A small help that changes lives

In 2011, at the age of 20, Ibrahim Ali was unemployed and confused about his future. That's when Chevron launched its Jibika (livelihood) project. The youth from Dhankandi village of Sylhet sadar upazila received training on duck rearing and borrowed Tk 10,000 from the project.

Now, seven years later, he owns a farm of 130 ducks and cultivates vegetables on 0.9 acres of land. Once a jobless youth, Ibrahim now earns enough to provide for his family and he is expanding his business.

He changed his fate through what is called the “Village Development Organisation” or VDO. Dhankandi Sabuj Sharbik Gram Unnayan Samabay Samity Ltd, one of the VDOs, gave Ibrahim the training and the loan.

Ibrahim and several other beneficiaries from Sylhet region shared their experiences with the Jibika project at a city hotel in Dhaka yesterday.

With $2.8 million Chevron fund, the project is empowering the marginalised and poor people living around Chevron-operated gas fields in four upazilas of Sylhet, Habiganj and Moulvibazar for the period of 2015-2019.

Brac, which oversees the project in partnership with Sylhet-based development organisation “IDEA”, has so far got 106 VDOs registered out of the total 112 in operation.

A VDO consists of 25-30 members. After signing up, the members can apply for loans. A seven-member executive committee then evaluates the applicant's ability and skills as a potential borrower before sanctioning the loan, mostly with an interest rate of 10 percent.

“The interest amounts we pay are deposited in our combined fund,” said Ibrahim.

Taslima Begum, president of a VDO, said, “The training I received from Jibika helped me and others learn how to operate a VDO, improve our enterprise through using new technologies and gain knowledge of the market.”

ASM Sorful Islam, programme coordinator of Brac's integrated development project, told The Daily Star, “We joined hands with Chevron in 2015. We have provided Tk 3-5 lakh to each of the 112 VDOs as seed fund. With the self-savings of VDO members, the fund has increased to Tk 8-9 lakh in the last two years, and we are not going to take back the seed fund.”

Speaking as chief guest, Md Kamal Uddin Talukder, secretary of Rural Development & Cooperatives Division, Ministry of LGRD and Cooperatives, said, “I thank Chevron and Brac for the Jibika project. In fact, it's supporting the rural development policy of the government.”

President of Chevron Bangladesh Neil Menzies thanked Jibika and government officials for their contribution to socio-economic development through the institutionalisation of VDOs.

KAM Morshed, a director of Brac, said, “The Jibika project can be replicated in other regions of the country, especially for vulnerable people of haors.”

In the last three years, about 20,000 people have been given resources to improve their lives, said Brac.