Getting families on their feet

Jane Lee explains how CMS partner the Church of Bangladesh is helping to lift people out of the poverty that makes them vulnerable to the traffickers.

Five years ago, Monowara Katum had trouble putting food on the table. Her husband, Khalil, was a day labourer and on good days when there was work, he earned 50 Taka (50p) a day. On other days, he sat around twiddling his thumbs in the Maniknagar village, Upozila Mujibnagar.

Yet, with a turnaround in their fortunes kick-started by the Church of Bangladesh Social Development Programme, the family could even afford to buy a jewellery store recently.

It started with Monowara joining a women’s development group, where she learnt the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, such as making business plans and managing accounts. She was also given training in agricultural investment which ranged from buying livestock to farm equipment.

In 2001, at 31 years old, Monowara took the first step and borrowed 500 Taka under CBSDP’s micro-credit and income-generation programme to buy five ducks and some chickens. She sold the eggs at the market and repaid the loan easily.

The following year, she took a loan of 5,000 Taka and bought a cow and its calf. By then, she started selling milk as well as eggs. Part of the profits went into her two children’s education while another part went into repaying the loan. She saved the remainder and used it to start a kitchen garden. Both she and her son grew vegetables and spices which were sold at the market for a handsome return.

In 2003, she took out a third loan – 5,000 Taka – to buy a bull for ploughing purposes. The family started ploughing other people’s land for a fee, earning more money on top of what was already coming in from the eggs, milk and vegetables.

Then they started cultivating jute and earned from its sale. Monowara also bought rice when it was going cheaply and then resold it later in the year when it became scarce and the prices went up.

The family of four is now comfortably off, with a daily income of about 500 Taka. This amount is equivalent to a month’s wages for a cleaner, one of the jobs available to illiterate women.

CBSDP is hoping to replicate this same success story among the women who have been trafficked across the border and have since returned. These women are at the lowest rung of the society and shunned by the villagers.

Said Ms Modhobi Sarkar, CBSDP’s programme organiser for gender and development: “If they come back with money, nobody dares to say anything. But if they come back with nothing, the villagers treat them very badly. People don’t want to help them and they end up begging on the streets. Their husbands also know that they can’t go anywhere and abuse them even more.

“These women are very vulnerable. We want to motivate them and give them confidence. By teaching them income-generating skills and providing micro-credit, the women can then do something on their own and earn some money. And once they have some money, they’ll have a voice and people will listen to them.”

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