Dealing with extreme poverty
Saturday, 16 February 2008
Ishrat Firdousi
According to BBS report- 2000, 20 percent ultra poor of the country's 14 crore population live below the poverty line. After Bangladesh gained independence in 1971, different government and non-government organisations (NGOs) began carrying out their different poverty alleviation programmes in the country most of which were centred on micro-finance.
For the socio-economic development of the left out ultra poor populace, BRAC initiated the programme "Challenging The Frontiers of Poverty Reduction - Targeting The Ultra Poor (CFPR-TUP) or the Ultra Poor Programme.
The Ultra Poor Programme is being implemented in the most poverty ridden regions of Bangladesh like Rangpur, Nilphamari, Kurigram, Madaripur, Gopalganj, Netrokona, Kishoreganj, Panchagarh, Thakurgaon, Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha, Sirajganj, Naogaon, Chapai Nawabganj and Rajbari.
Under this programme BRAC has been providing different assets (chickens, cows, goats, tools and seeds for horticulture, nursery, vegetable cultivation and support in non-agricultural activities), assistance in health services, training and social development to 1,00,000 ultra poor women-headed families from 2002 to 2006.
This is not micro-credit but straightforward grant. The other part of the programme is to develop a social supplementary force for the ultra poor populace at different levels of the society. It is hoped that this force will make a positive contribution in the journey of the lives of the ultra poor.
So how are the beneficiaries selected? First of all, the beneficiaries as mentioned are ultra poor women. The eligibility criteria for these women comprises of the following five features out of which at least three are mandatory: first, those who work as domestic servants in other households or are dependent on begging; second, those who own less than 10 decimals of land; third, those who do not have any active male member in the family (who is able to make a living); fourth, those families whose children are of school going age but are engaged in income generating activities; and fifth, those families that do not have any productive assets that can be utilised for production.
For being eligible under BRAC's Ultra Poor Programme, there is one mandatory condition besides the criteria mentioned above-- each family must have at least one adult and able female member who is eligible to participate in the income generating activities even if she is physically impaired but is able to work.
Meherun was born to an extreme poor peasant family of Panbari village under Patgram thana in Lalmonirhat district. From her very childhood, Meherun had experienced extreme poverty at home. Poverty and hunger were her everyday companions and she grew up under those extreme conditions. When Meherun was only 15 years old, her parents got her married to a boy named Babul of the same village. Babul was a day labourer. But even working his hardest he was not able to make enough to meet the demands of the family. Under this burden of suffering, Meherun had three children one after one.
But the poverty would not go away and Meherun and her family continued to live in deprivation. In order to feed the family Meherun started working in other people's houses as a maid. But in spite of all her efforts, hunger and want continued to hound the family. In this extreme poverty, Meherun passed 25 years of her life.
Then one day, in 2005, Meherun was selected to be a beneficiary under BRAC's Ultra Poor Programme.
As income generating enterprise, Meherun chose the rearing of goats. She was then given a three-day training by BRAC on the enterprise of her choice. After this, she was given four goats as grant. Along with that she was given a stipend of Tk 70 per week which would continue for 52 weeks.
Meherun was extremely happy to receive her goats. She began taking care of them as she would her own children. Before a year had passed, three of the goats gave birth to two kids each, that is, six kids in all. Meherun could not contain her happiness. The goat kids started growing up under her love and care. In the meantime, the fourth goat also gave birth to a couple of kids.
After a while, Meherun sold the kids and with the money she bought a cow and also leased 20 decimals of land. She began raising crops on the land. She then sold her crops and saved the money.
By this time, the cow she had bought gave birth to a calf and two of her goats gave birth to five kids. All this made Meherun ecstatic and her enthusiasm increased tenfold.
She sold three of the kids and with the money she built a hygienic latrine and acquired other essential household items.
From the money earned through her crops she bought ten hens and built a tin shed. The hens started laying eggs and Meherun sold those to buy necessary items for their everyday use. Some eggs also supplemented their diet.
At present, two of Meherun's sons go to school. By this time she has been tutored by BRAC workers on ten issues. She and her family now use safe drinking water and hygienic latrine and she also instructs others to do the same.
Today, Meherun is socially respected. She gets invitations to attend various social functions. At present, she is the owner of two cows, 5 goats, 15 hens and 5 ducks. She has also leased 100 decimals of land where she grows various crops. She also dreams of buying her own land in the future. Today, there is happiness in her family and hunger and poverty seems a distant nightmare.
For this monumental change in their fortunes Meherun is ever grateful to Almighty Allah. She also remembers with extreme gratitude the act of BRAC for changing her life from sheer hopelessness to one that has a lot of hope.
According to BBS report- 2000, 20 percent ultra poor of the country's 14 crore population live below the poverty line. After Bangladesh gained independence in 1971, different government and non-government organisations (NGOs) began carrying out their different poverty alleviation programmes in the country most of which were centred on micro-finance.
For the socio-economic development of the left out ultra poor populace, BRAC initiated the programme "Challenging The Frontiers of Poverty Reduction - Targeting The Ultra Poor (CFPR-TUP) or the Ultra Poor Programme.
The Ultra Poor Programme is being implemented in the most poverty ridden regions of Bangladesh like Rangpur, Nilphamari, Kurigram, Madaripur, Gopalganj, Netrokona, Kishoreganj, Panchagarh, Thakurgaon, Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha, Sirajganj, Naogaon, Chapai Nawabganj and Rajbari.
Under this programme BRAC has been providing different assets (chickens, cows, goats, tools and seeds for horticulture, nursery, vegetable cultivation and support in non-agricultural activities), assistance in health services, training and social development to 1,00,000 ultra poor women-headed families from 2002 to 2006.
This is not micro-credit but straightforward grant. The other part of the programme is to develop a social supplementary force for the ultra poor populace at different levels of the society. It is hoped that this force will make a positive contribution in the journey of the lives of the ultra poor.
So how are the beneficiaries selected? First of all, the beneficiaries as mentioned are ultra poor women. The eligibility criteria for these women comprises of the following five features out of which at least three are mandatory: first, those who work as domestic servants in other households or are dependent on begging; second, those who own less than 10 decimals of land; third, those who do not have any active male member in the family (who is able to make a living); fourth, those families whose children are of school going age but are engaged in income generating activities; and fifth, those families that do not have any productive assets that can be utilised for production.
For being eligible under BRAC's Ultra Poor Programme, there is one mandatory condition besides the criteria mentioned above-- each family must have at least one adult and able female member who is eligible to participate in the income generating activities even if she is physically impaired but is able to work.
Meherun was born to an extreme poor peasant family of Panbari village under Patgram thana in Lalmonirhat district. From her very childhood, Meherun had experienced extreme poverty at home. Poverty and hunger were her everyday companions and she grew up under those extreme conditions. When Meherun was only 15 years old, her parents got her married to a boy named Babul of the same village. Babul was a day labourer. But even working his hardest he was not able to make enough to meet the demands of the family. Under this burden of suffering, Meherun had three children one after one.
But the poverty would not go away and Meherun and her family continued to live in deprivation. In order to feed the family Meherun started working in other people's houses as a maid. But in spite of all her efforts, hunger and want continued to hound the family. In this extreme poverty, Meherun passed 25 years of her life.
Then one day, in 2005, Meherun was selected to be a beneficiary under BRAC's Ultra Poor Programme.
As income generating enterprise, Meherun chose the rearing of goats. She was then given a three-day training by BRAC on the enterprise of her choice. After this, she was given four goats as grant. Along with that she was given a stipend of Tk 70 per week which would continue for 52 weeks.
Meherun was extremely happy to receive her goats. She began taking care of them as she would her own children. Before a year had passed, three of the goats gave birth to two kids each, that is, six kids in all. Meherun could not contain her happiness. The goat kids started growing up under her love and care. In the meantime, the fourth goat also gave birth to a couple of kids.
After a while, Meherun sold the kids and with the money she bought a cow and also leased 20 decimals of land. She began raising crops on the land. She then sold her crops and saved the money.
By this time, the cow she had bought gave birth to a calf and two of her goats gave birth to five kids. All this made Meherun ecstatic and her enthusiasm increased tenfold.
She sold three of the kids and with the money she built a hygienic latrine and acquired other essential household items.
From the money earned through her crops she bought ten hens and built a tin shed. The hens started laying eggs and Meherun sold those to buy necessary items for their everyday use. Some eggs also supplemented their diet.
At present, two of Meherun's sons go to school. By this time she has been tutored by BRAC workers on ten issues. She and her family now use safe drinking water and hygienic latrine and she also instructs others to do the same.
Today, Meherun is socially respected. She gets invitations to attend various social functions. At present, she is the owner of two cows, 5 goats, 15 hens and 5 ducks. She has also leased 100 decimals of land where she grows various crops. She also dreams of buying her own land in the future. Today, there is happiness in her family and hunger and poverty seems a distant nightmare.
For this monumental change in their fortunes Meherun is ever grateful to Almighty Allah. She also remembers with extreme gratitude the act of BRAC for changing her life from sheer hopelessness to one that has a lot of hope.