Jamalpur woman starts her own business from scratch after husband leaves her

Jamalpur woman starts her own business from scratch after husband leaves her; employs 50 in her handicraft trade.

A defiant woman, neglected and devoid of her rights by her husband, has economically empowered herself by building a small business of handicrafts in Jamalpur's Sadar upazila.

Jannatul Mawa Sheuly, of Darihamidpur village, was married to Arif Hossain Masud of the neighbouring village Jamira in 1996. Like any other individual, she harboured hopes of a happily married life.

But her aspirations began to fade when her husband went to Kuwait in 1999 for a job, leaving Sheuly and their nine-day-old son home.

Masud soon stopped providing any sort of support to his wife and their newborn. He even stopped contacting her. Sheuly tried to find a way to reach him but she could not.

Left with no alternative, Sheuly returned to her parents' house at Darihamidpur with her child, she said.

When Masud finally returned in 2005, he avoided Sheuly and their child but she left no stone unturned to reconcile with him.

Masud then married a girl a year later and this proved to be the final straw for Sheuly.

She divorced him in 2010 and started contemplating her next steps. With a child to raise, Sheuly was determined to do something to turn her fortune around.

She joined a three month training programme on handicrafts at ANSAR VDP Training Centre in Gazipur's Shafipur. With the knowledge acquired, she began working with beads on a small scale, gradually using her parents' house to turn it into a full-scale operation in early 2011.

She named her new venture “Ma-Babar Doa”. Within two years, Sheuly employed 50 local women, mostly from low income families. Soon, she began turning in a  profit.

Currently, her venture produces as many as 50 kinds of beaded items including table mats, wall mats, fruit baskets, mobile phone bags, jewellery boxes, tissue boxes, soap cases, key rings and ladies bags, she said.

She has to purchase raw materials from the local market, including beads, thread and foam, worth Tk 1.5 lakh to make around 1,000 pieces of accessories and pays monthly Tk 1.5 lakh to her employees as wages, she said.

The items are sold to buyers from different regions, including Dhaka. Prices range between Tk 60 to Tk 1,200, depending on size and quality.

“I earn Tk 3.40 lakh to Tk 3.50 lakh from the sales and make a profit of Tk 40,000 to Tk 50,000 monthly,” she said, adding that she felt empowered now and tries to help out her community.

She said with the money she earned, she is able to run a two member family smoothly and send her only son, Al Hayat Rabbi, to school.

“Besides, the women working for me are earning Tk 3,000 monthly on an average and are also able to provide additional financial support to their families,” she added.

Khaleda, 22, who was also abandoned by her husband, said, “I am able to maintain a three member family and support my two children's education with the earning from this work.”  

Asked about her vision, Sheuly said she would turn her small business into a big one where more women, especially divorcees, widows, and wives left by their husbands and those physically challenged would get priority employment so that they can all live with dignity.

Sheuly never let her circumstances get the better of her and she is determined to not let others do that. Her courage and conviction now serve as an inspiration to all those around her.

Source: thedailystar