Around a thousand impoverished women in five villages of Kishoreganj district have found a way out of poverty and towards self-reliance – the craft of embroidery.
In Daliarchar and Nodar villages of Sadar upazila and Gangatia, Lakuhati and Gabindapur villages in Hossainpur upazila, women have been dependent on sewing and embroidery work for their livelihoods for several years.
Finishing up their household chores, these women spend the remainder of their free time creating meticulous designs on different types of fabric using beads and sequins, making saris, salwar-kameezes and dupattas. Young girls who cannot continue their studies due to financial constraints join in too.
Visiting the villages, this correspondent found thousands of women working on their latest products. All of them had their own stories of how they found that a seemingly ordinary skill could turn their lives around.
Nadira Akhtar, from Lakuhati, dropped out of college because her father could not bear her educational expenses.
“We were going through financial crisis when we learned about one of our neighbours earning money by making embroidered saris,” Nadira told the Dhaka Tribune. “It took little to convince me and my mother Rahima Khatun to take up the job.”
Their first sari took four days to complete and earned them Tk500. They have not looked back since.
“If I had not taken up this work then, I would not be able to go back to college and help my family,” Nadira, who has resumed her studies, said.
There are many other girls in the village who have similar stories.
Nasima Akhtar of Nodar said businessmen from Dhaka visit their villages on a regular basis and take their finished products to sell at renowned shops and malls in the city.
“We are busy all year round, but it gets quite hectic before big festivals, such as Eid,” she added.
Haresha Khatun, from Daliarchar, said: “It usually costs me around Tk500-700 to make an embroidered sari, but the finished saris are sold at around Tk5,000-15,000 apiece in Dhaka.”
Abdus Sattar Tushar, a Kishoreganj-based social worker, said: “These women have found a great opportunity in embroidery industry to change their lives for the better. The government should provide support, such as training, in order to help this industry grow further.