Category: Uncategorized

Date of visit: 08 December 2014

Place visited: Chatnai Block-8 & Daholpara Gucchagram of Purba Chatnai Union under Dimla Upazila

Name of the visitors:

1. Mara Russell, Director Food Security, CARE-USA
2. ATM Zubaidur Rahman, Resource Management Coordinator, SHOUHARDO II Program, CBHQ
3. Subrata Kumer Saha, Regional Coordinator, Rangpur Region
4. Mohabbat Ali, Regional Program Manager, Rangpur Region
5. Mustafa Kamal, Executive Director, JSKS

Objective of the visit: To see the activities under taken by SHOUHARDO II Program implemented by Jhanjira Samaj Kallyan Sangstha (JSKS) in Dimla Upazila of Nilphamari district.

Major Events visited: Meeting with VDC, Cattle vaccination program, ECCDC, Pond fish culture, Key hole garden, CHD, Community led initiatives, Meeting with Mothers group, Hotchpotch program by Mothers Group, Meeting with EKATA group members and School renovation.

The distinguished visitors keenly visited all the events carefully, shared experiences/feelings of the beneficiaries, the contribution of SHOUHARDO II in changing the daily lives in particular for the poor and extreme poor (PEP) families. The beneficiaries highlighted before the visitors that:

• Due to having training and support in the form of cash and kind their income is raised and can managing food for the family members three times in a day. Learned and practicing modern farming system
• Health, hygiene and nutrition status improved for the pregnant/lactating mothers by practicing some of the basic hygiene practices they usually ignored before
• Supplementary ration support kept the mothers and their children far from diseases and they understand the importance of food for mothers and children
• Women are becoming empowered and are involving in the family level decision making process, having control over assets, increased the mobility
• Establishment of ECCDCs for the development of the less privileged children for their physical mental development
• Liaison/coordination with the govt. service providers increased and Union Parishad become supportive to the poor and extreme poor families
• Increased access to the local resources such as road side cultivation, khas land etc.
• Sensitized over disaster and climate change adaptation

The beneficiaries proposed to continue such a comprehensive program like SHOUHARDO II for the development of the PEP households in Bangladesh.

The distinguished visitors concluded the day long visit with a vote of thanks to the beneficiaries for their enthusiastic and honest comments on the program. Particularly Mara Russell strongly underlined that she would advocate to the people of United States to continue their best support in Bangladesh.

Tolli Love, Vice President of CARE-USA visited JSKS SHOUHARDO II Program at Dimla-Nilphamari on last November 10, 2014. CARE Bangladesh officials were accompany with her.

Ayesha gets born in Care Bazar village under Dimla Union of Dimla Upazila. Her father was a day laborer and she grows up from a needy family consisting 08 members. She completed her study up to class- II and discontinued her studies as her father was unable to afford the educational expenses. As a result, at the age of 14 years her father arranged marriage with Md. Gomiruddin in the neighboring village Nitchpara. Her husband was also a day laborer, the income from this profession was not sufficient to ensure three times food for the family members naturally starvation was a common phenomenon. In 2004 Ayesha’s husband become sick from sort of heart diseases, due to poverty Ayesha could not have been managed treatment of her husband and he finally died after few months of sufferings leaving behind 04 children and as assets of 33 decimals of homestead lands, a house with two rooms of CI sheet roofs, that attached fences and five mother ducks with 12 baby-chicks. Widow Ayesha for the sake of survival searched any work that can be supportive to earn a minimum but failed to manage even as a housemaid. Ayesha planned and starts cultivation of traditional vegetable varieties those are feasible to be grown on the small piece of land and on the house roofs with minimum and/or no cost, alongside seeking help from her close relatives and sometime from the neighbors. However, father-in-law of Ayesha was very much supportive for her family and continued support till his death sometime in the year of 2012 which is another tragedy in the life of Ayesha. Somehow she recovers the shock and searching on any other means of earning source.

In 2011 SHOUHARDO II Program started its activities in the localities where Ayesha lives in. Ayesha enrolled as the beneficiary in poor category as has 33 decimals of homestead lands. Being enrolled as a beneficiary Ayesha regularly participated in the court yard meetings and foster the agenda if there is any that can be a factor to improve the present miserable livelihoods.

Few days after Ayesha get the opportunity to have basic training on “Poultry and Goat rearing” conducted by JSKS-SHOUHARDO II Program and a goat had provided to her from the program. Ayesha started caring the goat with profound enthusiasm and cherishing the will to implement the learning on poultry rearing in the near future. Rearing about a year her goat gives birth of two kids. She got Tk. 5,000 by selling-out the goat with two kids. Ayesha had the practical experiences on poultry rearing in particular the duck and her knowledge is enriched once again by having the training. Accordingly in consultation with the Field Facilitator she firmly decided to rearing duck on commercial basis because the locality she lives in is the low lying area and there has a big water body nearby which is another contributing factor in rearing ducks. She took the risk together with visioning that duck rearing might have been the turning point of a better livelihood. She purchased 150 ducks of 30 days old by Tk.4, 000 from selling of goat and purchased feeds by rest of an amount of Tk. 1,000, plus Tk. 1,000 borrowing from her relatives. From the 3^rd months of rearing some of the ducks starts produce eggs and day by day the production was being increase. Ayesha began selling out the eggs at the rate of Tk. 30.00 per 04 eggs. A minimum portion of the earning from egg selling expensed for meeting up the household nutrition need while the major portion are reinvested for the expansion of ducks farm. In the 2^nd half of 2012 she sale 500 young ducks @ Tk. 160 per piece and earned Tk. 80,000. At present a total nos. of 150 layer ducks and 300 baby ducks are in the farm of Ayesha. Every day Ayesha is getting 80 eggs on an average and the sale is around Tk.800 while the expense is Tk. 300 per day for feeds and marketing purposes. Aiming to risk free farming JSKS staff facilitate to introduce Ayesha with the DLS for necessary services.

From duck farming Ayesha renovates/repair her old houses by Tk. 40,000 leased in 20 decimals of land by Tk. 45,000 and expensed Tk. 12,000 for elder daughter’s marriage ceremony. Another two daughters are school going and Ayesha visioning to educate them up to Bachelor Degree. Her only son is helping Ayesha in the field of cultivation and duck farming. Seeing the success of Ayesha about 90 families of Nitchpara village involved in duck farming out of them around 50 are from PEP families of SHOUHARDO II Program.

Ayesha cordially recognized and says “There were no alternatives other than begging if I would not have been enrolled as a beneficiary in SHOUHARDO II Program”-JSKS.