Rina Begum Has Achieved Financial Solvency

"I regret to be born as a woman in a poor family. It is a curse because poor parents do not want to educate their girl child," said Rina Begum a 54-year-old woman.

Rina lives in Ulal village of Daulatpur upazila of Manikganj district. She lives with her husband Md Liakot, and three children. She is a group leader of a CBO at Community Empowerment Project (CEP)-II.

Rina Begum is a victim of child marriage. She has encountered a lot of challenges.

"My father married me off to a physically challenged person at the age of 13 when our family was in the throes of poverty. At that time, I was attending class V. My husband is a poor farmer who owns only 3 decimals of land. His limited income could not support our family expenses," Rina unfolded her challenges.

Rina heard about Community Empowerment Project (CEP) from the CEP field staff. She joined a group of Community Empowerment Project (CEP) CBO ‘Ashar Prodip’ in July 2019. She participated in the CBO activities and received motivational sessions and different capacity-building training on Income Generating Activities (IGAs). She received training in Group Management, Vermicompost, Traditional Birth Attendant (TBA), Seed Selection & Preservation.

As a TBA, Rina assists pregnant mothers and guides them to visit Upazila Health Complex for emergencies. She visits neighboring villages for regular check-ups and provides proper guidance.

Gradually, Rina brings out positive changes in her life by utilizing the training and obtaining financial solvency.

“I started homestead gardening and earned BDT 6,000.00. I had to spend only BDT 1,500.00 to prepare the garden. I started to deposit savings in the association in 2021. I took a loan of BDT 5,000.00 in 2022 and started fish culture. I earned approximately BDT 20,000.00 by selling. I never had to look back! I gathered a lot of experience in fish culture,” Rina describes her success stories.

Rina is now earning an average of BDT 10,000.00 per month. She is living a comfortable life compared to her previous life. She changes her life through training from CBO and loan support. She wants to stay with her community till the end of her life and live a prosperous life by doing profitable work. Rina expressed her gratitude to all the collaborators of the CEP project and ADRA Bangladesh.