Published On:Friday 26 September 2014
Posted by Celebrate Life Style information Blog
Changing the Life of Lipi Chakma
Lipi Chakma lives in a remote village in Bangladesh with her husband and two daughters. One of her daughters goes to primary school in their village while the other is too young to go to school. Lipi sometimes works as day laborer in the field—when work is available. Her husband is also a day laborer. Living on day laborer wages meant living with great hardship. She and her husband could not afford to feed or clothe their daughters properly and were living in poverty. With limited technical skills, Lipi did not have any work or alternative way of earning a living outsideof the village. Although she is able to read and write, she does not have a formal education. She also did not have any cultivable land except at her home.
After becoming a member of Helen Keller International’s Making Markets Work for Women project, supported by Buddhist Global Relief, Lipi started cultivating vegetables. She received different vegetable seeds and small agricultural tools (e.g., machete, a spade and a hand hoe), as well as money to purchase chickens for egg production. With our help, she built a poultry shed that is now home to three mother chickens and 24 chicks. We also provided Lipi with intensive technical training on poultry rearing and vegetable cultivation. This summer, she will be cultivating vegetables like cucumber, snake gourd, and yard long bean. She is expecting a successful harvest and will be able to sell surplus produce and eggs in the market within a month. For the first time, Lipi will earn a regular income.
“I dream of paying all the educational expenses for my two daughters,” Lipi says, “and with this income I also will build a proper latrine and install a well for safe drinking water.” Thanks to her training and initial success, Lipi is already thinking bigger and plans to rent additional land to cultivate more vegetables. The assistance that Lipi received from this project will be able to bring about a positive and lasting change for her and her family. [ http://www.buddhistglobalrelief.org/ ]
After becoming a member of Helen Keller International’s Making Markets Work for Women project, supported by Buddhist Global Relief, Lipi started cultivating vegetables. She received different vegetable seeds and small agricultural tools (e.g., machete, a spade and a hand hoe), as well as money to purchase chickens for egg production. With our help, she built a poultry shed that is now home to three mother chickens and 24 chicks. We also provided Lipi with intensive technical training on poultry rearing and vegetable cultivation. This summer, she will be cultivating vegetables like cucumber, snake gourd, and yard long bean. She is expecting a successful harvest and will be able to sell surplus produce and eggs in the market within a month. For the first time, Lipi will earn a regular income.
“I dream of paying all the educational expenses for my two daughters,” Lipi says, “and with this income I also will build a proper latrine and install a well for safe drinking water.” Thanks to her training and initial success, Lipi is already thinking bigger and plans to rent additional land to cultivate more vegetables. The assistance that Lipi received from this project will be able to bring about a positive and lasting change for her and her family. [ http://www.buddhistglobalrelief.org/ ]
