Kowshalya Rani (45) lives in Raripara village (Malopara), Kumira union of Tala Upazila of Satkhira district. There are three members in the family including her two sons. Her husband abandoned her 13 years back who got married to another woman and started living separately. She has to live somehow by working as a housemaid to neighbors’ house and sometimes she needs to work as a day laborer.

Unfortunately their homestead areas remain waterlogged for 5-6 months in a year for the last couple of years. It made their lives more difficult when they cannot go out of the house for work. Besides day laboring she thinks of doing small business or other income generating activities like poultry farming, goat rearing etc. But she doesn’t have enough income or savings to do so.

In 2016 Muslim Aid identified her in a community consultation meeting at Raripara Government School field of Khalilnagar Union during beneficiary selection process. The meeting participants proposed her name as one of vulnerable families in the area and since then she became one of the beneficiaries of the ECHO supported resilience project of Muslim Aid. Muslim Aid organized groups with the selected people in that area and gave necessary orientation and training to make resilient of her house and livelihoods against the waterlogging situation. Muslim Aid’s staff helped them developing a plan and also handed over an amount of BDT. 18000 as grant from the ECHO supported project, as it was designed. With the amount they reorganized for the poultry and homestead garden.

She mentioned, “one day in 2016 I opened a bank account at DBBL Agent Banking from where I have heard that, only I will be able to withdraw my money by using my finger print. I am very excited to learn that I am the owner of the money and the bank account that I never thought of. “She also mentioned “One day I withdrew some amount of money for starting my business and after someday I have started saving there which is so inspiring for me”.

After receiving cash grant she made a small poultry shed on a raised earthen platform and bought 25 poultry chicks for rearing by spending around BDT 950. She fenced the homestead area and started vegetable gardening. Within a month she is harvesting vegetables of BDT 1000-1200. With the savings amount she opened a small grocery adjacent to her house. She expressed her plan in the way that “I will rear those chicks for 30-45 days and after that they will be weighted up to 1.5 Kilogram, then if I sell it to the local market that will bring BDT 8000-10000 to my family. With that amount I can procure second batch of poultry chicks.”

Recently in group they have formed a Village Saving Loan Association (VSLA) being organized with the assistance of Muslim Aid local office at Tala. And Kowshalya Rani has become the General Secretary of the Association.

While speaking she was found much confident and proud of the assistance of the project and Muslim Aid. She said, “I never dreamt of getting such great supports of cash grant, training, knowledge and information from anybody in this world without spending any money.  Now I think it has come to me directly from God. I pray for those who are involved in the entire process from Muslim Aid to ECHO.”