Overcoming Gender Barriers in the Flood-Prone Wetlands of Bangladesh
One woman’s story of learning to provide for her family and becoming a role model in her village
In northeast Bangladesh, near the border with India, there’s a mosaic of habitats: rivers, streams, and irrigation canals; seasonally flooded cultivated plains; and wetlands with still water. Between May and October, monsoons transform these wetlands into massive bodies of deep water.
It is beautiful here — but it’s not an not easy place to nurture a family. Just ask Tahmina Begum, a wife and mother caring for her large family in the village of Birnagar. She could tell you how it feels when the rains come. Wind whips wildly and water gushes from nearby mountains, generating waves in the wetlands. When the haor — a bowl- or saucer-shaped depression and wetland — is full, the water overflows, surrounding and eroding the raised mounds of earth upon which people live, leaving little to no land to grow food.
Yet, the enterprising families in the haor region have hope. Tahmina embodies it. Tahmina didn’t just make the best of her lot in life — with USAID’s support, she became an inspiration in her village. When her husband fell ill, she struck out to earn more income through sewing, poultry, and cattle raising, and starting a roadside tea stall — overcoming poverty and a lack of support from her in-laws.
It’s not easy for women like Tahmina, who often are told by men to leave school early, get married, and stay at home to start or care for a family. Here, most women cannot own land, and are not allowed to work outside their homes.
Tahmina used to stay home to take care of the family, including her husband, who has been too sick to work in the fields or take on other jobs.
“If my husband brought in money, we would eat,” Tahmina said. “If he did not, then we would eat just one meal a day. We would all be dependent on one person — the man of the house.”
Things started to change, however, after a survey in her village identified her as eligible to participate in a USAID-supported project, implemented by NGO partner CARE, to promote gender equity and address underlying factors causing chronic undernutrition. About 55 percent of people living in Bangladesh’s haor and char (low-lying areas surrounded by water — often river islands) where the project is being implemented are classified as poor or extreme poor with high malnutrition.
Tahmina took full advantage of the program. She trained in tailoring, and learned to develop a business plan. With a grant of 3,000 taka (about $36) and 1,000 taka from her savings, Tahmina bought a sewing machine, which she uses to make and sell clothes. She invests her profits in poultry.
After her training, Tahmina focused on giving back to her village. She became a village savings and loan association group leader, helping other women in her community pool money and take out loans to start businesses. She joined a committee to prevent violence against women, and as a village development committee leader, she can approach local authorities to investigate incidents of violence and child marriage. After receiving 30 months of food support from the project consisting of wheat, vegetable oil, and lentils for her youngest son, she also joined the food distribution committee.
Seeing her success, Tahmina’s neighbors seek her out for advice on how she manages funds and makes money while still finding time to care for a family.
“A lot of women come to me. They are mostly distressed about their children not being physically well, or they are not able to work. I tell them that hard work always pays off:
‘If I can get out of my difficult situation, you can do it, too, but you have to manage your time well and work hard.’ ”
— Tahmina
Tahmina earns a great deal of praise. “She is a woman of the soil. She is very helpful and patient with others,” said neighbor Rina Begum, who took Tahmina’s advice on how to scale up her small chicken coop.
Despite the kind words, Tahmina does not draw a lot of attention to herself. She prioritizes others, starting by caring for her husband and ensuring that her six children finish their education and “end up in a secure and good place.”
In five years, Tahmina wants to start a class to train others in tailoring, expand her small house, and spruce up her roadside tea stall, where she sells tea, bananas, biscuits, and bread.
Tahmina is one of nearly 384,000 people in Bangladesh to receive financial support and training from USAID and CARE. Among this group, the proportion of women and adolescents who decide how they will manage their own income rose from 28 to 94 percent. For Tahmina, the support she received was a sea change amidst the high waters: She realized for the first time she was able to do something on her own.
“Now I feel I have my own identity,” she said. “Now that I can contribute something to the family, I feel empowered.”
About the Author
Richard Nyberg is a senior communications consultant for USAID.
