Fulbanu Begum (27), wife of Joynal Mia at Ekota village of Kawnia upazila in the district had been passing her days in severe poverty even three years ago. Her husband was a farm labourer. It was so tough for her to maintain her family of five members with the little amount of income of her husband. In order to give financial support to her impoverished family she took training on sewing readymade handloom garments. In this way she found the means to contribute considerably to her family income. Presently she earns Tk 150 to Tk 160 per day. Like Fulbanu thousands of vulnerable women of the region are now engaged in swing handloom garments. And by doing this they are gradually getting financially self-reliant. However the promotional activities of some government organisations such as the Women Affairs Department, the Social Service Department and reputed NGO’s like RDRS, ASA, BRAC are playing leading roles in providing them with training sewing machines and cash credits. According to concerned sources, by sewing handloom garments and marketing the products a large number of extreme poor women at different upazilas in the district have become economically solvent and are making financial contribution to their poor families. These female sewers mainly produce garments like blouse, petticoat, semiz, kamiz, salwar, scurf, baby wears, shirt, pant, fotua and caps. A number of vulnerable women of different villages under the district told The Financial Express that once they had to struggle much to maintain their family. At that time they were so much worried about their survival. With the hope to get rid of the curse of poverty they began to take training on sewing readymade garments. After receiving training for 3 months they started sewing handloom garments and began to earn good amount of money. Thus they found the way to contribute to their family income. Presently they earn Tk 150 toTk 160 per day from sewing handloom garments. Now they are living contentedly with their family members, they added.
