Report of Accomplishments

Animator Anita starts her small grocery business
Animator Anita starts her small grocery business

September 2006

Written by Nasima Akhter Joly, Ahsanul Kabir Dollar and THP-Bangladesh Team

A generation ago, Bangladesh’s heroic freedom fighters laid down their lives for our nation so that we could lead lives of self-reliance and dignity. Across the 64 districts of our beautiful country, women and men are stepping up in their leadership and are mobilizing their fellow citizens to work together to address issues of social justice, gender equality, environment, corruption, good governance and decriminalization of our politics.

This report represents the many achievements of the women and men who participated in The Hunger Project’s initiatives from April - September 2006 in the following distinctions:

Breakthroughs to Achieve Self-Reliance

Moslema conducting a Vision, Commitment and Action Workshop1000th animator training
Moslema conducting a VCAW. Right - 1000th animator training

Vision Commitment and Action Workshop (VCAW):

The Vision Commitment and Action Workshop is designed to mobilize the people of Bangladesh to take actions that directly attack and transform the sense of resignation that permeates through our society. Over the last 12 years, this strategic methodology has changed the lives of over 3 million women and men, creating in them the recognition that they are the key change agents in their society.

In 2006, THP-Bangladesh has given 586 VCAWs, taken by 34,113 individulas – 18,682 women and 15,431 men. These courageous women and men of our country have learned how to create a vision, set priorities and make plans to actualize their vision into reality with their own resources.

Animators Training (AT) :

In 2006, 13,818 women and men were trained in 130 trainings. This brings our total of animators over the last 15 years to 81,745. As we have mentioned before, The Hunger Project in Bangladesh is the largest volunteer movement in the country.

These animators have developed a deeper understanding of the methodology and principles of The Hunger Project and this has created in them a greater sense of confidence to take on innovative steps to meet their basic needs. They are also making their presence felt in their communities and empowering the villagers to take actions that will better their lives.

Animators trained 1991-2006

Year

Batch

Female

Male

Total

1991-98

1-13

302

970

1,272

1999

13

453

1204

1,657

2000

23

849

1428

2,277

2001

63

1956

2876

4,832

2002

107

3876

6302

10,178

2003

173

5015

9274

14,289

2004

159

6395

9100

15,495

2005

245

7098

10832

17,930

2006

130

6505

7313

13,818

Total=

926

32,449

49,299

81,748

· Female = 32,449

· Male = 49,299

· Total = 81,748

These large bodies of animators are leading their villages and are creating opportunities through skills training in their communities to achieve the sustainable end to hunger and poverty:

In the last 9 months, more than 100 skill trainings have been taken by 4,981 individuals – 3,334 women and 1,647 men, and 50% of the participants have successfully established their own businesses for better income generation. Some of these initiatives include sewing and tailoring shops, mushroom culture, fish farms, etc. More than 1,000 women are achieving self-reliance by specializing in local handicraft, embroidery, handlooms, mushroom cultivation, etc.

These actions have results in the following:

Skill Training Report:

Year

Skill Training

Female

Male

Total

January-September 2006

103

3,334

1647

4,981

From 1996-December,05

Not counted

11,006

8,325

19,331

TOTAL

14,340

9,972

24,312

Meetings, Discussions and Campaigns:

A total number of 2,776 meetings and campaigns were held in the last nine months to address the following issues:

These opportunities to come together as concerned citizens have brought awareness among the animators and the communities in a very powerful way. By taking part in these meetings, there is greater consciousness among the people regarding the importance of immunizing their children as well as sending both their sons and daughters to school. Furthermore, the people are not only becoming aware of but are more concerned about strengthening local governance, women’s empowerment and gender equality. They are also addressing issues like human trafficking which is plaguing our society.

These meetings and discussions have also provided a forum for women to learn about laws and rules that affect their lives. They are especially becoming aware of violence against women, and learning to take actions to protect themselves and others.

THP animator Ayesha of Suhila village, Muktagacha Upazilla, Mymensingh District, was responsible for saving the life of one of the girls in her community. While she was returning home from school one day she saw that a 5 year old from her community was being raped by some unknown miscreants. Without any delay, Ayesha along with members from her women’s organization charged forward to the spot – saved the girl and took her to the hospital. She also filed a case in the court, which resulted in two of the culprits being arrested. They are now serving a jail sentence.

In 2006, more than 72,794 individuals -- 26,714 women and 46,080 men have benefited from this strategy.

Formation of local organizations:

Animators have given special emphasis on forming local organizations to create awareness among the people regarding social responsibility. These organizations are playing a key role in mobilizing resources from the villagers and strengthening the communities through collective actions.

In 2006, 404 such local organizations were created bringing the total to 3106. Women are leading 1,172 of these organizations and have a membership of 48,585. Men led organizations – 1,934 with a membership of 57,188.

Year 2006

Number of organizations formed

Female Members

Male

Members

January-September

404

6029

5174

Up to 2005

2702

42,556

52014

48,585

57,188

These groups take on the responsibility of organizing campaigns, courtyard meetings, VCAWs and skills trainings. They also collaborate with government and non-governmental organizations to organize various national level activities like environment pollution, arsenic poisoning, etc.

Training of Volunteer Trainers (TOVT):

In 2006, we trained 51 new volunteer trainers who are leading animator’s trainings, VCAWs, and different types of meetings at the grassroots level successfully throughout the country. 13 are women and 38 are male. Since 2000 until September 2006, THP-Bangladesh has trained a total of 451 animators as volunteer trainers -- 272 male and 179 female.

Local Government and Good Governance

10-point program to strengthen local democracy:All the work of our animators is focused at the lowest level of local democracy, which is called Union Parishad (UPs). A UP is made up of a constituency of a minimum of 20,000 people. In the UPs, THP-Bangladesh has taken on the strategic, yet daunting task of demonstrating that when people are mobilized to demand a strong local democratic structure and are empowered to take self-reliant actions they are able to meet their basic needs. To date, we are working in 493 UPs. Several of these unions have successfully reached their goals of achieving 100% immunization, 100% sanitation, 100% literacy and 100% dowry-free marriages.

The grids at the end of the report will give you a sense of the empowerment the women and men in rural Bangladesh have received to take actions that have created a better life for them and their families.

Shujan:

“The political parties should pledge that they will hold discussions in and outside parliament for creating a national consensus that the caretaker government system should be dissolved after the next elections… A caretaker government should not be a permanent system. It has been created due to the mistrust of the people for the political parties, but it is not a good practice for democracy” Dr. Badiul Alam Majumdar

“Shushaneer Jannaya Nagarik” also known as SHUJAN means ‘Citizens for Good Governance.’ SHUJAN represents a non-political citizens’ forum committed to good governance, by addressing political reform, transparency in governance and true democracy. In recent months, this forum has brought together thousands of women and men to form human chains in 1,440 locations in 92 UPs in 62 districts. These human chains called “Manab Bandhan” addressed the issues of Fair Parliament Election, Pre-election gathering, Press briefing for fair election, Election Olympiads, Electoral debate, and checking the validity of voter lists in 17 places.

SHUJAN’s activities have produced the following results:

Latest report on the Manab Bandhan held on October 7th:

"No Violence, Effective Dialogue & Reforms"- with this demand Shujan- Shushasaneer Jannaya Nagarik organized a Human Chain Programme all over the country on 7th October, 2006 from 10:30 am to 11 am. The main Human Chain was organized in Central Dhaka in front of the Parliament House. More than 1,000 people from 30 Organizations (NGO and other social work agencies) participated with their members. Similar human chains were also organized at 60 District headquarters and in several Unions.

The main slogan was “We do not want violence. We want effective, fruitful dialogue, and the realization of the demands of the people for free, fair and neutral elections.” The demand was made for all reforms in the Care-taker Government, Election Commission and the Political parties.

Professor Mojaffar Ahmed, Chairman of Shujan, led the human chain which included members of the media – both print and television. Speakers included Justice Mohammed Abdur Rouf, former Chief Election Commissioner, Mr S.M. Shahjahan, former secretary and adviser of the Caretaker Government, Dr. Badiul Alam Majumder, Secretary of Shujan and the Country Director of The Hunger Project-Bangladesh.

Professor Mojaffar Ahmed stressed the importance of a strong democracy, encouraged the people to continue to keep the hard-fought democracy Bangladesh has achieved intact. He reminded us that this was achieved at the cost of much blood and struggle by our freedom fighters. It was demanded that the dialogue which has been started between the secretaries of the Bangladesh National Party and Awami League be effective and produce the results for a better future for Bangladesh. He warned that failure of the dialogue would push the country towards chaos and confusion which nobody wants.

All the speakers reminded the participants and the political leaders that they needed to show utmost wisdom to reach a consensus and save the country from imminent political confusion.

Self Governing Union Parishad Advocacy Group:

Shujan workshop Shujan workshop

This group has been formed with the active involvement of UP chairpersons and elected representatives with the specific aim to create a strong movement to strengthen the local government.

A federation was created in partnership with three organizations: Bangladesh Union Parishad Forum, Bangladesh Union Parishad Sadassa Sanshtha, and Self–Governing Parishad Advocacy Group—Bangladesh. This coalition is known as “Union Parishad Okkay Jote” (All Union Parishads Stand Together). In 2006, this federation has taken the following actions:

Human chain for fair elections

These actions brought about awareness among the UP chairs and members about their accountabilities and rights, and empowered them to raise their voice against issues that affected their communities and their leadership. They became united and stood together in their fight to strengthen local government.

Women’s Empowerment:

The Hunger Project in Bangladesh continues to address the severe subjugation, marginalization and disempowerment of women in our country. As you can see, all of our programs are organized to empower women’s leadership to the fullest.

Women are the most disadvantaged and deprived in our society, and in order for Bangladesh to prosper and achieve its fullest potential, women’s empowerment and leadership are absolutely essential to our programmatic success. Leadership is being developed among grassroots women in the entire country through special women’s leadership training. This training program has been successful in giving women confidence and has united them to slowly become a movement to be reckoned with in addressing issues of discrimination against women.

Chandrika Banerjee sharing her life story with investors in Sweden

Chandrika Banerjee sharing her life story with investors in Sweden

Women leaders are directly and indirectly working to organize other village women by organizing campaigns, meetings, discussion groups, workshops and self-help groups. At the same time they are initiating human development activities through different types of movement programs to transform the rural women in whole entire society.

A group of 258 trained women leaders have successfully organized the local people to form local institutions to address issues of social injustice which include issues such as early marriage due to poverty, marriage with dowry, rape, acid throwing and many other issues related to women discrimination. In the UPs of Karimganj, Kolmakanda, Muktagacha, Baliadanga, Pangsa, and Kachua, women animators have formed groups to protest against traditional dowry system and human trafficking. These groups have successfully stopped six dowry marriages and three early marriages. At Satkhira, a local organization led by our animator, Mrs. Mariam Akhter, rescued one girl child from trafficking.

2006 National Girl Child Day Celebrations

Art contest

National Girl Child Day on 30th September, 2006 was celebrated with a lot of enthusiasm and festivity throughout Bangladesh. For the first time since its inception, the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs hosted several programs to highlight the importance of girl children. Our latest information suggests that more than 800 locations in the country held rallies, essay and art competitions, debates, tree planting ceremonies, discussions, parents meetings, and media events. All of these events were organized by our over 80,000 animators and the villagers across 64 districts. We also designed special publications and posters to honor this momentous occasion.

In addition, The National Girls Child Advocacy Forum along with its NGO partners observed the Day at over 500 places with due importance and festivity.

The biggest of these events was the rally held in Dhaka City organized by the National Girl Child Day Advocacy Forum. A discussion meeting and cultural program preceded this rally. “Education is Light. Education is Prosperity. Ensure My Right of Education.” was the rallying cry of this year’s NGCD. The rally which included girls and boys from many educational institutions and representatives of various NGOs, was inaugurated by the eminent Bangladeshi novelist Selina Hossain. We began our journey from Shishu Academy at 9.00 AM, and after traversing different important areas of Dhaka City, ended it at the National Museum.

The discussion meeting was held at the Shisu Academy auditorium. The Honorable State minister Begum Selima Rahman from the Ministry of Cultural Affairs was the chief guest, and the meeting was presided over by the convener of the Shisu Academy, Professor Jubaida Gulshan Ara. Participants in the discussion included Dr. Badiul Alam Majumdar, Dr. Halima Khatun, Professor Latifa Akond, M. M. Neazuddin, Director of Shishu Academy and Md. Kamaluddin Ahmed, Secretary, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs. Over 2000 people from different sections of the society and more than 60 NGO representatives took part in the rally and the discussion meeting.

In her formal address, Selima Rahman said, “Women are deprived from education, health, nutrition, income etc. from the very beginning of their life. They are also deprived of their basic rights as a human being. They must overcome this situation and all discriminations against the girl child should be removed. The objective of celebrating NGCD is to create public awareness about the rights of the girl child and our responsibilities towards them. I think it will inspire the government to work for the girl child with a view to ensuring a better future for them.”

All other speakers also assured the gathering to personally take actions that would raise the standard of life for women in their communities.

In addition, we hosted a national essay competition, earlier in September, in which more than 800 participants – both girls and boys wrote on the importance of the issue. Also, an art competition was held on 29 September at the Shilpokola Academy, and 400 girls and boys presented their creative drawings and paintings to be judged by renowned artist Hashem Khan. The topics of the art contest were: for children 6-10 years “My School”, and children 11-14 “The dreams of Bangladesh.”

A debate competition organized jointly by The National Girl Child Advocacy Forum, Debate for Democracy and Christian Commission for Development in Bangladesh was also held. The debate topic was "Is HIV-AIDS only a health problem." Dr. Wakil Ahmed, Vice Chancellor of National University was chief guest and the event was chaired by Dr. Badiul Alam Majumdar. There was a prize distribution ceremony which was attended by 300 students and parents.

Conclusion:

The Hunger Project activities have now drawn the attention of millions of people in Bangladesh. People even in the remotest villages raise their voice against all kinds of injustice which stand in the way of a better life. Our animators are now a strong force recognized by all – especially the government both at the national and local levels and this has helped curb terrorist activities in many areas.

The Hunger Project has provided a forum for the women at the grassroots level to speak up and be counted as effective citizens. Through the observance of the National Girl Child Day we have been able to break the age-old tradition of discrimination against girl children, and create a movement which will lead to the realization of equal rights for everyone.

We take this opportunity to thank all the investors in The Hunger Project who stand in partnership with us so that we, the people of Bangladesh can achieve the vision that our fore-fathers fought for – a country where every man, woman and child can lead a life of dignity and self-reliance. Thank you

Chandrika Banerji – a courageous survivor

Chandrika Bannerjee is a courageous woman animator from Bangladesh who has successfully trained herself through the Animator Training Program to be an effective leader in her community. She is from Shyamnagar Upazilla (a Sub-District), in Satkhira District, which falls within the greater Sundarbans, the largest natural mangroves of the world. Shyamnagar is an area which is regularly hit by tidal waves; hence life is disrupted often.

The 400,000 strong population of Shamnagar is made up of marginal farmers and poor fishermen. They mostly live on paddy cultivation and shrimp culture. Of this population, 50% are women and they are the poorest class of the society. The rate of literacy is poor and the situation of sanitation is even worse. If there is a good crop, the people can live well for a few months, and when there is any disaster they starve and are at death’s door.

Chandrika comes from a Brahmin family, and a culture that still believes in the caste system. She dislikes this fact, and found herself in a situation where she defied her family and society to marry a man who came from a lower caste. This unequal marriage created a lot of problems for Chandrika. She was disowned by her parents, and her husband’s relatives also treated her badly. Since she came from a slightly well-to-do family, her husband’s family pressed her to bring money from her parents. Since, she was not welcome in her parent’s home, she could not tell them of her plight. She was mentally tortured everyday, and she had no place to go.

Her husband was an employee of the BRAC, the largest NGO of the country. When he was in service they had less financial hardship. Her husband did not openly force her to get money from her parents, but he did not oppose when his relations did it. A few years later, her husband lost his job. This further drowned Chandrika in problems. The situation became so tense that the marriage was going to break. Just then, Chandrika discovered that she was to become a mother. She now knew that she needed to survive for her child. She first started giving private tuitions at her house and used to teach seven-eight school-going boys and girls. She was able to earn 700-800 takas (US $7-10) per month. That was not close to being enough for the family to survive.

Before she was married, Chandrika was a student in the local college. She was very much loved by her teachers and friends in the college, and was a wonderful singer. One day she shared her problems with one of her teachers. This teacher brought her to an animator’s training. Her eyes opened. She realized that she has the capability to do anything. She participated in yet another training at the Upazilla with other women entrepreneurs. After that training, she organized the women of the area and formed a Mohila Samiti (women’s group). Since the only income generating opportunity was shrimp culture, the women of this area were hard hit for money. She organized them and trained them in sewing and embroidery.

Her endeavour was appreciated and the number of women trainees increased. She then rented a house for a sewing training centre. She thought if the village women can be trained well, they could earn their own living and become self-reliant. She organized the women of Atulia, Ramjan Nagar, Baliadanga, Kaliganj, Satkhira and Monirampur, and had them take the animators training.

In addition to sewing and embroidery, Chandrika expanded the training programs to include poultry farming, fish farming, plant nurseries and kitchen gardening. She focused her energies on empowering women and girl children. She organized several women’s training programs and workshops on the rights of women and girls. Her effort was greatly appreciated and she received several awards from various organizations. Her group called Nokshi Katha is a well known national organization. Chandrika attributes her success to The Hunger Project, especially the empowerment she received from its Country Director Dr. Badiul Majumdar.

Chandrika succeeded not only in elevating her status in the community and society, but she has shown other women the path to success. She had shown poor rural women the ways for women to not only survive, but to earn a substantial income using their potential. Over 100 women work at Nokshi Katha, and are earning decent wages.

Kulsum Akonji - a self-confident woman from Birishiri

The Akonja family lives beside the Birishiri cultural academy, and is a traditional indigenous family of Netrokona District. Kulsum Akonji is a daughter of this family. Once upon a time, Kulsum’s father Manjibur Rahman Akonji was the owner of a big ship. Though she grew up in wealth and glory, today Kulsum and her family live a life of poverty. Kulsum has two sisters and a brother. The family manages to send all of them to school. Kulsum is studying to get her Bachelor of Arts degree.

Her life consisted of going to college and then staying at home. She felt that she could use her time to support her family financially. She wanted to help her father in the household responsibilities. Every time she broached the topic of working, she found herself confronted by the traditional thinking that women are not to work. She realized that she could not continue to live this constricted life. She was moved by a dream that she has to do something. She needed to take care of her own life.

In the year 2000, there was an animator’s training being held at the Birishiri cultural academy. Kulsum heard that a volunteer organization called ‘The Hunger Project’ was organizing it to motivate, inspire and organize people of her community. She decided to attend. In taking that step, she got her courage and strength back. She felt a profound inspiration from within her. She stopped looking back at the slippery path of disempowerment and moved forward to a new life.

Kulsum took hold of her life in both hands. She had keen interest in modern sophisticated fashion. Her hobby was to make women’s clothes. She wanted to start a business, but she was not sure how to start. Using her intelligence, she contacted her relatives in Dhaka, and went there to gather different designs from various stores. She went back to her village, bought fabric from the local market, taking a loan of Tk1,000 (US $ 15) from her father. She embroidered the fabric and made a few dresses. Despite some hurdles, Kulsum did not lose her confidence, and managed to contact two show rooms in Dhaka, who liked her work and started taking orders. She began making shirts, t-shirts, sarees, bed sheets, curtains, etc. She also made hand bags and toys, and slowly increased her income to Takas 3,000 (US $45).

Besides this she makes toys and flower vases with small and big wax. She makes hand bags for girls. She sells those in the market and earns Tk3,000 (US $ 45) every month. Now, in addition to having her own money to spend, Kulsum was able to realize her dream of helping her father with household expenses.

Kulsum did not limit her multifaceted talent within herself. She involved her college-going younger sister, and created a small business which she calls ‘Akonji small business’. At present her capital is Tk20,000 (US $ 300).

Observing Kulsum’s initiative, her friends -- Lavli, Mouna, Mankhin, Josna, Rabeya, Punam, Chichim also started working. Kulsum is helping them by providing training through different organizations. She herself is a trainer. She wants to create a social movement which will have women be independent. She continues to motivate the villagers with the help of other animators.

Today, Kulsum is the pride of not only her family but her entire community.