A struggle for survival

Divorced twice, for giving birth to daughters one after another, instead of a son, 30-year-old Fatema is struggling to earn her bread by running a mobile stationery shop in her locality.

Ignoring all odds, Fatema, daughter of Rajab Ali of Pashchim Darwani village in Nilphamari Sadar upazila, has set up a stationery shop on a rickshaw van and goes to different schools and villages to sell those for maintaining education expenditure of her three daughters.

“At the age of twelve, my landless father married me off with one Mizanur of nearby Satipara village,” Fatema said.

“Within five years of our marriage, when I gave birth to a second daughter, my husband divorced me for not giving birth to a son,” she said.

After the divorce, Fatema along with her two daughters returned to her parent's house and started working as a domestic help to arrange their bread.

Rajab Ali said, “Local influential people later arranged Fatema's second marriage with an elderly man, who also divorced her for giving birth to another daughter.”

In 2012, she arranged Tk 2,000 by selling a goat and some hens, started a business of stationery items and began to sell bangles, thread, chocolates and plastic items at different villages on foot.

With the small income of Tk 150 to Tk 200 a day, she admitted her two daughters in a local school.

However, three years ago, Fatema had a memorable day when local lawmaker Asaduzzaman Noor talked to her while she was roving at Pulhat village with a basket on her head.

The next day, the lawmaker provided a rickshaw van for doing her business conveniently.

“I can carry more items in my rickshaw-van and move to distant villages and earn Tk 300 to Tk 350 everyday” Fatema said.

“Depositing a portion of my income, I managed to marry off one of my daughters about six months ago,” she added.

She is, however, a little bit anxious about her future now as she feels a strong knee pain while plying the van.

“If I get financial support from any banks, individuals or other non-governmental organisations I would run a permanent shop at my home as my other two daughters are also growing up,” Fatema said.