Bashundhara helps Bancharampur women become self-reliant

“Poverty has impacted my life and caused great hardship for me. Hope is my only resort and Bashundhara Shuvosangho has enlightened my life,” Aklima Akhtar, daughter of Jamal Uddin of Ayubpur village under Bancharampur upazila of Brahmanbaria, said while she was undergoing sewing training at the Shuvosangho Training Centre.

Aklima got married at a young age but her husband abandoned her due to abject poverty. Then she took shelter in her father’s residence.

She was passing through unbearable hardship within the family of 10 members, including her parents, brother and sister. They often remain unfed with the small income of their day-labourer father. In these circumstances, Bashundhara Group stood beside her.     

The Bashundhara Shuvosangho Training Centre has been established in the area to empower not only Aklima but also 50 other disadvantaged women. Two training centres have been set up in the upazila, each accommodating 25 women who are undergoing sewing training. Some of them are widows, some are abandoned by their husbands and some are brilliant students of poor families.

Aklima was undergoing training at Ayubpur Training Centre. His father Jamal Uddin is a day-labourer. He was rendered workless due to his illness. He passes his days taking financial assistance from people.

Meanwhile, his daughter abandoned by her husband took shelter in his house. Another burden appears in his family when he fails to manage food once a day. In this situation, Bashundhara Shuvosangho brings hope to Jamal’s family.

On information about the plight of their family, Shuvosangho activists gave a chance to Aklima to take sewing training free of cost. On completion of the three-month training, Bashundhara Group handed over a sewing machine to her without any cost.  

Aklima said she gained self-confidence in taking the sewing training and machine.

She also said she would be able to eradicate her poverty by capitalising on the sewing machine. “Many thanks to Bashundhara Group for standing beside my family during a difficult time,” she said.

Another trainee is Saima Akhter. As a young widow, she was going through a disoriented life with her two children. Her elder daughter is mentally challenged while the younger one reads in Class-VII. She has failed to stay at her father-in-law’s house after the death of her husband. She lost her mother long ago and her father also died recently. She has no dear and near one indeed.

Amid the situation, Bashundhara Group stood beside her and she was given sewing training at Bashundhara Shuvosangho Training Centre free of cost. On completion of the three-month sewing training, she will be given a sewing machine also free of cost. Now, she is fabricating a dream of becoming a self-reliant earner.

Deepali Rani Das remained unmarried even after reaching the age of 40. She also came to take the sewing training. Her dream is to stand on her own feet after getting the sewing machine.  

“Now, I’m determined to continue progressing and stand on my own feet until the end of my life. I lost my mother and father but Bashundhara Group took the burden of my life. God will bless them,” she said.

Sumaiya, a 10th grader of Shah Rahat Ali High School, also participated in a sewing training session at a Shuvosangho Training Centre in the area. “No one else is in my family except my mother. I will have to hold the helm of my family. I will be given a sewing machine upon completion of my training. I will have to keep moving the wheel of my family by running the sewing machine,” she said.

Sumaiya said she wishes to complete her education thanks to Bashundhara Group. She also expressed her gratitude to the company.  Sinha, also a 10th grader from the same school, aims to stand on her own feet defying all sorts of adversities. Sinha's mother came to her father's home with Sinha, severing relations with her father following a family feud. Later, her mother remarried, and her father did the same. Since then, she has become lonely.  

Sinha now wants to do something to stand on her own feet. A total of 50 women, including Sinha, participated in a training session of Shuvosangho with a determination to bring prosperity to their lives.

“My father and mother are alive but they don't even exist in my life. I feel quite lonely. Bashundhara Shuvosangho is the only resort in my life. My sadness faded away upon seeing all the participants here who are going through similar experiences like me,” she said.
"We will be provided with sewing machines after the training. We must reach our goals with these machines. Many thanks to Bashundhara Group,” she said.

SOURCE : Daily Sun