The beginning of the story is of taka 450

The original news titled “গল্পের শুরুটা ৪৫০ টাকার” was published on April 22, 2015 in the daily Prothom Alo in Bengali language. When I read the news and came to know the life struggle of a woman named Hasna Begum, I became very inspired and immediately decided to translate it into English. Here, in this post, I am sharing the translated one with all of you. I expect that seeing her success, many poverty-stricken women in our society will be motivated to do something good on their own. Link of the original news has been given at the end of the post. If you feel like reading the original one then you can clink on the link.

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Hasna Begum has her own factory where almost 200 women have become self-reliant working there. Hasna Begum has also trained them. But there was a time when she used to work in other’s factory for taka 450 as salary per month.

What factory does Hasna Begum have? She said, “Mainly I have garments factory. Three-piece, Panjabee, silk-woven saree etc. are made here. I also do handicraft on saree and make cushion cover and different types of show piece made by cloth.” She takes products from her factory named MPK Fabrics to fairs organized at home and abroad. Alongside, she has built a factory for making poultry food.

Hasna Begum’s house is in BSCIC area of Rajshahi city. Her husband’s name is Rezaul Ahsan. They have four children. Eldest son has become graduate. Two daughters are studying in polytechnic institute while the youngest son studies in class six. Hasna Begum studied till class ten. She got married in 1985. Before marriage, she used to work at other’s factory in BSCIC area for a monthly wage of taka 450. Joining her husband’s family after marriage, she started dreaming of building a factory using her past working experience.

Hasna Begum revealed, she took training from the Department of Women Affairs in 1990. “With the help of my husband, I started the business with 60,000 taka. At first, there were four hand-loom machines. I took part in a local trade fair and noticed that there was demand for our products. Afterwards, my interest got increased”, said Hasna Begum.

Her husband had a small land in Rajshahi city. They did not have the ability to utilize this land. Having gathered some courage, Hasna sold the land and bought four engine-run loom machines. Since then, the scope of her business began expanding.

In 2006, Hasna Begum through the Women Chamber of Commerce and Industries took part in a trade fair organized in Kolkata. But, she did not get response as expected. Yet, Hasna was not disappointed. She registered an association named ARC in Export Promotion Bureau after coming back to the country. Since then, Hasna began to take part in different fairs organized abroad every year. She already participated in trade fairs organized in Nepal, and in several states of India including Kolkata, Assam and Gauhati.

Hasna Begum has no time to take rest. She herself has opened a training institute. She provides training to poor women. Every year, 130 women take training in handcraft from this training center. She provides these trained women yarn and fabric. They do work from home on sarees and cushion covers and make different types of show pieces before delivering them to Hasna Begum. Now, 15 women are working in her factory as employee. Besides, 40 women work for her staying at home. According to her estimate, at least 200 women have become self-reliant.

In 2014, Hasna Begom received government’s ‘Joyeeta’ award in Rajshahi division level.

Source:

Prothom Alo