Shonaban, winner of the national award ‘Joyeeta’, is a dedicated member of the BRAC family. Being with BRAC meant more to her than anything else. As a young widow, she got involved with BRAC activities in 1976. All her relatives left her alone while she had been working with BRAC. They threatened to disown her had she not left BRAC. In spite of such a tormenting condition, she chose BRAC as a lifetime support for herself.
Shonaban studied up to class five only. In 1988, Shonaban received 11 thousand taka as loan which she paid off in 2 years. She built a small hut with hay and clay on a 16 decimal land. She also bought some chickens and silk worm from BRAC Seri-culture project, hoping to start her own farm some day.
But disaster struck her when the land she owned was flooded in 1988. Then she had to take refuge to a relative’s house for months along with her children.
All these mishaps could not stop her. She restarted her farm, once the flood was over. However this time it was much harder to maintain everything all by herself.
With this destitution, her elder son completed his graduation and started a job in Dhaka. The younger son was sent abroad in 1989. Shonaban borrowed 50 thousand taka from BRAC which she was supposed to repay within 3 years. Her son sent a good amount of remittance that helped her repay the loan in just 1 year.
Both of Shonaban’s sons returned home after 10 years of living abroad. After the reunion of the family, they thought about starting the weaving business.
The sons bought handlooms and Shonaban managed fabric production ordered by Ayesha Abed Foundation. She extended her business and bought numbers of handlooms which now has transformed into a handloom factory.
Now Shonaban owns 1 acre of land. She has a big warehouse inside her house. Many women are employed in this factory. She took control over her luck with an uphill battle and now has provided opportunities to women from low socio-economic backgrounds, to improve their living status.
She encourages people to face the challenges of life upfront.
With the support of BRAC’s CEP program she applied for the national Joyeeta award.She got awarded both locally and divisionally. Now she is the role model of Manikganj.
Shonaban has come to the end of the road to struggle. She is thankful to BRAC for the lifetime support that she has received.
