In 1995, Selina sold her ear ring for Tk 17,000
and began her life’s struggle. At that time, she bought 100 chickens and built
a poultry farm in a small room. After 23 years, that Noyon Selina owns several
crores taka. Her annual income is above six lakh taka.
Selina’s philosophy about her transformation
from a helpless woman to a millionaire is pretty clear. As the proverb goes,
“If there is a will, there is a way.” It is this will power that has turned
Selina into a successful entrepreneur.
In 1991, Noyon Selina got married soon after
appearing in her SSC examination. Within three years of her marriage, she gave
birth to two baby boys- Shakil Shawon and Sajid Mawon. In 1995, her husband
left for abroad. She could not find any information about her husband since her
husband boarded onto the plane. At that time, her younger son Mawon was
six-month old. She had a pair of gold ear ring as resource. She sold that ear
ring and got Tk 17,000. With that amount, she rented a two-room tin shed house
for Tk 1,400 at Garir Math area in Jhawtala of Cox’s Bazar city. In one room,
she built a poultry farm of 100 chickens. She started getting profit within few
months. She took Tk 45,000 as loan from Karmasangsthan Bank in order to
increase the range of her business. She had to go through many difficulties to
get this loan. Her income started increasing slowly.
After seven years, she bought 16 Satak land at
South Kolatoli area of the city for a few lakhs taka from her income. There she
built a house. In that house, she built ‘Shawon Poultry Farm’ in the name of
her elder son.
Recently the reporter visited her farm on one
afternoon and saw Noyon Selina herself collecting chicken eggs in the farm. The
local traders gathered there to buy eggs. On one side of the farm, there is a
shed for chicken, while a livestock shed is located on the other side. There is
a shed-house for pigeon atop. With utmost compassion, she is taking care of
live stocks. Every day she gets 240 liters of milk and 3000-3500 chicken lay
eggs.
Noyona Selim told the Prothom Alo that she has
bought three Kani (120 Satak) land on the bypass road of Kolatoli and 54 Satak
land adjacent to Tulabagan cantonment with the profit she had made from her
farm. She has also built a poultry farm on a separate land at Tulabagan. She
has seven thousand chickens in that farm. She also has another large poultry
farm at Samity Para of the city. There also she has eight thousand chickens.
She has a dry fish shop at Boro Bazar of the city and a mobile phone shop at
Coral Reef Plaza of Bazarghata. Her youngest son, Sajid Mawon, looks after
these two shops. He is studying Civil Engineering in Cox’s Bazar Polytechnic
Institute. Elder son, Shakil Shawon, is studying BSC Engineering in a private
university in Dhaka.”
Noyon Selina also has partnership in a private
hospital of the city. Altogether she now owns assets worth crores in taka. Of
these, she has around forty-five lakh taka loans taken from several banks. With
the money from her income, Noyon Selina is implementing various programs for
the welfare of poor women, including managing an orphanage.
Noyon Selina, expressing the will power against
the success, told the Prothom Alo, “I did not lose self-control in the face of
poverty following my husband’s disappearance. I took a decision that I would
never ever be subjected to someone’s pity. What may come, I will not go
backwards. Having been trained by people from different organizations including
Department of Youth Development, I started working.”
She did not get this success and fame so easily.
She had to endure many problems silently, including long struggle, deprivation,
poking of the neighbors etc. Overcoming everything with her enthusiasm of not
accepting defeat and intellect, Noyon Selina is now an ‘icon’ to both men and
women.
Noyon Selina said, “I have come to this position
with the will power. I do not have shortage of anything. My two sons are
studying.”
As a successful woman entrepreneur, Noyon Selina
has received many accolades by government and non-government and foreign
organizations, including Bangladesh Bank, (Grassroots Women Entrepreneur
Society) Grassroots, Department of Livestock, Women Chamber of Commerce and
Industries (BWCCI) etc.
In 2015, five women entrepreneurs were selected
and given honors in Banking Fair and Bangladesh Bank gave each of them Tk 25
lakh to invest in their businesses.
On September 8 of this year, Tofail Ahmed, the Minister of Commerce, handed over the honorary memorandum to her as a successful woman entrepreneur in the capital’s MIDAS auditorium.
Noyon Selina did not do this long struggle just
for herself. Last January, with her own money, she established an orphanage at
South Kolatoli. Fifty orphan children are studying there. She has taken the
responsibility of all the expenses including orphans’ food, teachers’ salary
etc. She has also taken various steps at different times to take the neglected
women of the society forward. Now, she has employed 50 women in her farms and
is giving practical training to around hundred women. But due to financial
shortage, the trained women cannot move forward. So far, she got 50 orphan and
helpless girls married with her own money.
Local Kolatoli (12 number word) Municipal
councilor, Kazi Morshed Ahmed, said, Noyon Selina is a fighter who has come to
this position with hard struggle. If there is will, there is a way- Noyon
Selina is the bright example of this. Seeing her, many women are coming to this
profession.
Cox’s Bazar Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(CCCI) president Abu Morshed Chowdhury said, “Noyon Selina is a member of this
chamber and a successful woman entrepreneur. Many women like her cannot come
forward because of one problem. That is- not getting SME (Small and
medium-sized enterprises) loan, though there is an instruction to give women
entrepreneurs SME loan without any security.”
Noyon Selina also made the same complain. Her
explanation is that money is the main obstacle for a woman, who belongs to a
poor family or has been abandoned by her husband, to start any self-reliant
work. In this case, many banks harass women. Loan is not given without
mortgage. If she had the ability to give mortgage, then that woman would not
have gone to bank for loan. In this case, each bank should be given the
direction to give loans without mortgage.
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