Nilphamari: The extremely poor families headed by women in Sarkerpara village of Ramnagar union in Sadar upazila have overcome the cycle of poverty by achieving socio-economic and women's empowerment. The 116 poor families of the remote village, who were earlier trapped in the vicious cycle of generational poverty even a decade ago, have brought about a transformational change in their lives by becoming self-reliant and collectively empowered by 2016.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, a resident of the village and former female Union Parishad Member from reserved wards of Ramnagar union, Anufa Begum, stated that the villagers, particularly the women community, are playing a vital role in their family and community affairs. "The villagers achieved solvency through community solidarity and action groups, collective actions, engagement in income-generating activities (IGAs), mainly off-farm, and with local union parishad in particular," she said.
This transformation began in 2009 when the villagers formed 'Para Unnayan Committee (PUC)', community-based savings groups, Women's group - 'EKATA' at ward levels, and natural leaders' organization (NLO) with the support of the SETU project. CARE Bangladesh, in partnership with five NGOs, completed the implementation of the project in 2016 in 25 unions, characterized by high levels of extreme poverty, under seven upazilas of Rangpur, Nilphamari, Gaibandha, and Lalmonirhat districts.
Describing their challenging journey to success, former SETU project beneficiaries from Sarkerpara village expressed their commitment to sustaining the transformative changes that occurred in the remote rural area nine years ago. "In the very beginning, we identified our problems first and took the decision to address them collectively," said Sufia Begum, former President of the PUC of Sarkerpara village.
The villagers identified open defecation as a major cause of frequent diarrhoea, dysentery, and other waterborne diseases. They adopted a Community-Led Total Sanitation approach to eliminate open defecation, ensuring 100% sanitation for all 116 households within a month under the leadership of natural leader Anufa Begum, also a former member of Ramnagar union.
The villagers utilized SETU project's grants along with mobilizing local resources, took collective actions to diversify livelihoods, built their own organizations, and established relationships with the local union parishad. The 25-member EKATA group made the village free from child marriage, malnutrition, illiteracy, and violence against women. The able couples, pregnant women, and adolescents are now totally aware of health, hygiene, and nutrition.
The villagers formed a community-based 'Sarkerpara Women Savings Group' with 32 members, with Anufa Begum as its Secretary, to cope with the lean season. They began by saving fistfuls of rice and eventually turned these savings into cash, raising the group's capital to Taka 18,000 in 2015. The SETU project then added Taka 20,000 as a grant to the savings group, enabling it to provide loans up to Taka 8,000 to its members for IGAs.
Beneficiaries Anufa Begum, Tahuza Begum, and Sufia Begum took loans ranging from Taka 7,500 to 8,000 each, interest-free, from the group and invested in off-farm businesses, shops, and small-scale enterprises. As a result, their children are now attending school. The entire village is now free from water-borne diseases, child marriage, polygamy, malnutrition, and maternal and neonatal mortality rates have dropped to zero.
The socially and economically empowered women of Sarkerpara village remain committed to sustaining their hard-earned success on their own, even after the project period ended long ago.