“I lost my father right after my birth. I managed to take training on sewing and was working under a local employer but the corona took it all away,” says Farhana of Chattogram. Meanwhile, Nurjadi of Rajshahi was struggling to keep her survival hopes alive as she was forced to shut down her balcony shop after facing constant losses due to the pandemic. This was her only earning source after her husband was paralyzed. There are millions of Farhana and Nurjadi around us, each with their own stories pointing to our conscience and humanity, to which some of us respond but some simply ignore. But Farhana and Nurjadi consider themselves quite lucky to be among the rare ones whose stories were responded to. Social organization Rise For A Change, as a part of their project “Joyita” handed over a sewing machine to Farhana and gave all financial support to Nurjadi to restart her shop. Like them, 12 other women of different age groups and from different cities now have their own sources of living after receiving support according to their necessity from RFAC.
Rise for a Change (RFAC) is a youth organization formed to fight against the deep-rooted social problems of the country including but not limited to gender-based violence and harassment. It was founded amid the crucial times of the COVID-19 pandemic when the people of the country are struggling mentally, physically, and financially. The organization formed a specialized team dedicated to listening to and counseling people, especially teenagers subject to mental trauma,frustration or anxiety for acts of violence, family pressure or other reasons. The volunteers of the organization also reached out to victims of bullies, harassment, threats and provided them with legal and mental help and suggestions. However, keeping in mind the pandemic-struck micro-economy of the country and the plight of domestic violence , RFAC launched project Joyita to financially reach out to the underprivileged yet determined women in need. The organization got an overwhelming response in their fundraising campaign with the support of former Bangladeshi cricketer Nafis Iqbal, actress Sabila Noor, content creator Shihab Hasan Neyon and from public in their 10 days of fundraising. 30% of the total funds raised was used to distribute 15.5 kg of food to each of 74 families during the month of Ramadan so that the underprivileged families could at least have foods during the holy occasion. The rest of the funds was utilized to support the 14 “Joyita”s. The governing body of RFAC searched and scrutinized to finally reach out to the 14 women from Pabna, Chattogram, Rangamati and other parts of the country who were skilled yet were too badly struck by the pandemic and their ill fate to run their families. We tried to briefly collect and note their stories.
Zohra and her sister, who’ve been orphans for about a decade now, have got a new life in the shape of sewing machines as a part of project Joyita. These two sisters living in the periphery of Hathazari, Chattogram, could not get a job or start on their own even though they had skills in sewing.
Middle-aged woman Tanchanagya of Rangamati has to support her two children alongside her husband. With her ailing body, she has to search for work daily since the cow and the small farm she had was never enough to fully support her. So RFAC took the duty of extending her farms to a support level.
Another Joyita from Rangamati, Rini Chakma, is a widow for 8 years. With her little food shop by the roadside, she dreams big of her daughter. RFAC stood by her side to expand the shop.
RFAC reached out to Fatema of Chattogram. The dreams of her family with two children came to a standstill after her husband lost his job as a peon due to the pandemic. As she knows how to sew, RFAC provided a sewing machine and other required materials to her.
Poverty has been the constant partner in the family of two daughters and their mother of Pabna even after coming to the town in search of work leaving their blind father in the village home . So RFAC structured a poultry farm for them as a part of the project Joyita.
Nurunnahar Lucky is from Nayapara of Pahartali. Family disputes led; forced her to pay the rent of her own father’s home. Corona has shaken up her husband’s small business as well. At this, she decided to take matters into her own hands and commenced her own little venture. Project Joyeeta reached out to her with financial aid to help her small local business flourish.
Taslima Begum belongs to an expatriate family whose lives came to a standstill due to covid. She was already physically weak, and the pandemic resulted in her unemployed husband returning to the country retaining their family. To save her family from the shackles of unemployment, Project Joyita supported her to start pisciculture and rear a goat.
Nazma Begum faces difficulty in running a family of 5 with an unstable income source(from her husband). She had no other choice but to send off one of her daughters to work. Seeing this, Project Joyita bought her hens, goats, and duck to start a small poultry farm.
Clouds of grief took over Akhtarunnessa a long time ago. Her children turned a blind eye to her and left them in despair. She lives with her ailing husband and a little boy by her side now. Upon knowing her story, Project Joyita arranged for fish farming and delivered hens and ducks to her doorstep to lessen her hardship.
Khadija Akhter, a brave woman, left her husband’s house to pursue her life on her own terms. She maintains her household and children through sewing. Additionally, she has to look after her parents and sisters too. To support and encourage brave women like her, Project Joyita handed her a sewing machine.
At a young age, poverty overshadowed Julie’s life. All means of income for her family are currently closed. So Project Jayita handed over a sewing machine to her in the light of her needy family.
While Mostofa khala lost all her assets to Sangu due to the river erosion, her only hope seemed to be her sister. Now that age was a determinant in her life, she had to depend on another to live. As if all this was not enough, she had been facing vision difficulties for quite a while. Wherefore, Project Joyeeta extended their hand to the matron of Dohazari for her eye treatment.
RFAC believes, “This may not be a project outreaching to a big mass of people but we feel even without sponsors and logistical support from other organizations, we could reach out to the people who actually need the support and help them not by giving mere money but providing assistances in exactly the way they need them.”
