In a heartwarming move that brings hope to the common people of Bangladesh, Bashundhara Group, is turning ordinary stories into extraordinary journeys.
Through its social welfare organisation Shuvosangho, it is offering sewing training to underprivileged women, empowering them to earn a livelihood.
Equipped with new skills, they are now confident about their ability to escape poverty. Irin Akter Eva, a recipient of a sewing machine and eleventh grader of Jhaluka Degree College, embodies the triumph of this program.
Hailing from a poor family, Eva's dreams of pursuing higher education seemed distant. However, with the support of the Bashundhara Group, she received sewing training and was presented with a sewing machine.
Expressing her joy, Eva said, “Bashundhara Group has accomplished many noble jobs. It has extended help in materialising my dream.”
Another trainee, Runa Begum, whose husband is a day-labourer, has also found solvency in the sewing training and the gift of a sewing machine. Being a victim of child marriage, she was limited to class six education and a life preoccupied with childbearing. Now, she aspires to educate her children in a befitting manner.
“None but the Bashundhara Group has helped me much. The training coupled with sewing machine will push me to solvency and ensure the study of my children,” Runa said.
Zakaria Zaman, Director of Shuvosangho, elucidated the working process of Bashundhara-Shuvosangho, which actively identifies distressed women across the country, offering them training facilities. After the successful completion of the three-month training, recipients are given sewing machines.
“The recipients of sewing machines are optimistic about a good future. They are dreaming about educating their children. Bashundhara- Shuvosangho will always stand by the helpless women to materialise their dreams,” he said.
Under the guidance of Bashundhara Group Chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan, Bashundhara-Shuvosangho has been conducting various social welfare activities nationwide.
Among other charitable endeavours, they have distributed food among fifty thousand distressed families during the Covid-19 pandemic, provided blankets among cold-hit people in winter, and granted stipends and study materials to poor talented students, as well as housing, shops, auto-vans, and sewing machines among the unemployed.
Such initiatives from Bashundhara Group are a testament to the private sector's role in empowering the marginalised sections of the community and showcase how businesses can indeed give back to society.
The sewing training programme, in particular, provides not just a lifeline but a stepping stone to financial independence and self-reliance for countless women, opening doors to brighter and more prosperous futures.
