Reshma Begum (25) is a housewife. Her husband Mannon  Morol  (30) is a landless  and extreme poor day labourer.  They are living at Par-Ramnathpur village under Paikgacha  upazila of Khulna  district.  They lived in a small hut which was in a dilapidated condition.  Mannan  Morol did not have the ability to manage  three meals a day for his family let alone reconstructing  the house. Regular work was very hard to find. When Uttaran-shiree partnership SEMPTI project started working in that area in 2009. Reshma was selected as a beneficiary of the project as her family’s monthly income was less than BDT. 2.000.

She became  a member  of the primary  organization named ‘Joyjatra Bhumiheen  Nari Sangathan’ along with other seventeen  landless women  in her village  organized  by Uttaran: From the beginning, she regularly attended  the meetings  of the primary organization. As income generating assistance, she received 4 sheep worth of BDT.6,500 along with green vegetables of BDT.6.200 for small business.  She also received vegetables seed, fruit sapling for cultivation and ring slabs for a sanitary latrine from the project. Reshma started sheep rearing and Mannan became involved in green vegetables business.

From the weekly meetings of the primary organization, Reshma became aware of her rights and land entitlements.  She even attended a training session on khasland and she applied to Paikgacha land office for eniitiement of a plot of khasland for permanent settlement.  With the project’s  assistance,  she was able to successfully  complete  the process  of getting  a plot of khasland   and  she received   100  decimals    (one  acre)  of land on permanent  basis from the government.  The current valuation of her land is about BDT. 1,400,000. Reshma and Mannan started agriculture, aquaculture including shrimp cultivation and homestead gardening.  They have already started earning good profit from their production.  Within two years, four sheep multiplied eighteen sheep.  The family income is increasing day by day. Now every year they sell their produced vegetables, crop and fish at around BDT. 125.000 per year. They have repaired their house, bought a goat, made some furniture, bought one mobile set and some ornaments for Reshma.  Now they are planning to make a concrete house.

The struggling days of Reshma and Mannan have ended.  Their fight to overcome all the hurdles related to poverty is now over. The IGAs and the plot of khasland have given them the opportunity to finally move out from the vicious circle of poverty.