Satkhira Shyamnagar to Champa Mallick
Rehana Parveen (33) is woman living in the coastal region of Bangladesh. Her husband Afzal Hossain (37) has shrimp firm based on which they run their livelihood. The couple have a daughter named Lamisa (10). They somehow can run their family with income from the shrimp firm. But as a result of repeated natural disasters, their shrimp farm got damaged and posed them to hardship. Everyone’s needs in the family were not properly met, there was often unrest among themselves.
Rehana Parveen thus has been looking for opportunity to in earn and support her family. However, one day she came in contact with a BARCIK’s official and learned various things including the way to earn. She participated in different right based and consciousness raising activities of BARCIK and get confidence that she too can do something that can earn her cash and dignity. She started to believe on herself and her confidence. Having such a thought in mind, she first took some vegetable seeds from BARCIK in 2019. She cultivate the vegetable in her 5 decimal of homestead lands. She learned the technique to prepare compost from BARCIK and other farmers and apply to her vegetable land. Nonetheless, earlier, like others in the village, she had the idea since the soil is salty there would not possible for farm vegetable. But being motivated and encouraged by BARCIK to farm vegetable in an organic way has boosted in her confidence. The vegetable that she farmed looked fine and looking at the green vegetable she became enthusiastic to farm more. Consuming the vegetable she also discovered the difference between the market vegetable and that of her own cultivated ones.
From then on, she planted some vegetables throughout the year and thus met the nutritional needs as well as earned cash by selling the surplus in the market. With the cash she earned she contribute in maintaining the family expense with her husbands. She feels happy since she could support her husband, the very dream she had in her mind before. In addition, she also learned to conserve seed and exchanged seeds with her neighbors that boosts their mutual relationship. Gradually she started to tell other women about her activities and thus her popularity in her village grew.
Later, in 2019, Rehana Parveen formed a women’s organization with some of the same interested and enthusiastic women. She played vital role in encouraging the women about their rights and economic activities including saving habit through the different meetings arranged in the banner of the organization. The organization members developed saving books and provided to 30 women. It is through the organization that enables women to sit together every month and discuss about their issues and progress. Seeing the progress of Rehana Parveen and other women gradually many other women joined the organization and started discussing various pros and cons among themselves on a particular day.
Besides, Rehana Parveen started a poultry farm at home for income generation, BARCIK advised her about the technique and necessary steps of keeping local breeds of chickens and poultry. Considering both sides, she expressed interest in rearing local breeds of chickens. In addition, she asked BARCIK’s official that it may not be possible for her to raise a large number of chickens due to the high price of local breed poultry eggs and poultry in his area. Considering her needs and interest BARCIK provided her an incubator machine so that she could rear local breed of chicken with success.
So far Rehana Parveen has hatched three times. Sold chicken worth four thousand taka and presently she has 71 local breeds of chickens in her house. However, Rehana Parveen wants practical training in raising and caring for local breeds of chickens from BARCIK so that she could rear and expand her works. She wants to keep one part of her house with laying hens and on the other with chickens for sale as meat. So that eggs do not have to be collected from far away. In addition, she will help all the women of his organization to hatch babies from eggs with her incubator machine and even sell eggs and babies at a low price only to the women of the organization.
It is to mention that BARCIK has been facilitating development activities in the coastal area with support from Misereor-Germany and Diakonia-Sweden.
Translated by Silvanus Lamin.
