Makeshift market shines light on char people in Lalmonirhat
A makeshift market brings new opportunities to the people of the Teesta River basin Island char at Char Kalikapur village of Votmari union at Kaliganj upazila in Lalmonirhat. The market plays a significant role in making the lives of thousands of char people at Char Kalikapur, Char Sholmari, Char Votmari, Kalikapur Deep Char and Char Shalhati Nohali easier, as they get all their daily commodities at the market. However, a few years ago they had to travel six kilometers to the mainland through sandy terrain in order to visit the market.
The makeshift market was set up thanks to an NGO called Own Village Advancement (OVA)'s initiative titled “Nodi O Jibon”. The project was jointly funded by CONCERNED Worldwide, Irish Aid and JOBS two years ago, since then, the people of the Island char have been using the market, which now houses around 45 different shops where the char people can have their daily needs fulfilled.
Char farmer Nazer Ali of Char Sholmari village said, “I are greatly benefitting from the market, as it plays an important role in decreasing our pain for walking six kilometers on sandy land.” “We get everything from this market at the same price as the mainland market. Now the char people gather together in the market, and talk about the hardships we once suffered,” he said.
Rasheda Begum, a small shopkeeper at the market said, “We sell daily commodities to char people at the same rate of the mainland market. We don't pay any tolls for trading here, we just donate some money for the char village's education sector,” she said.“Now we can strengthen our ties with our relatives if they ever visit since we get everything we need to accommodate them from the makeshift market, we couldn't do this before as we had to travel a long distance to the mainland,” said char farmer Tamiz Uddin at Char Kalikapur village.
Local Union Parishad member Mobarak Ali said, the makeshift market on the Island char village plays an important role in bettering the lives of the people. “Char people also get health and education advice from the NGO OVA at the market. This has turned the market into a meeting, gathering place for the char people.
The Project Manager (PM) of NGO OVA's Nodi O Jibon project, Ohidul Islam said, they set up the market after witnessing the pain the Island char people had to go through. “We always monitor the market, and are upgrading it day by day,” he added.
The PM of NGO OVA's Char Health and Education Project, Ahasanul Kanir Bulu said, they conduct special advocacy on health and education to the char people and their family members since they all gather at the market. “After our regular monitoring and advocacy, the char and Island char people are more aware about their health and education and are highly interested in educating their children,” he said.
The Executive Director of NGO OVA Suzit Kumar Ghosh said his organization is working for the char people, and since then the living standards of char and Island char people has been changing on a day to day basis.
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