Kurmitola, a congested community camp in Mirpur where stranded Urdu-speaking people live. The Camps are very congested with limited access to safe drinking water and toilets. Islamic Relief has implemented the PROYAS project to provide vocational training for the young men and women living in the camp. Sewing, sewing machine operation, Block-Batik, beautification, AC and refrigeration servicing, driving, electric wiring and computer operation training were conducted by Islamic Relief.
Our right holder Munni opted for Block and Batik training and with the cash grant she has now started her business.
My name is Munni Akhtar, and I reside in the Kurmitola camp. My husband works as a weaver, but his income is not enough to sustain our family. We have three children, and we cannot afford to provide them proper education. Islamic Relief has taught us the block batik work. We received a grant of 15,500 taka from them and with that grant, we have purchased color and fabrics for batik. Now we are striving to be self-reliant.
To ensure proper nutrition for her children she started rearing chickens at her home making cages. She saved her income from the block-batik work for this.
Being a member of the “Youth Empowered Group” (YEG) under PROYAS project, she regularly attends the weekly meetings. Munni and other members have learnt about awareness issues as well as social issues from the discussion. The learnings which she has acquired help her addressing societal issues. She saves money in the group account along with other members.
A cooperative store has been set up under the project which is run by the “Protiva Somobay Somiti”. The right holders not only have the access to this store, they display their Block Batik products as well. This is a great privilege for the right holders like Munni as they do not need to go outside the camp to sell their products.The samity also ensures fair price for their products.Selling clothes at a good price within the camp was challenging, but now, they can easily display these products in the marketplace. Selling through the cooperative store allows them to get a fair price for their products which help them to be financially stable. The selling point give them a new status of decent work opportunity along with ample opportunities for sales, making them optimistic about their work.