and bought a

sewing machine. This brought a radical change in her life.

Then she could earn enough money to bear the educational

expenses of her son and to manage the other family demands.

At this stage, fortune forwarded its good hand to her. In 1997,

she received a loan of two thousand taka worth to purchase a

cow. She took loan for three times in order to purchase cowwhich led her to take the profession of livestock rearing. She

also took loan in 1998 and 2001 for purchasing a van and one

„bigha‟ of land respectively. From 1995 to 2002, she took loan

for eight times and each time she tried to procure a new

property. She successfully paid back the entire loan in

installment. Now she is the owner of four cows, one „ bigha‟andten decimals of land, a sewing machine etc. She achieved the



42

property with her uninterrupted perseverance and mental

strength.

When you have nothing in your life, what drives you ahead?

Dreams, hopes, aspirations etc. That‟s what gave Fazila the

sprit to thrive ahead with the support and advice of BEES. Her

son completed Diploma in Agriculture and her daughter is

continuing her study in a Polytechnic Institute with the loan

from BEES. Her son is now engaged in teaching professionand contributes a lot for her family. Nowadays, her monthly

income is near to six thousand taka which is four thousand taka

more compared to her previous income before joining the

BEES.

Now she leads a standard life. Her monthly expenditure has

exceeded from fifteen hundred and seventy five taka to forty

five hundred taka and now she can spend more on health care,

education and for other household activities. In the sphere of

education, health care, clothing and other household affair she

spends one thousand, one hundred, five hundred and twenty

three hundred respectively as well as saves two thousand taka

per month.

Nowadays, she doesn‟t believe in the traditional saying “Be it

today or tomorrow, we‟ll have to get our daughter married, so

why not now.” She gives much emphasis on emancipation of

women economically, socially and culturally. All these

ideological revolution happened into her mind through the

training and orientation program in BEES Samiti. She believesthat women are not any more the animals to be kept within the



43

four walls. They have the role in social development being

efficient human resources of the country. BEES provides notonly financial support through its credit program but also

creates an atmosphere where every member is aware of health,

nutrition, rights etc. “BEES with its highly qualified

professionals provided me training on sewing, poultry and

livestock rearing, handicraft, vegetable cultivation”, says Fazila

Begum. She also expresses her gratitude to BEES for its

support services like promoting adult education, distributinghigh yielding variety crop seed and saplings, encouraging

gardening and tree plantation, promoting health care services,

ensuring consciousness about the importance of education,

cleanliness, rights and duties in the society. She has achieved

all these knowledge through participating in the weekly

sessions in BEES Samiti. Co-operative behavior of the teachersand Apas in the Samiti followed her path to reach at the present

position.

In our society, women are given little scope for dreaming of a

better future. Even under these circumstances, if any woman

dares to dream of a better life, she has to fight against several

obstacles in the society. Mst. Fazila Begum is the best exampleof gathering courage. She encourages her daughter and

neighbors to be revolutionary. She believes that the concept-

freedom is not ascribable, it is achievement oriented. For this,

women should be diligent and hard working. She no more

believes in superstition, early marriage, dowry system etc. She

encourages women through campaigning modernized visionand believes that there is no difference between man and



44

woman and both have equal right. She promotes consciousness

among the villagers about tree plantation, cleanliness and aboutthe basic rights of women.

With the grace of BEES, now she is empowered in her family

as well as in the society. Before joining the BEES Samiti, she

used to be oppressed in her family. Her thinking was not

valued by her husband and she was beaten for several times

even for a silly mistake. Then she deemed herself as a valueless beast in the society. But now, with her perseverance and great

endeavor, she enjoys a pleasing atmosphere both in the family

and society where everyone respects her, gives value to her

decisions. People try to follow her advice and she can

contribute something for the well being of the society.

The story is at the end point. But the experience that Fazila

Begum has achieved will never end. She is looking forward to

welcoming further achievement in her life remaining involved

with the poverty alleviation program of BEES.



45

Leading the Luckless Lot

The impressive self-confidence, reflected in her whole

appearance makes Anwara Begum from Potka village ofSreepur upazila under Gazipur district distinguished from

others. Anwara Begum, at her early 40's, is very much sure of

herself. The way she maintains an air of enlightened integrity is

outstanding. Anwara Begum, the group leader of „Potka Kona

Mohila Samiti‟, Sreepur, Gazipur now stands as an example of

success through entrepreneurship. Her endeavor and proper

planning during the past seven years have brought her the fruitof success while BEES' assistance has been the nourisher of



46

her efforts. Anwara Begum says, “I have become the now

confident and successful person through my involvement withBEES. Although my life was not below the poverty line before,

but we had needs. Due to constraint of capital it was not

possible to take up profitable pursuits, which I desperately

wanted to. I know that village usurers give loan to people. But

the high interest robs people of their belongings leaving them

utterly ruined. I have witnessed some people to become so

much undone as to become robbed of their last belongings,even ending up becoming ousted from their homestead. I was

not to follow this terrible instance. I was on the look-out for

capital support. Meantime, I got introduced to BEES and

observed their development activities. I knew that this was the

perfect place for me to be in. Therefore with the advice,

motivation and effective support from the BEES‟ ExtensionWorker I organized a number of neighboring women and

formed the group of BEES „Potkakona Mohila Samiti‟. From

then onwards there was no looking back. Because I have been

receiving the all out support from BEES to uplift myself

culturally and spiritually.”

Anwara Begum got involved into BEES group activities backin 1997. First time she received a Tk. 2,000 loan, combined it

with her own little savings and started a poultry farm. She got

the right direction of investment from BEES Extension

Workers, she recalls. At the beginning there were 1,000 poultry

at her farm. Year after year Anwara continued her income

generation spree with a gradual increasing trend. “Now, in

place of one shed I have three sheds where I am rearing 5,000 poultry. Having enlarged my farm, I have also employed extra



47

help to manage the farm. This initiative has given me the

opportunity of employment generation. Besides I also have 6cattle including 2 cows. My kitchen garden fulfills the

nutritional needs of the family and I can also sell some in the

market. I also get agricultural products from our arable land.

Now my monthly income has become steady enough to put an

end to financial uncertainty. My monthly income is now

around Tk. 9,500. With this income I can easily manage the

family rather slovently which was just impossible some yearsago. I have two sons and one daughter. I am sending my

children to school and hope to send them for higher education.

My future plan centers round the farm and my children and I

hope that my coming days will be brighter in both these

aspects,” Anwara Begum states.

Anwara Begum is a woman with strong will power and

perseverance. She has proven the truth that if human potentials

get true nourishment it can be developed in all aspects. For

Anwara the power had been within, what she needed was a

spark. BEES‟ assistance worked as the spark for Anwara. The

leadership quality of Anwara has been effectively explored by

her involvement with BEES group as the group leader. Theorientations on diversified issue like general health,

reproductive health, nutrition, safe water supply and sanitation,

plantation, environment, gender equity etc. has opened a new

era for Anwara. Anwara‟s horizon has been extended further

by her delegation as delivering these issues to her fellow group

members at the weekly meetings. She has been taking the

opportunity to spread these awareness among her group

members and rendering advice for productive initiatives among



48

them. Now she acts as an alternate teacher, motivator and

leader to refreshing the knowledge she has gained and shemanages her group to maintain solidarity among themselves.

Besides, she also stretches her social service range beyond her

group by motivating and advising others of her village. She

demands, “ I find mental satisfaction over doing it. I feel that

this way I can do my duty to society” Her new role has

empowered her substantially in family and society.

In a male dominated society like ours, Anwara sure makes a

difference, with her transformation and emancipation, which is

yet to be multiplied by many others in a desired future.



49

No More Exploitation

Ratna Begum no longer has to worry on how to pay-off thehigh interest loan to the usurer at her village. But life was not

so much unperturbed just a few years back for Ratna Begum,age 28, from Dorikandi village of Belabo upazila of Narsingdidistrict. The very small capital for peddling goods in thelocality couldn‟t be possible to manage other than surrenderingto the blood-sucking village money-lenders. What else couldRatna‟s husband Md. Shahidullah do to mitigate the bare

necessities of the family when no other option was at hand,

they did not know. As a result life would at times even refuseto be lived from hand to mouth. Bewildered, Ratna and her



50

husband thought their head out for an escape route from the

chain – of poverty, of exploitation but all in vain.The lion‟s share of the profit would go to the usurer‟s pocket,

the paradox of life was rather too harsh for the five – memberfamily – Ratna, her husband and three children. Five membersmeant 5 mouths, 5 hungry stomachs, which added to the bewilderment of the couple.

In this circumstance BEES extended its helping hand to a wayout. Ratna Begum came to know of the group activities and theintegrated support service package of BEES and its povertyalleviation program. She was convinced and further motivated by the BEES Extension Worker and some group members inher locality. Ratna Begum became a group – member of BEESand received a Tk. 3,000 loan with easy – interest. The lowinterest rate came as blessing against the previous bitterexperience of emptying the income in the hands of the money-lender. Although Ratna invested her first loan into herhusband‟s peddling business but with time she received higheramounts of loan during the successive years which she investedin diversified pursuits.

Ratna narrates herself, “When I saw the successful activities of

BEES groups and the various services for development of thegroup members, I was convinced that this is where I should gofor help. After receiving the first loan from BEES and repayingit in due time with regular installments I could easily get moreloans. My means was to mark a positive change in the family budget. My husband also was convinced. With the money hestarted a grocery shop. While our capital was only Tk. 15,000

earlier, BEES has helped us to increase it in Tk. 80,000. Withthe increased capital naturally income has also increased and so



51

has the capacity to increase the family expenditure for facilities

we could not even think of before. Our economic condition isvery much steady now. We have built two tin-rooms. Now Ihave four cows, a number of cocks, hens, chicks and ducks.With the training received from BEES, I am taking proper careof my livestock and poultry and also getting vaccination andveterinary services through the initiative of BEES. I have also bought some agricultural land. Our monthly income is aboveTk. 8,600 now from the different income generation activitieswe have undertaken. I can now send my children to school andmy expenditure is Tk. 1,000 for that purpose. In the family budget issues like nutritional needs, health and medicalexpenses and some other facilities have the priority now andwe can afford to spend Tk. 3,000 per month while it was amere Tk. 800 in those bygone plightful days. I am very happythat our fretful days are over”.

Ratna Begum has been emancipated from the curse of povertyand eventually from the social backwardness. While sherepresented the destitute lot earlier, now she has beenestablished in society. Her enlightenment owes to theintegrated support from BEES. She has become aware of her basic rights as a human being and as a citizen of the country.

Having oriented on primary health care, reproductive healthcare, hygiene and sanitation, environment, tree plantation,nutrition, education, gender issues, legal rights, voter right etc.Ratna now represents a conscious citizen, an enlightenedhuman being. Her eyes have opened to a new world of potentials previously unknown to her. A sea-change fromsocio-econo-cultural perspective has happened to Ratna's life,

encouraging others to tread the similar ways towardsempowerment.



52

Maksuda, the Dream Merchant

“It is my cherished dream that I shall make my tea- stall a fullfledged big restaurant where food will be served, and also

equip my mobile phone business with the communicationfacilities at international level”, Maksuda Akter Rani, 33, fromPaltakanda village of Bhairab upazila under Kishoreganjdistrict broods over a desired future glory she may be bestowedwith in the days to come. What is superb about Maksuda‟s

dream is the very fact that she has been able to dream at all, ofsomething which is realistically achievable. Because for a

person like Maksuda, a petty huckster earlier, selling trivialitems like chocolate, toothpowder, comb, cosmetics, ribbons,clips etc. survival was the ultimate concern. Thinking beyond



53

that was unimaginable. She did not have a house to live in and

had been a tenant at other people‟s house. Life was full ofstruggle and often poverty would win over her. At the day‟send, her abode was not an alluring place for her, it was just aneffort to pass the night to wake up in the morning of anotheridentical day of utter hardship. But Maksuda was not to give in.She was in search of a way out. She attended some meetingsorganized by BEES in her locality where she came to knowMd. Emdadul Haque, Field Worker, BEES. He explainedBEES‟ strategy and principles to her, which showed her a new

light. “With their orientation I came back to my village where Iorganized some other women from my neighborhood andformed a group named „Paltakandad Mohila Samiti.‟ From

then onwards I have been involved with the group and my lifehas turned out to be on a different track, leading towards suresuccess.

As a group member I have received loan from BEES for anumber of times and I have invested the money in my peddling business for the first time followed by clothes trading, tea stalland mobile phone business. But taking such a drastic turncould not have been possible if I did not receive the support,the right direction to choose the best path as a means of

materializing my ambition into achievement. Earning areputation by regularly paying off the installments I have beenable to take loans a number of times and in increasingquantities. The profits from my entrepreneurship have beenincreasing bringing me good luck”, Maksuda says. NowMaksuda‟s monthly income from her tea-stall and mobile phone business is about Tk. 7,700. Maksuda goes through her

success story, “I could not run business properly because ofinadequate capital. The loan from BEES has enabled meincrease my capital for business venture. From the profit I



54

could even save money after paying off the installments. At

times I would invest the savings in business and earn higher profit with increased capital. Now that business has beenexpanding I have involved other members of my family into business. My perseverance, proper planning and business skillhave reached me at this stage. Now I am no more a petty peddler but I am the owner of a stable set- up, a tea – stall andmobile phone business. I have made a house of my own, anabode where I really belong. During my struggling days, therewas none to stand beside me. But BEES‟ support has

empowered me. BEES‟ supports have been diversified. A

substantial development has been possible for me from socio-econo-cultural perspective‟‟.

The financial upliftment of Maksuda has been nourishedfurther with knowledge and practice of basic principles of an

entire well being like gender awareness, health and hygieneawareness, education and its importance, importance ofenvironment conservation, protesting early marriage etc.Maksuda herself feels that her position in the family has become more decisive and so is in the society as well as hersocial accountability has increased. A sea-change has taken place in Maksuda‟s life. While she thought herself to be a

burden to society, now she feels that she belongs to it and belongs very confidently where she can participate in socialarbitrations, enjoy her citizen‟s rights like casting vote, can

work parallely with the male members of the society. Due toher change, her entire environment has changed. A proudowner of a profitable business concern Maksuda finds newhope when she sees her tea stall crowded with clients caring for

a hot drink with a little snacks or when her mobile phone links people exchanging talks over a distance. These ventures mean profit for Maksuda while kindling a new light through the days



55

to come. Who knows may be that day is not far away when

Maksuda will become the happy proprietor of a big restaurantas well as a phone network connecting a wider range of people.

Maksuda could have been either perished or merely survivedas a non-entity in the society. But her amelioration has been adream come true leading ways to dreaming realistic dreams paving their ways towards the reach of Maksuda. The drivingforce behind it? Ask Maksuda, she will express her gratitude to

none else, but a true friend, a guide, a way forward, BEES withthe backup support of her will power, industry, proper planning, business wisdom and perseverance.



56

The Secrets of Success

If one does not have financial solvency, one cannot have socialstatus either. Kalpana Akter suffered the same kind of

humiliation and denial from her surroundings. Hailing fromSarishabari of Gazipur district, Kalpana Akter came to live inDeshipara, Gazipur, where her husband Md. Ismail had comeearlier in search of work. They had some agricultural land inSarishabari but they could grow very little crops as the landswere in low-lying areas. They had to go through a lot ofhardship. Therefore they sold their land and bought some

decimals of land at Deshipara. Kalpana was intent to dosomething for the sake of better living, to establish herself inthe society. She came to know of BEES and its credit program



57

from the elderly woman of the house next door and decided to

get involved in BEES group. This woman introduced Kalpanawith the BEES personnel, who in details explained to her the poverty alleviation program of BEES along with the integratedsupport services. Kalpana was impressed and convinced doublyto become a group member with the motivation she receivedfrom BEES personnel. Now Kalpana feels that, it was theturning point of her life, as she looks back. Kalpana and herhusband wanted to do something profitable but they had fundconstraint. This problem came to a certain solution withKalpana‟s involvement in BEES group. She discussed herintention with the BEES personnel and he showed her someoption of income generation from which Kalpana couldchoose. With his guidance Kalpana planned to establish a poultry farm and received a loan of Tk. 6,000 for the first timein April 2,000.

Kalpana recalls her productive pursuit, “With my own littlecapital money along with the Tk. 6,000 received from BEES, I bought 500 chicks. Within 6 months the chicks grew up andstarted laying eggs. Next year I received Tk. 15,000 as loanfrom BEES and bought more chicks. Thus my farm graduallyexpanded year after year as I received Tk. 25,000 and TK.

30,000 as loan through the successive years, which I investedin my poultry farm. Even after paying off the installments, profit was enough to bring me solvency. I have a good recordat paying back the installment money to BEES enabling me toreceive higher amount of loan. However, I have been payingthe installments of my latest loan regularly and already I havecompleted 13 installments. Next time I hope to receive Tk.

80,000 and wish to make permanent pucca shed for my poultry.”



58

Kalpana‟s exemplary success did not come so easily. Adhering

to her strong will power to win over poverty and sufferingsKalpana put her all out effort in her poultry farm. Kalpanaknew that her diligence would bring her the success she had been craving for. Industrious and optimistic, Kalpana evenwent to the extreme of taking care of the poultry sacrificing hersleep at night. Her utmost concern was centered round herfarm. Kalpana was not alone in her venture. Her husband was aconstant shoulder-lender to Kalpana, while the same man didnot believe in equal rights of men and women and would notconsider her opinion as of much importance. “The economicupliftment has put me on a pedestal both in my family andoutside. I have become much empowered now. I owe it toBEES not only because of the financial support but also because of the advice, the extended help with the techniques of poultry rearing and management through training. I have been

able to develop my fate by exploring this resource. Now myfarm has grown so big that I have employed two helping hands.To my satisfaction two persons are generating income in acountry like ours, where unemployment itself is a big social problem. My monthly income is now Tk. 11,200 after all theexpenditure of the farm. My past toils are over. I have bought 2„bighas‟ (66 decimals) of land. I have also bought some

furniture for my home. Anybody can see my happiness fromthe life I am leading. Involvement with BEES has also mademe aware on basic health and hygiene, gender equity, watersupply and sanitation, nutrition, education and so on. I amgetting a lot of benefit from BEES. BEES distributes goodquality seeds of vegetables every year. By cultivating those inmy kitchen garden, I am also growing vegetables which are

fulfilling the nutritional needs of the family to a great extent.We are getting health services from BEES health program. It



59

seems like BEES has taken up the noble job of developing our

life in every respect and I feel myself very lucky to be a part ofit. I am sending my son to school. He is in class four now. Ihope to educate him and that is my dream because BEES hastaught me that there is no alternative to education”, saysKalpana.

Kalpana‟s rise is exemplary to the other women in her

community. Kalpana does not at all hesitate to advice others to

follow her path. She voluntarily advices others the ways tochange the luck and also the basics of well being. A happy andself helped Kalpana Akter believes that she has made thesaying come into reality “Industry is the key to success.”



60

The Rise of Rasheda Begum

Rasheda Begum is a TTBA (Trained Traditional BirthAttendant) of BEES. She studied up to SSC and is married to

Rafiqul Islam who studied up to class eight. They got marriedin 1988 and now have three children. Rasheda‟s first child is a

boy reading in class three. The rest two are girls studying inclass two and one respectively.

Rasheda lives in Gokulnagar village in Raipura upazila under Narsingdi district. She got the conception of group formation

and thus income generation activities of BEES first in 1997,and then is motivated by the Samiti of Gokulnagar,Dakhsminpara. Later in the same year she became enlisted in



61

the „Gokulnagar Mohila Samiti’ with the help of the Field

Officer Abed Mian. While becoming a member she got herhusband‟s consent. Rasheda‟s financial condition began tochange when she became a member of the samiti.

Being a member she took loan for five times and received atotal of Tk. 26,000 as credit from the BEES group. For the firsttwo terms Rasheda deposited Tk. 10 per week and thence shehas been depositing Tk. 20 as her weekly savings. Rasheda‟s

husband is a farmer and they have a vestibule of paddy andrice. She bought a cow from the amount of that credit moneyand invested the rest of the money in their rice business.Though the business is not new, their capital was too small torun that business. Now they have a capital of Tk. 20,000. Shehas become able to make profit by that amount of capital. Bothshe and her husband work in their terrace (vestibule). Her

husband cultivates millet in their own land.

They have a piece of land of about thirty-three decimals. Fromthis land they get two crops a year, rice and vegetables. Herhusband purchases paddy from Narayanpur and Bhoirab Bazarof Kishoreganj district. But, to sell the rice and the vegetablesthey produce, they do not have to go to the market. They

consume some crops from what remains after selling. Rashedawinnows the husk and feeds her cows with those husks. Shegets milk from a cow. They consume some of the milk and sellthe rest. Before being a member they had no cow, but now theyhave two cows and a calf. They have eight hens and they getfour eggs from them daily. She gets Tk. 84 in a month sellingchickens and Tk. 1,800 from milk.

Tk. 3,200 as monthly income could not provide the basic needsof Rasheda‟s family. BEES paved the way to a solvent life for



62

her. Now she is happy with the monthly income of Tk. 7,184.

She can now spend up to Tk. 4,510 per month, while earliershe spent Tk. 3,020 in a month. Rasheda is used to with thesavings habit. She has now a savings of Tk. 3,200 in the BEESgroup. Two weeks back she took a loan of Tk. 500 from hergroup savings.

MONTHLY INCOME

Sources of Income Previous PresentBusiness 0 1884Agricultural Sector 3200 5000Services 0 300

Total 3200 7184

MONTHLY EXPENDITURE

Head of Expenditure Previous Present

Food 2200 2550Cloth 170 275Health 200 250Education 0 450Entertainment & Others 450 985

Total 3020 4510

Being a member of the BEES group, she built a bedroom and ashed for her cows from the profit of her business. She also bought a tubewell with Tk. 1,500. They have no sanitary latrine but hope for one.

Rasheda achieves a positive change both in family and socialstatus. Rasheda acknowledges her change to BEES, the overalldevelopment program of BEES bestowing her with awarenesson many vital issues. In course of her involvement in BEES



63

Samiti Rasheda has received awareness on education, gender,

women empowerment, environment, health, hygiene, etc.Alongside her economic upliftment, Rasheda‟s awareness hastransformed her into the now important person she is. Neighboring women come to her to get some opinions indifferent problems. She has been facilitated a lot by theeducation class of the Samiti. Moreover, she has got training onTBA (Traditional Birth Attendance) in the unit office of BEESat Narayanpur. As a TTBA Rasheda is honored in hercommunity and also able to earn some extra income. She hasgot renounce in her locality and is used to do advocacy forsocial mobilization. Her husband is a very polite man. He is anopen minded man and very cooperative while she is taking anydecision.

However, Rasheda Begum‟s story is of one who has won over

the limitations and barriers bestowed upon her by poverty and backwardness. The empowering light shown by BEES and its poverty alleviation drive has enabled Rasheda to establishherself in life.



64

Gifted witha New-found Hope

“Those were the days of despair, of hunger, of humiliationwhile the winner was poverty, shattering our lives to pieces.Poverty told upon us both mentally and physically. I didn‟t

have the capacity even to think healthy, not to mention my physical ill-health. Because it was only the concern how tokeep us alive, how to get going at least with three meals a day,which, of course was not so easy to manage. And we had to go

starving on a number of instances. Our only means of livingwas small business which was hardly profitable due to small



65

investment. As a result, our life was miserable in our efforts to

fight back poverty”, Morzina Khatun narrates her story.

Mst. Morzina Khatun from Tarafmeru village of Gabtoliupazila, Bogra is an identical woman of million other destitutewomen of rural Bangladesh, living below poverty line. Thesehapless groups, of whom Morzina is a representative, form themajority of our population. Morzina‟s family consist of fivemembers- Morzina, her husband, two sons and a daughter.Indigence was their constant companion. Morzina‟s sons were

suffering from malnutrition as she could not give themnutritious food. Overpowered by extreme needs Morzina feltvery keenly for a means to change their luck and was in searchof a way forward. In the midst of her desperate quest Morzina‟s

luck was really to turn as if with the golden touch of KingMidas.

It was back in 1995-96 when the turning point came toMorzina‟s life. Morzina recalls, “An „apa‟ from BEES (a

female extension worker) came to our village and talked to us.She explained the different activities of BEES and its goal todevelop the lives of the poor and destitute. She explainedBEES‟ credit program. We found it very much convincing for

us to get involved into the program, be a part of it for the sakeof our overall development.”

Motivated by the BEES‟ principle, Morzina along with someother poor women of her village formed a group with theassistance of an Extension Worker of BEES and named theirgroup „Tarafmeru Mohila Samiti‟. The group activities have

changed Morzina‟s life utterly. Firstly, with the financialassistance, secondly with awareness and empowerment on



66

many issues. She received her first loan of Tk. 2,000 for

business capital and gradually received more loans of anincreased amount through the years for a diversified purposes.The loans helped her explore ways of better living. Morzinareceived Tk. 4,000 the following year and bought a cow.Utilizing the profits from her investments alongwith moreloans, now Morzina has 2 „bighas‟ (66 decimals) of agriculturalland of her own while she has also leased 1 „bigha‟ of land.

They are growing multiple crops in the land applying scientificmethods of farming. BEES‟ assistance in this regard has helped

Morzina a lot with good quality seeds, fertilizer and so on.Besides Morzina has also been rearing cattle and goats. Nowshe has two cows and three goats. She is getting vaccinationfacilities from BEES. While there was only one room for thewhole family, now they have been able to build three more tinrooms. Morzina‟s house has also become sanitized, there is a

„pucca‟ sanitary latrine at the house. The credit goes to BEES‟sanitation programme. The motivation and awareness raisinginitiatives have empowered Morzina to a great extent. She has become very much conscious of her gender role, that she is notmeant to hold a subordinate position either in family or insociety, that she has the same power, same rights a man has.She has become aware on many other basic issues as well, i.e.

health, education, nutrition, environment, cleanliness and soon. Her younger son and daughter are reading in class sevenand class two respectively. Her eldest son has the educationlevel of class seven who is now a garments worker at Dhaka.She alongwith her family members is having health servicesfrom qualified doctors as well as nutritional needs have also been fulfilled due to her awareness and also because of

growing vegetables, fruits etc. at her homestead.



67

The family budget has become expanded due to higher income.

From her diversified income generating activities, i.e.agriculture, business, livestock and other sources, her monthlyincome has reached above Tk. 5,000 from her previous incomeof Tk. 1,500. As a result she can now spend above Tk. 4,000for her family per month against the previous expenditure ofTk. 1,500. While the previous income could not fulfill all thefamily needs, now she can even manage some savings after adecent life.

Morzina feels ever grateful to BEES for her development,“Although people‟s fate is in the hands of God, but for me the

dr iving force is BEES‟ extended assistance. While I was as

insignificant as dust in the eyes of society now I have beenrespected by others. I feel my position has become reinforced both in family and society. And it is due to the upliftment and

the new insight I have become gifted with by the help of BEESand my endeavor .”



68

Graced witha Higher Insight

Her neighbors say that Dilruba has found the magic lamp ofAladin. Otherwise what else could have been the secret of hersuccess? While, with the little income of Dilruba‟s husband

Md. Khorshed Alam‟s small job, Dilruba struggled her heartout earlier, now their monthly income is handsome enough to bring the family solvency. Mst. Dilruba Begum from Bhuruliavillage of Gazipur stands as an epitome of success and her rise

is exemplary to others.



69

Dilruba says, “We had to struggle very hard with my husband‟s

little income to manage our six-member family. But myhusband with S.S.C level education could not have done betterthan what he was doing. I could not give nutritious food to mytwo sons and two daughters. Neither could I give decentclothing to them. I could hardy manage the educationalexpenses of my children. Yet I was not to give up. Because Iknew that perseverance would bring me sunny days, but thequestion remained, how? All I needed was a source ofinspiration, a push forward and a helping hand to rely on.Meanwhile I heard of BEES. I came to know that the groupmembers of BEES could avail loan and an opportunity ofsavings. I did not have any clear idea of these activities or theirsystem. However the Extension Worker of BEES explained tome in details the rules, regulations and the benefits of the groupactivities. I also got the motivation from him to get involved.

For me there was no second thought. Following the advice ofthe group leader and also my husband I became a member ofBEES group. The involvement was my seed of success. Aftergetting involved in BEES group I received Tk. 5,000 as loanfrom BEES in 1999 for dairy farming. At first I bought a localvariety cow and the next year I bought another one. But thelocal species was not that much profitable. Then with the

advice of BEES‟ worker I bought a high breed cow which wasvery much profitable. Gradually receiving higher amount ofloan every year i.e. Tk. 10,000, Tk. 20,000, Tk.30,000, andTk.40,000 from the year 2000 to 2003, I have been able to buy6 high breed cows. Now my dairy farm has proven to be verymuch profitable. I have been able to pay the loan installmentswith the money earned from selling milk. Everyday I am able

to sell 40 kgs of milk. I have also appointed a worker at mydairy farm to help me, whom I give Tk.2000 per month.



70

Whereas I could not run my family well before, now my status

has changed as an employer, creating scope of employmentgeneration. However, now my monthly income from the farmis Tk. 10,000. Combining it with my husband‟s monthly salary

of Tk. 3,000 now I can run the family very smoothly and alsocan manage to have some savings for future.”

Mst. Dilruba is a woman with a keen foresight and strong will power. The involvement with BEES has explored the hidden potentials in her. While it was just struggling to get goingearlier, may be not with merely having food or the basic needsand perhaps better than that, but no doubt it was real hardship.Dilruba‟s only concern was then to manage the family budget

being as much miserly as she could. But, becoming a groupmember and getting the loan facility, Dilruba has been able tochange her luck. It‟s not merely financial solvency, Dilruba has

reached far beyond that. She is now the principal contributor inher family budget which has earned her an extra status. Nowher husband evaluates her doubly and considers her opinionimportant before taking any decision. Dilruba‟s children are

being educated. Over to her utmost satisfaction, her eldest sonis studying engineering at BUET, her second son is a student ofclass seven while her daughters are reading in class nine and

class five respectively. She visualizes a bright future with herchildren educated and established in life. She has gainedknowledge and awareness on many basic and social issues.Being aware on health, nutrition, environment, sanitation shehas raised her life up to the standard. Social awareness likevoter‟s rights, gender equity, etc. have enlightened her to a

great extent. She has become a conscious person in family and

in society. Before she only thought about her own world-herself, her family, her children etc. But now she thinks of



71

others and respects her social duty. She generates her

knowledge, awareness to other women and renders advice tothem on many issues. Besides she is also protesting muchsocial injustice like violence against women, early marriageand so on. Her status has not been worth mentioning earlier.But now her position in the society has become distinct. Shehas earned a social position so high as to be selected a memberof the Executive Committee of a school. No one can even thinkof disregarding her, instead she holds a leading position in thesociety now. She has proven that womenfolk are not meant to be neglected and backwards in society. The courage, newerinsight and optimism have attributed Dilruba with the vision oflooking up to life very positively. Therefore her heart did notsink even at the loss of over Tk. 60,000 while two high breedcows died at her farm. She could reinforce her efforts from herloss instead of surrendering herself in the hands of cruel

destiny.

Her present position, her success has gained pace from issueslike these challenges. Dilruba has proved to be a winner, not aloser, and she owes her achievement to BEES, as it hasenriched her with deeper insight and ability.



72

Anita Exceeds Her UnbearableAffliction

“One day my children were crying in hunger. There was not agrain of food in the house and also no money. I went to „Gita

Boudi‟ at the house next door to seek some loan but she was

equally destitute as me and could not give me any money.Hearing about my children she gave me some „panibhat‟ (rice

cooked overnight and kept steeped in water), because that‟s

whatever she had. I came home with the „panibhat‟ and gavemy children to eat. As they were eating they asked me crying,



73

if I wouldn‟t take some. I had to lie to them because the

quantity was very small and said that I had already takensome”, Anita Rani went on with steaming eyes. She no more

wants to remember those terrible days.

Anita Rani Paal from Aria village of Majhira upazila of Bograwas born in a very poor potter‟s family. Poverty‟s pitiless

clutches snatched away the charm of childhood from Anita.She wasn‟t even allowed to go to school and engaged in work

from her childhood. “I was married off to Adit Chandra Paal ofChandijan village from Sherpur upazila of Bogra district. Hisoccupation was also pottery. Poverty‟s harsher face was

exposed to me after marriage. Because now I was supposed tomanage a family of my own, with the little income. Myhusband had only 1.5 decimals of household land where therewas our thatched house and the household premises were used

for our pottery work. The condition of the house was so brokendown that the fencing bamboo walls were torn at places lettingin the wind to blow inside. With date palm branches or straw Iwould try to cover the holes. During rains water rolled downthe holes of the straw roof. Needs of life were so enormous thatI and my husband would often quarrel over the very trivialissues. My husband even used to beat me up at times. I didn‟t

even have a voice to protest”, Anita memorizes.

Meanwhile their first daughter was born, she was namedDulali. Two years after that their second child, a son was bornand named Prashanto Kumar. The family size was increasing but not the income. Anita felt helpless but continued workingharder making clay pottery, statues, idols etc. Despite the hard

work, Anita and her husband found it next to impossible tomanage three meals a day for their family of six members-



74

Anita, her husband, her mother-in-law and three children. Their

children were growing up, but Anita could not send them toschool for their overpowering poverty. As the pottery tradeitself has become near to extinct, it was really very hard forthem to survive. During this terrible state of mind, Anita foundthe twinkling ray of hope. Anju Apa, so they call the FieldExtension Worker of BEES, came to their neighborhood andtalked to her about many issues relating to poverty eradication.She explained to Anita and some other village women aboutBEES‟ credit program. For Anita, there was no hesitation tograb this chance. She became a member of „Chandijan MohilaSamiti‟ of BEES. After that she received her first loan of Tk.

3,000 in 1997. With the money she bought a cow. To Anita‟s

happiness her husband consented to her decisions and Anitareceived his support later too. Selling the cow‟s milk Anita wasearning some money to add to the family money line. However

from then onwards Anita received loans through the successiveyears for a variety of purposes, i.e. as capital of business,daughter‟s wedding, buying land etc. Now Anita does not belong to the hard core poor class any longer. She has settleddown in life. She has wedded off her eldest daughter. Her sonhas also grown up. Her youngest daughter reads in class three.Anita‟s world has extended into a much larger one now, she

has been economically upgraded and spiritually moreindependent. Counseled and motivated on basic necessities forwell being, Anita Rani is educating her youngest daughter,trying to take nutritious food by means of cultivating fruits,vegetables etc. in her household premises, maintaining personal hygiene, installing and using sanitary latrine,consulting the doctor of BEES whenever she or her family

members are sick etc. Anita herself states, “I was not respectedor given any importance by anyone in the society as I was very



75

poor. Nobody values the poor, so felt. But now I don‟t feel

inferior. Because I am a human being and I have my rights.Poor have their voices too, BEES has thought me. I also havemy gender-rights. I am not to be neglected anymore. I am nomore poor either. Now I have contentment in life. I am holdingon to my father‟s and forefathers‟ business and prospering byinvesting in it with BEES‟ loan. I have been able to earn thereliability of BEES authorities by sincerely paying off myinstallments. I have been able to do that because of my untiringlabor. With this I have become capable of winning fortune andtrod a path of prosperity leaving behind the haunting poverty.



76

A Weapon against Poverty

Mst. Mariam Begum, age 28, lives in Baluchakuli village ofGazipur district. Her financial condition was not sound. Theincome of her husband Md. Moksed Ali was very low. Severaltimes she tried to take loan for a poultry farm, but since theinterest rate is so high, she dared not take any loan from moneylenders. So being inspired by the services of BEES in herlocality, one day she went to the BEES office. There she cameto know about the poverty alleviation program of BEES indetails. She received motivation to become involved for anoverall development. Being motivated she involved herself

with their activities.



77

“Now, I don‟t have to pay high interest to village usurer. I‟m

free from all sorts of anxiety and leading a happy life with myfamily. And all credit goes to BEES. It is them who helped meto become financially solvent,” narrates Mariam with shining

eyes.

Mariam was a housewife. As her husband‟s income was very

low, they could never cross the poverty line. Life was verymuch miserable. She always dreamt of becoming an earninglady herself. But it was not possible to materialize until she gotinvolved in BEES group. As she had interest in poultry rearing,she decided to establish a poultry farm. With the advice ofBEES Extension Worker at first she received a loan of Tk.5,000 with which she brought some chicks and began to rearthem. Within few months she started to get benefit from that.She sold some hens and some started to lay eggs. Next year she

took more loans to expand her project. In this way she repaidTk. 1,35,000 of her total loan. Now she has taken another Tk.6,000 as credit from BEES. Behind her success her husbandalways encouraged her and helped her with her works. Nowher monthly income is about Tk. 15,000.

Mariam has a son of 8 years and he is the student of class two.

Her 6 years old daughter is in nursery. Her hope is to educateher children properly, so that they can enjoy better life. Theydo not have to face financial difficulties now. Moreover she issaving money for future. Now she is economically andfinancially secured. Her neighbors often come to her fordifferent types of decisions. “I‟m socially empowered now. I

know my rights as a human being. Now I apply my voting

rights. I have learnt about many important things like primaryhealth care, hygiene, nutrition, sanitation etc. from BEES. I



78

always try to convince destitute ladies to became member of

BEES”, says Mariam.

Being attached with BEES for 7 years the views of Mariamhave completely changed. She often encourages the women ofher village about poultry project. She thinks that it is a goodsource of income for rural women as they have someexperience in poultry rearing. At the same time, nutritionallevel of the family could be enhanced. Since she has been benefited from poultry project she sets a practical example infront of them. Furthermore she keeps her advice open for herneighbors for other feasible income generating activities aswell as raises social awareness among them. Mariam Begum,the newly empowered woman has taken up the noble job ofmotivating others to move towards empowerment.



79

BEES – a Friend in Need

We had been deserted, helpless and penniless. Our onlyconcern was how to pass the rest of our life, as our son had

separated from us. My husband used to work as day labor butdue to old age he could no more do that. Besides we didn‟t

have any land of our own. All we had was our house and thetwo of us- me Mst. Asia Akter, age 45 and my husband Md.Hossain Miah, age 55, two helpless victims of extreme povertyand uncertainty. At times we would manage a scanty meal, attimes even not so. Hunger, hardship and uncertainty had been

ruling over our life. It was then I came to know of BEES andits credit program from a neighboring woman. She told me thatBEES gave loans to people with easy interest and it had to be



80

repaid by installments. I talked with my husband about it. We

both became convinced that we could start an incomegenerating activity if we could avail the loan. We decided tostart a shop and so I enrolled myself in „Kewa PashchimMadhya Mohila Samiti‟ – a group of BEES under Sreepurupazila of Gazipur district where I live.

As the group member I received Tk. 5,000 as loan at firstwhich I invested to start a grocery shop in 2001. I am theowner of the shop and I manage my shop. My husband helpsme in my work. I sell a variety of grocery items at my shop.The sale is good and earns enough profit to put an end to ourdays from hand to mouth. The next year I received Tk. 7,000and Tk.10,000 in the year after that. Now my shop has grownconsiderably from the one at the beginning. The villagers cometo my shop for their day to day needs. I find satisfaction over

being able to run my business. I don‟t have to worry any longerabout how to manage barely the day‟s meals. My shop has

yielded me good days. I have been able to pay the installmentsand save some extra after managing our expenses. My monthlyearning from the shop is around Tk. 3,000. I have also bought acow and I earn about Tk. 500 from selling milk. Tk. 3,500 permonth is enough for the two of us. Previously my husband‟s

monthly income had been Tk. 1,600 when he could work as aday labor. But then there were also the workless days whichwere even worse. Compared to that my life has changed upsidedown putting me on a higher ground. I don‟t feel dejected any

more. My financial stability has earned me security. I neverknew women could be equal to men. But getting involved withBEES I have learnt to believe in the hidden power inside me.

Now I know that I can depend on myself rather than looking upto my husband or my son.



81

Every week we have to gather for the weekly group meetingwhere the BEES worker discusses about many importantissues. From those discussions I have learnt that men andwomen have equal rights. I have also learnt the adverse resultof early marriage, the curse of the dowry system and that it isour duty to protest it. BEES has taught me about theimportance of health, hygiene, cleanliness, safe water,sanitation, nutrition and so on. Now I know that ourenvironment is our heritage and it‟s our duty to conserve it by

means of plantation, preventing pollution etc. These awarenesshave opened an inner eye of me and now I find a newermeaning of life. While I was just a housewife earlier, now Ihave become a complete human being with a high degree ofconsciousness. I have earned a respectable position both infamily and society.

Apart from the financial assistance and the awareness building,I am also getting some other services from BEES. BEES is providing us the medical services by qualified doctors when weget sick. BEES also gives us good quality seeds for kitchengardening twice a year. I am growing vegetables at myhomestead and it is fulfilling our need of nutritional intake.

What has impressed me most about BEES is that BEES hastargeted an overall development of the life of the backward anddestitute people like me. I have become much empowered bymy involvement with BEES. Because when I was about to givein BEES has kindled the sprit in me to fight back. BEES hastaught me to believe in my power within, shake off the passiveattitude towards life. Now I have also learnt to dream again. I

don‟t feel old and abandoned any more. I hope to expand myshop and build a nice house in future. BEES, like a true friend



82

has extended its support to us in our days of desertion while

our own son could not be looked upon to. My development hasinfluenced my acquaintances and many have become inspired.Seeing me, my neighbor Mst. Ajufa Akhtar along with threeother women has joined BEES group. Previously I was not a believer in the good intention of organizations like BEES, myinvolvement has changed my misconception. Now I believethat involvement in similar program as BEES‟ can bring

change of luck to the poor and advice others to follow my path.



83

Being Productive isa Blessing

This is a story of socio-economic upheaval of 35 years oldRabeya K hatun‟s life. On being hard-up in life, Rabeya thoughtof alternatives for a living. She shared her ideas of alternativesfor increasing income with her husband. This sharing hasopened a gate for her to start a life as a BEES group member.

She lives in the village Darikandi under Belabo upazila of

Narsingdi district, with her husband and five children. Rabeyawas inspired by her neighboring Samities. Once she went to theArea Office of BEES. There she met the Unit Manager Mr.



84

Sattar and then enlisted herself in a Samiti near her village

entitled „Hossain Nagar Mohila Samiti‟. Later she herselfestablished a group in her own village four years ago.

Rabeya took her fourth loan of Tk. 7,000 about eight monthsago. Her first loan was Tk. 3,000 with which she bought a cow.She added to this money about Tk. 2,000 of her own. Secondtime she took Tk. 4,000 as a loan from BEES and bought a cowwith Tk. 8,000 adding to her own money again. Third time she

bought a cow with Tk. 10,000. In this time again she added Tk.4,000 of her own. Finally, almost eight months ago she boughta cow with Tk. 10,000. She added Tk. 3,000 into this money.

Rabeya possesses a land. She cultivates the land and producesrice and vegetables from it. She produces 90 mounds of rice ina year. They consume 30 mounds for the family and sell 40

mounds at a price of Tk 250 per mounds and thus get the totalamount of production cost for rice. Investing Tk. 20,000 they produce vegetables, and they earn Tk. 1,00,000 selling these.They themselves consume vegetables, which cost Tk. 14,600.

Selling milk Rabeya gets Tk. 8,000 in a month and consumessome milk costing Tk. 720 per month. Yearly she earns from

selling calves Tk. 20,000 as a net profit. She has 4 hens and 25chickens. She gets Tk. 200 per month from the eggs and Tk.2,000 from selling the chicken. They consume two-third of theeggs they get and sell one third. She has seven ducks also fromwhich she earns Tk. 1,300 per year.

After becoming a member of BEES she bought 99 decimal ofland from the profit of her business. Spending Tk. 6,000 she built one kitchen and a cow-shed. She bought furniturespending Tk. 9,200. She bought a tubewell for Tk. 1,500 and



85

all her family members use it for all purposes. They have

already got a sanitary toilet.

In the previous period, the family earned in a month Tk. 7,300.But their income has been increased dramatically in the present period. It has risen sharply to Tk. 15,251. Along with theirincrease in income their expenses on basic needs food, cloth,health, education as well as entertainment and others also haveincreased. Previously they spent only Tk. 6,750 and at the

present period the expenditure becomes almost doubleamounting to Tk. 12,350.

Monthly Income

Sources of Income Previous Present

Business 0 8,660/-

Agricultural Sectors 6,520/- 6,591/-

Others 780/- 0Total 7,300/- 15,251/-

Vegetables 3270/-Income from share crop 3250/-Poultry 780/-

Monthly Expenditure Head of Expenditure Previous Present

Food 1650/- 2,600/-

Clothes 125/- 750/-

Health 475/- 2,000/

Education 1,500/- 3,000/-

Entertainment &

others

3,000/- 4,000/-

Total 6,750/- 12,350/-



86

Previously, Rabeya had no savings, but at present she has a

savings of Tk. 3,000. She was indifferent about savings before being associated with BEES. Now staying with the group, shehas become conscious about the necessity of building savingsfor future protection of the family.

Rabeya‟s capital has been increased. The reasons for increase

of capital are conversion of a part of income from business ascapital, loans received from BEES and accumulation of

savings. She needs an increased amount to get rid of the loansfrom the moneylenders; to increase the capital of the business;and avoid borrowing from friends and relatives.

In rearing cattle Rabeya gets veterinary treatment facilities forher cattle through govt. livestock service. Though in the previous period veterinary treatment facilities were available,

they did not have cattle and did not need it. Rabeya getsvaccines from the hospital for her poultry. Her husband took avocational training entitled Entrepreneur Training Course onCalf Rearing under the National Livestock EntrepreneurDevelopment Project.

The members of her family take meals 3 times a day and they

take it timely. Previously they used to eat rice and now they eat bread also. They have improved their rice chart with theirfinancial capability and awareness of health and nutrition.Having lessons learnt from the group meetings now they arefirmly habituated to use safe tube-well water. Her family avail proper medical treatment facilities too. Earlier they had accessto the govt. hospital and now clinical facilities are added to thatfacility. The life of Rabeya in her husband‟s house started

smooth. It became critical while the days and months were passing. A family of 7 members with insufficient income from



87

small trading in cattle and agriculture could not answer the

needs of the members adequately. So Rabeya took a loan fromBEES group and thereby engaged in a small project for raisingincome for the family. Moreover, various sectors of expensescaused her to be aware of the needs of the present and future.They are motivated by BEES‟s comprehensive program.

Rabeya realized that earnings from small credit utilization andexpenses are needed to maintain her property with care.

Rabeya Khatun and her husband are working hard to remove poverty from their life. They have seen the ways and means todo it now. At present, they are not worried about food andtreatment facilities, as they earn a lot to address their dailyneeds. They can manage the sudden expenses caused by socialcrime like theft or natural disaster, storm, etc. Hence hardshipsare leaving from the life of the family members. Rabeya

dreams of prosperous and blissful days to come.



88

Healing the Woeswith a Great Success

You‟d nothing but to admire Sheuli Rani Devi if you met her. Not for her looks. But for her disposition. For her luminousconfidence glittered on her cheeks. Her second name couldwell have been Shobita (a glittering sun).

But the village where she lives in is a tiny place. A place out ofthe reach of any well-off community or town. Poverty is

scattered in and around her locality. The scenario throws twoquestions first: How would she survive? Wouldn‟t she perish

of scarcity, without having her basic needs mitigated?



89

Survive she did, and how. Indeed, she returned to tell the tale

and taught us many a lesson we could use to fight the poverty pandemic.

She was married to Niranjan Devanath when she was onlysixteen. Due to strain of poverty her father settled her marriageearly. Many days had been passed. Scarcity of food bestowedon her with decayed health. At the very beginning of theirmarried life the financial condition of her husband was very

harsh. A shanty, tin-roofed room, which they had to live in,symbolized the sharp claws of poverty. The condition was somiserable that in rainy days water used to roll down inside theroom, which was surrounded by walls made of bamboo. Toameliorate the condition, her husband and herself struggledvery hard.

Sheuli studied upto SSC level while her husband read upto

class eight only. Before marriage she was a teacher in a BRAC NFPE school, now a teacher in a Proshika school. She took NFPE training from BRAC for 16 days and from Proshika for14 days. She was in ASA for seven years also. But theirfinancial problems remained unsolved. It was too difficult forthem to bear all the expenses of the family with the littleincome of them both. Sheuli wanted to make the family

financially solvent. Seeing the successful activities of BEESgroups around her locality and the services of BEES, she wasinterested to be a member. One day she met BEES‟ Field

Organizer Mr. Rubel. He described her the system of BEESgroup in details. She became convinced that she would gain alot by being involved in such a group. She discussed about thematter with her husband. He encouraged her to be involved in

BEES group.



90

So, to have capital, she enlisted her name in “Laxmipur Mohila

Samiti” of Narayanpur under Narsingdi district. Later, sinceshe had an educational background and was experienced, shewas selected a leader of the group. She has been continuing hermembership of the group for the last four years and receivedloans from the organization for four times. She started tant

(loom) business with the credits that BEES provided. At firstshe took Tk. 3,000 and bought a hand pit loom with that moneyfor making gaamchhaa (a light towel). Next year she receivedTk. 5,000 as credit from BEES. She decided to expand her business with the money and bought looms and materials toweave cloths with that money. To purchase a loom, she had to pay Tk. 800 to Tk. 900. For the third time, she took Tk. 6,000as a loan and invested the amount in the same business. Fromthe profit of her own and her husband‟s business, they bought acow for Tk. 10,000. She added Tk. 500 from her savings too.

Before being a member of BEES she had 10 looms, but shecould not use all of them because the workshop was very tinyand worn-out. About 7 to 8 months back she spent Tk. 3,000from the profit of her business to mend and make the workshopnewly. Yet the workshop needs to be expanded more. Finallyalmost five weeks ago she has drawn her fourth loan of Tk.8,000 from BEES. This time she intends to invest this money

to purchase a land along with the investment in her business toexpand it.

Sheuli Rani never goes to haat (weekly village market).Lacking experience in commercial activities, she cannot havethe courage to deal with the marketing procedures. That is whyshe has to depend on her husband. Both husband and wife

discuss each other about their business policy. But only herhusband goes to the market to purchase the business materialsor to sell the produced goods. Her husband himself has a small



91

business of wholesale garments. The marketing area is

confined in two places – Baburhaat and Sheikher Char. Whenhe buys the raw materials from Baburhaat then he sells the produced goods in Sheikher Char. Contrary wise, while buyingraw materials from Sheikher Char, he sells the products inBaburhaat. But, as to his own business, he buys wholesalegarments from Baburhaat and sells them at different places.

Sheuli Rani is an active and spirited woman. In her working

days, she spends three hours from 10 a.m. to 1p.m., at ProshikaSchool. Then after lunch she spends her time with herworkshop supervision and management. Sometimes she herselfdoes work with handlooms in her workshop. There are eightmale and one female workers in the workshop. She has to payTk. 50/- per worker daily.

Sheuli does professional occupation and businesssimultaneously and thus becomes an active participant in themoneyline of her family budget. She earns monthly Tk. 800from her teachership at the NFPE school of Proshika, and Tk.100 from giving the training to the group members of ProshikaSamiti. To assess her family life status making a scrutiny onthe periods before and after her involvement in BEES group,

we find that she could earn little from her own professionaloccupation. Her husband was also a loser in his business.Together they could earn only Tk. 5,275. Then they had tospend niggardly almost all they earned. They spent Tk. 5,256monthly in those days of abject poverty. They had no habit ofsavings. The income of the present period has increased.Savings during this period also have increased significantly.

Now they earn Tk. 8,200 per month and spend Tk. 6,350 forhousehold expenditure. It could be the result of the habit ofsavings that has developed from the savings practice as a



92

member of BEES group. Her weekly savings in the group are

in total Tk. 2,100.

After becoming a member of a BEES group she bought a cowwith Tk. 10,000. Now she has a calf and in total 29 hens, cocksand chickens. She gets four eggs daily. Selling the eggs shegets Tk. 150 in a month. She is now aware of how to rear poultry and livestock well. For her poultry and cow she getsvaccines and medicine from nearby veterinary hospital and

from Proshika. Being a BEES member now she gets the foodsecurity. Now no longer she has to live from hand to mouth. Now all her family can take meals thrice a day. Previously theycould not avail protein. Now they eat fish daily and meat oncein a week. Her shanty room has, so to say, become a spacioushouse built of tin-roofs and walls. She now rents a room toProshika NFPE school at Tk. 200 per month, and there she

herself is a teacher. From her sound income she bought a wall-clock, a showcase and a bed. Adding to this all, an awarenessof having a happy future through more investment of savingshas been improved too.

Table 1: Income sources (monthly)

Source of Income Previous Period PresentPeriod

Business 4375 6600Service 900 900Others 0 700

Total 5275 8200



93

Table 2: Specific Family Expenditure (monthly)

Head of Expenditure Previous Present Period

Food 2500 3000

Cloth 115 150

Health 450 650

Education 0 150

Entertainment & others 2200 2400

Total 5265 6350

Sheuli‟s involvement in BEES group has brought a differencein her life. She has now become the staunchest in the financialactivities to bring the happiness of her family. Previously herhusband could not lead their family well with his individual business. Even after becoming attached to BRAC or Proshika,she could not do considerably well in their poor financial

arena. It was true that a behavioral soundness had been foundinherent in them. They have a safe tube-well, the water ofwhich they use for all purposes for about twenty years. Theyhave a sanitary latrine and they consciously practice hygiene.

Sheuli has two children, a girl who is 7 and a boy of 5 yearsold. In the previous period none of them had gone to school,whereas in the present period, Sheuli‟s elder child, the daughter

goes to school and she is a student of class two. (Before herinvolvement in BEES, she took a training of group



94

management. She is also the coordinator of a Proshika group at

Rathanagar union.)The plight, anguish and melancholy is gradually beingremoved and replaced by happiness. She has now become wellaware of production-oriented activities. She has played thevital role in the increase in family income that has changed herhusband‟s non-cooperative attitude. She is now acquaintedwith primary health care, nutrition, education and reproductive

health care. Now they are capable of being treated by qualifieddoctors. Previously she was not aware of the complication ofthe pregnant mothers. Before BEES entered the village therewere no medical check ups relating to pregnancy. The BEEShas individually introduced this kind of benevolent activitythrough which she has become aware of her health needs.

Sheuli Rani is thus economically, socially, and spiritually

empowered. She believes that a woman has to work for herown safety. This effort of a woman dignifies her in all respectsin the society she lives. All women have to work hard toestablish their position in the family, to the neighbors and inthe society. BEES group indeed played an important role providing her loans and information to use them in productive purposes for bringing solvency.

Sheuli Rani has succeeded in overcoming the pains andanguishes of her early marital days. She has got the decisionmaking power at family level as well as in her locality. Sheexchanges and disseminates information and lessons she haslearnt from BEES group to her neighborhood. Her neighborsoften come to her to get some advice. She is well conversantwith safe motherhood, women‟s as well as human right. Her

husband is very happy having such an auspicious woman in hislife.



95

Jyotsna, a TrueEntrepreneur

A drum, a vessel, a donkey and a woman Are all worthy of being beaten.

-Ancient Hindu saying.

Mst. Jyotsna Begum, a woman at forty five from Kalipur

village of Bhairab upazila of Kishorganj district, believes the

saying from the deep of her heart. On talking to her, it was

learnt that before being enrolled in BEES Samiti she had beenused to be beaten by her husband if she served him left-over



96

from an earlier meal, if she forgot to wash his shirt and if she

could not respond quickly enough when he asked her to dosomething or she left the home without his permission. She

then seemed herself as a “Punch Bag” on which her husband

could vent to his frustrations and ill-humor. She had no

standing in the family as well as in the society. She had no

control of her body and her physical mobility. She could not

contribute to her family decision-making and only worked for

her family as a maidservant. “It was a very frustrating situationfor me and I could not sleep for several nights in mental

agony,” says Jyotsna. She had no consciousness about herself,

about her rights, capacities and potentials. She had no control

over resources. She faced violence not only from her husband

but also from her in-laws. She was not aware of the importance

of education, healthcare, cleanliness and how to change thefortune by hard working.

But being enrolled in „Kalipur Mohila Samiti‟ of BEES was a

breakthrough in her life. “Without the help of BEES I might

not see me in this present lucky position” expresses Jyotsna

with her full confidence. She now seems herself a successful

entrepreneur and is pleased with her position in the family andsociety at the end of forty-five of her age.

From the very beginning, she was burdened with a heavy

family containing seven members. Then the earning member of

her family was only her husband who was running a small

business of selling jute bag. But the income was too nominal to

manage food for the large family. It was nearly impossible tothink about nutrition where the demand of food was difficult to



97

meet. She had only a small tin shed house, a capital worth

seven thousand taka. She had no sewing machine to run her business. The situation began to be worsening as the children

were growing older. She was in need of someone‟s help but she

didn‟t find anyone beside her. In that situation, she heard about

BEES from one of its field workers. She attended in a weekly

meeting of BEES Samiti and came to know all the possibilities

to develop her fortune.

She joined in BEES Samiti for serving some desires like, to

accumulate capital for running business, to increase savings

and to develop her knowledge about meaningful social and

political life.

“I am satisfied with BEES‟ support services,” expresses

Jyotsna. It provided all the help she needed. It provided capital

for developing her business. She received loans for five times

amounting to total forty four thousand taka for enhancing her

jute bag selling business. From this she earns about thirty five

hundred taka per month which is about two thousand taka more

compared to her previous income before joining to BEES. Now

she has a sewing machine by which she makes all the bags inher own hand.

Along with the jute bag selling business Jyotsna has bamboo-

cages selling business, livestock and poultry rearing. She earns

Tk. 7,500 per month from jute bag and bamboo-cages selling

business. The most important achievement that made her

condition very convenient is the purchasing of ice-mill. “It isthe greatest achievement in my life with the help of BEES



98

under micro credit program” says Jyotsna. She also received a

loan amounting to taka ten thousand for launching a new piscicultue project. Now her monthly income exceeds about

eleven thousand taka per month which is three times greater

than her previous income before joining in BEES Samiti.

At present, she is the owner of a handsome amount of savings

and other material properties. She has a capital amounting to

one lac taka and is the owner of a „pucca‟ tin-shade house, asanitary latrine, a tube well etc.

Nowadays she seems herself empowered in the family as well

as in the society. She has achieved an honorable standing in

both the places. Her husband values her. She can take decisions

and can participate in the planning process of family budget.

People call her in important social meetings and obey her

decisions. She has achieved control over resources, power

because of her knowledge which she acquired by being trained

in BEES Samiti on different issues like- training on sewing,

poultry and livestock rearing, handicraft, vegetable cultivation

etc.

Now she is conscious about her rights and duties. She

manipulates public opinion against giving dowry, violence

against women and early marriage of girl child. She is actively

participating in community development activities. She

encourages tree plantation, adult education etc. She mobilizes

greater awareness among the women to make free themselves

from being enclosed among the four walls and encouragesthem to be involved in income generating activities. She



99

doesn‟t believe any more in superstitions. She believes in

equality between men and women.

All the knowledge Jyotsna achieved throughout the

participation in the training and support services of BEES. She

gets free health related consulting services from its skilled

professionals. She is now well acknowledged about the healthy

life style.

The most important thing she demonstrates is that she has

made a challenge to the traditional values and religious belief.

She has proved that every obstacle can be overcome by

perseverance, diligence, honesty, ambition and hard work. All

these attributes she has gained through participating in BEES

activities.



100

Honest EffortsCan Bring Happiness

Now she leads a happy life being attached with BEES. But thescenario was different eight years ago. She and her husbandhad to go through hardship along with four children.

Sreemoti Rekha Rani age 40 of Sadullapur village of Shibganjupazila under Bogra district was married to Sree Ranjan KumarDas when she was only sixteen. They were four brothers and

sisters. Due to strain of poverty her parents settled her marriageearly. The financial condition of her husband was also very



101

harsh. So she couldn't find any difference in the living

standard.

“My parents were illiterate and we were not allowed to go forhigher studies. I studied up to class five. I and my husbandmanaged job of typist at Shibganj Water Development Board.

The salary was very low. It was too difficult for us to bear allthe expenses of the family with little income. Moreover, I had

an ambition of giving my children higher education. So I wasin mental pressure how to improve our financial condition,"narrates Rekha.

"One day Field Organizer Sharmeen Nahar Apa came to ourvillage Sadullapur. She sat with village women and discussedabout BEES‟ activities. We were encouraged by her speech as

it seemed from her words that BEES‟ poverty alleviation driveis very much benefiting for an overall development of the poor.At that night I talked to my husband and he gave his consent to be involved with BEES group"

That was how Rekha started her journey towards achievingsuccess. She has been continuing her membership of the group

for the last eight years and received loans from the organizationfor seven times. She started cultivating vegetables with thecredits that BEES provided. At first she took Tk 2,000 andstarted cultivating summer vegetables. Next year she receivedTk 4,000 for potato cultivation. In that way she took loans forseveral times. She also started to rear cows, goats and poultry.In eight years she received about Tk. 54,000 as credit fromBEES. In the meantime she paid off Tk. 44,400 of her totalloan. She worked hard and used the loan in deferent projects. Now her monthly income is about Tk. 8,000 per month.



102

It is her honest efforts, self-confidence which have opened the

path of success. Rekha says, "Now I have cows, goats and lotsof poultry. Previously I had a single room. But now I have builttwo rooms made of bricks with tin roof and bought five„bighas‟ (165 decimals) of land."

She has four children. She married off her two daughters. Hereldest son is doing MSc in botany. Her youngest son does notstudy because he is a mental patient.

Rekha says, “BEES encourages women to reduce malnutritionat family level and to empower them through incomegeneration from different sources. It also helps us to understandgender issue, primary health care, healthy sanitation systemetc. Actually BEES has completely changed the previous statusof village women. Now we, the women do not have to depend

on only husband's income. We are empowered socially andeconomically."



103

Farida Finds a BetterMeaning of Life

Mst. Farida Begum, a woman at early thirties from West Nutmaricha village of Shibganj upazila of Bogra district has been able to get over bad time by means of entrepreseurship.Farida Begum's husband Abu Zafar used to be a day laborer.Farida herself had no means of extra earning. Therefore thelittle income of her husband at the end of whole day's hardlabor meant to be too little to run the family. Farida‟s was a

struggle with mighty poverty while hunger, shabby clothes,torn house were her constant oppressors. In a society wheremoney is the main parameter of being evaluated, Farida



104

Begum's life was not only one of a stretching hardship but also

being treated as insignificant and neglected in society. Faridaremembers, “My husband was a day laborer. Everyday he hadto work to earn a living. But some days even finding work wasvery hard and those days meant uncertainty and hunger. Wecould not visualize any future, just only keeping us alive. Ihave three children, one son and two daughters. Although thechildren needed nutritious food, decent clothing but those wereout of our reach. I could not even manage regular meals for thefamily every day. This situation was really unbearable but I didnot know how to find an escape rout. I wished I could have been of some help to upgrade the family economy. But besides poverty‟s ruthless threats there were other problems too. My position in the family was a subordinate one. My husbanddominated the family decisions. Therefore I dared not speakout to establish my voice, that I wanted to do something. Then

I came to know from a member of „ Natmaricha PurbaparaMahila Samiti‟, that easy interest loan could be availed fromBEES by becoming a group member.”

“I then had a talk with the Field Extension Worker of BEESalong with some other women. She explained to us overallmechanism, rules, regulations of the micro credit program. I

was hundred percent motivated.”

“It was really a good scope for me. Because the high interestloan from the usurers in our village were also conditional. Evengold or land required to be mortgaged. Naturally it was quiteout of my reach, and I also didn't think it was a good idea totake one such loan to do some income generation business. It

seemed to me that in that process the total profit would go tothe usurers and it may even cost one one‟s asset. However,



105

with the intention of changing my financial status I became a

member of „West Natmaricha Mohila Samiti‟ of BEES. Thegroup activities have helped me to bring a substantial change inmy life.”

For Farida Begum the involvement was not so easy. Althoughit was Farida's prior concern to eradicate the poverty of thefamily by any means, but when the question of involvement inan NGO group arose, her father-in-law was not happy. Besides,Farida was not only a member of the group but she was thegroup leader. Naturally as a group leader she had to play veryactive role in organizing the weekly group meetings at herhousehold. It made her father-in-law more unhappy. He gaveobjection to Farida's such activity on the ground of „ purdah‟,since she was a housewife. But Farida's support was herhusband. Despite her father-in-law's objection Farida kept on

taking active part in the group activities. As a result Farida hascome far away from her previous state. Now she has raisedherself up to a much higher standard financially, culturally,socially, politically and spiritually. Farida says, “Being a

member of BEES group I have finally been able to bid farewellto my poverty stricken days. I have been receiving loans fromBEES year after year which I have invested in diversified

initiatives. At first I bought a goat. I earned some moneyraising and selling the kids of the goat. Then I bought a cow.Selling the milk of the cow I have been earning a considerableamount of money. I have set up a betel-leaf plantation, which is bringing me good profit. Besides I cultivate vegetables and rear poultry at my homestead. These ventures are also bringing mesome money and contributing in the family nutrition

fulfillment. My monthly income is now nearly Tk. 4,000. Thisearning has brought better days to my family. I have built a



106

house to live in. Now we don't have to fight with hunger. My

children are taking nutritious food, wearing decent clothes,going to school. My father-in-law is no more unhappy as hehas become convinced of the benefits of the group activities.” The solvency, a little extra after fulfillment of the familynecessities has added to Farida's happiness.

Fariada's transformation, what she thinks as regards herawareness on many vital issues owes to BEES‟ motivationalactivities. Whereas Farida was nothing more than manyidentical backward housewives from poor households, now shehas become a wise and conscious person.

She had known for generations that a woman's position was to be subordinated in the family and society, that casting vote wasnot her basic right that she did not have a voice in the family or

in the society. Now Farida emerges with a newly gainedknowledge, changing the entire scenario for her, playing a newrole. She can now cast her vote, make decision in the family,give her opinion even in social arbitration and on many otherissues. It has been possible because of the orientation from andactive participation in different awareness raising programs ofBEES. Leadership quality has bloomed in Farida as she is

playing a very much active and outspoken role in organizingthe weekly group meeting at her place. She as a perfect leaderis maintaining group spirit among her group members. The participation has helped Farida with basic knowledge on healthand she is also being benefited from the medical services ofBEES. Awareness on environment, benefits of roadcommunication, safe water supply, sanitation, gender equity

etc. has enriched Farida's macrocosm.



107

Farida herself is very much conscious of her new role. “ Now

my group members, and my neighbors look upon me foradvices and opinions on many important issues. Wheneverthere is injustice to my knowledge, I take every opportunity to protest it, while it was unthinkable earlier. I advice many of myacquaintances and relatives to follow my way to upgradethemselves economically and as a conscious member of themankind,” says an enlightened Farida. Farida is a spokesmanof sustainable women empowerment through micro-creditintegrated with a multi-dimensional support package.



108

Rina-- Leading Ahead ofthe Darkest Despair

River erosion shattered Rina's households totally. Mst. RinaBegum, 25 from Kanai Kanda village of Sherpur upazila ofBogra district, had been married at the age of 15 to AlamgirHossain from Chowbaria village of Shahjadpur upazila ofSirajganj district. But her conjugal life could not even bloom asthe river Jamuna devoured everything Alamgir had, the land,the household, all. Penniless and without a means of livelihood,

Rina came back to her parents with her husband. Upon theirarrival, some obvious questions also arose, that how wouldthey get going, what would be their means of livelihood?



109

Naturally it wasn't very pleasant for Rina to come back to her

parents and be considered as unwanted and burdensome. Rina puts it like this, "My parents were not well-off. My husbandwas unemployed and virtually we had nothing, no money, noassets. When we came to live with our parents an unwantedsituation arose. I had to depend entirely on my parents even formy clothes. It was not a relishing feeling for me. Only the wifeof an unemployed man knows how much uncertain and at thesame time embarrassing it feels to be so. I had to tolerate manyunpalatable words of my parents and others. I really needed badly to find a means of livelihood for me and my husband.My mother has been a group member of BEES since 1987. Notonly that, she is also the group leader of „Kanai Kandar MohilaSamiti‟. Therefore with her initiative and the recommendationof other members I got involved in the group though at first Ifaced some barriers to become a member since I did not have

anything to contribute. However after 8 weeks of myinvolvement I received my first loan amounting Tk. 4,000.With the money I set up a grocery shop at my house-door. Ihave received loans from BEES four times and invested it inmy shop. The shop has proven to be very much profitable.

Rina, the young entrepreneur feels that she has found out the

ladder to climb up the stairs of establishing herself. Rina isreaping the result of her all out effort and endeavors. She keepsher shop open from 7'O clock in the morning till evening. Shesells out a variety of items, serving people, even by sellingitems at credit. She has become a popular shopkeeper in theirlocality and feels satisfaction over the fact that she is givingsome services to people while doing business. Meanwhile Rina

Begum's husband has started a job at Chandai Kona ofSirajganj as a weaver. He goes to work in the morning and



110

comes back in the evening. Therefore Rina has to manage her

shop. Her husband also helps her through buying the sellableitems for the shop from the market on weekends. Now Rinakeeps items worth Tk. 5,000 at the shop. She sells items worthTk. 500 / 600 everyday at about 15%profit. She earns about Tk.2,500-3,000 per month from the shop. She has to pay Tk. 500 per month as installments for loan repayment. Rina Begum is athrifty woman. She either saves the rest of her earnings orinvests it in her shop. She manages the family expenses withher hus band‟s income. Rina has also bought 5 decimals of landfrom her profit and built a tin house to live in. Availing BEES‟ credit support for sanitary latrine Rina has set up a sanitarylatrine at her household. An overall development includingeconomic stability as well as basic awareness has changedRina's life substantially.

Now a happy and loving mother of a two year old girl RinaBegum's life is full of contentment while only a few years backlife had been full of miseries for her. Rina now can extendsome financial help to her parents over her utter satisfaction.Her shame, her embarrassment on being a burden on her parents has been replaced by her scope to help them. RinaBegum's rise has earned her a respectable position in the

society. When at first she started her shop, people did notwelcome the idea so easily. They talked ill of Rina, that it wasindecent for a woman to involve in a business like that, that itwas not acceptable to society etc. But Rina did not pay heed tothem and continued her pursuit with full earnest. Now thesuccess of Rina along with awareness and attitude hasconvinced people of her overall development.



111

Rina believes that BEES‟ support has been the touchstone for

her success, “BEES‟ credit support has pulled me out of mydarkest despair. I owe greatly to BEES for the overall support,the guideline, the capacity building, the different training andadvices, knowledge, awareness and various services likemedical services, seeds distribution etc. BEES has extended tome. With BEES‟ support and my endeavor and dedication Ihave become sure of myself and leading a very happy life now.I would like to keep up the spirt. I hope to keep up my businessand expand it in furture. I would like to buy some more landhere. In future with BEES‟ credit support I want to buy a car. Ihope BEES will be there for us making ways so that the poor people like us can smile their heart out breaking the evil spellof poverty.‟‟



112

Hasina, the Hardy Woman

Twelve years ago Hasina got married with Mohammad

Hossain. Their financial condition was very adverse. There was

no satisfactory source of income. Her husband worked in ashoe factory. He had no business of his own. They had only a

shanty tin-roofed room. The worn out tiny house symbolized

their miserable life in poverty. Days passed with utter scarcity

of food. Years have gone by without any sign of happiness

during the phase.

Suddenly, in 1998, Hasina came into contact with a BEES

group in her locality in Bhoirab thana under Brahmanbaria



113

district. She was inspired seeing the group and its entire

activities. The impact of the group exercise and the unityamong the group members impressed her a lot. She sat for a

discussion with her neighbors, and formed a group. Forming

the group, they named it „Jagannathpur Mahila Samiti‟.

Henceforth, by receiving facilities from BEES she is trying to

uplift her life status.

Hasina continued her study upto class eight while her husbandcan sign only. Hasina is an intelligent woman, and as she has

an educational background, she took the leading role in the

group. She has been carrying on her membership of the group

for the last four years and took loans from the organization for

four times. She helped her husband make a shoe factory for

himself and bought sewing machines for her own with the

credits that BEES provided.

At first she took Tk. 3,000 and gave this credit money to her

husband as a support to establish his shoe factory. Receiving

her first loan she deposited Tk. 10 per week to the group as

savings. Next year she received Tk. 5,000 as credit from BEES.

Afterwards, for the third time, she got Tk. 7,000 as loan from

BEES. With this loan money and from the profit of her

husband‟s business she bought two sewing machines and a

motor. And then she received Tk. 9,000 as her fourth loan this

year. Her husband took some money from this loan and added

it to his own profit of his business to purchase a machine for

his shoe factory with Tk. 8,000. She has been depositing Tk. 25

per week to the group as savings from just after receiving her



114

second loan. Now she has a total savings of Tk. 4,000 in the

group.Both Hasina and her husband go to the market to sell the

produced goods. They sell their goods in the markets of Sylhet,

Narsingdi and Brahmanbaria districts. Hasina‟s husband gives

value to her opinion while discussing about their business

policy. She gives advice to her husband to apply the technique

of bargaining to purchase goods at a lower cost and to sell at a

higher price. She has learnt about the economics of scale and in

the light of this knowledge she gives advice to her husband.

Hence he has the initiative to reduce expenses. He is used to

buy goods at a cheap rate comparing the rates of different

stores and sometimes of different markets too. They buy more

goods at a time to get facilities of discount, which they could

not do earlier due to less capital.

Earlier Hasina‟s husband had no shoe-factory of his own. He

had to work for other‟s f actory. Now he is being able to have

stability of his personal shoe business standing on his own feet.

Hasina helps her husband in the factory. Both of them work

together in the factory. Moreover, after achieving solvency,

they employed five workers for their factory creatingemployment generation.

Hasina has become economically valuable for the family. She,

being a member of BEES, herself has become an earning

member. She is earning from her tailoring business and thus

trying to enrich the moneyline of the family. She is now very

conscious for earning solvency for the upliftment of her family.She is committed to properly bring their children up. She has a



115

girl and a boy. The girl is eight. She is reading in class one.

Earlier for poverty Hasina could not send her girl to any schoolat the proper age. But now she is able to bear the expenses of

her child‟s education. Her boy is at the age of three-and-a-half

year. She is thinking of sending this child to a school next year.

After her becoming a member of BEES, they enjoy more

solvent life. Earlier their monthly income was Tk. 3,000 only,

which only the breadwinner, her husband, earned from hisworking in shoe-factory of other person. But they had to spend

Tk. 4,175. So they had nothing but to borrow from relatives or

neighbors or any other moneylenders. This was an extra burden

for them. But BEES helped them raise their income upto Tk.

8,000, made Hasina and her husband self-dependent and made

them free from the moneylenders. As an impact of their

increased income, their monthly expenditure has also increased

dramatically. In the former period, they spent Tk. 4,175 per

month, while now they can spend Tk. 7,375 in a month.

Monthly I ncome

Sources of Income Previous Present

Business

Services

0

3000

8000

0

Total 3000 8000



Monthly Expenditure

Heads of Expenditure Previous Present

Food

Cloth

Health

Education

Entertainments & Others

2700

275

700

0

500

3300

475

1200

400

2000

Total 4175 7275

Hardships are withering away gradually. Now they have the

ability to have balanced diet. Protein has become common intheir daily food habit. They eat meat three days a week, fishfour days, milk and egg daily. From the profit of their businessduring the period of last four years, after being associated tothe BEES group, they have enlarged their cottage; electrifiedthe house; bought a TV, a radio, an almirah, a showcase, a bedand a fan. Becoming a member of BEES, Hasina bought a

Kulsums (a Collection of Success Stories of the Disadvantaged Women of Bangladesh) Edited by...

Documents

Transcript of Kulsums (a Collection of Success Stories of the Disadvantaged Women of Bangladesh) Edited by...