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With each stride and a bag full of saris, Razia dreams of a better life for her family

Razia Khatun (40 years old) sits in front of her neighbor’s door with her 3 daughters, while the laborers hired by her landlord fix her small 10” x 10” room which lies amongst thousands of similar rooms in Korali slum, Dhaka. All the women from her neighboring rooms use this narrow ally that divides two rows of small rooms as their cooking spot. While they cook rice, dal, or curries, they chat about their cuisine, children, life outside of the slum and their hopes and dreams. “Usually I come home everyday around 12pm to get some rest, cook food for my family and spend time with my children”, says Razia, shifting her 2 year old daughter on her lap.

Razia is originally from Homna sub district in Camilla District. She moved to Dhaka around 4 years ago with her family. She explained “we did not have any land. My husband used to work as a day laborer.  I used to work as a maid for rich families. We did not have work throughout the year.  It was hard to feed all these mouths with our income. We decided to move to Dhaka to look for work.” As such they moved into the small room in Korail slum. “In Dhaka my husband started to work in a garments factory. I worked as a maid.  We had enough to get by - paying rent and eating two meals. My younger daughter was born in this room”, she added, pointing to her younger daughter.

Around 2 years ago, Razia’s husband died from a heart failure while working in the garment factory, leaving her with 4 children and her elderly mother-in-law to look after. Remembering the hardship after the death of her husband Razia lamented “it became really hard for me to provide for my family. I worked day and night to feed my children. I left my young children and was gone for the whole day.  Even with all my hard work, I could feed my children only once or twice a day.  The monthly rent is about 1000 TK, one mound of fire wood is about 240 TK and a KG of rice is 22 TK.  Where is the money for food?”  Trying to hide the increasing moist in her eyes, she added “my son was about 10 years old. I had to take him out of school and put him to work in a shop. People in this slum helped us a lot but you cannot survive on handouts for too long.” 

“One day a few officers from DSK (Dushtha Shasthya Kendra) came to my home and asked me if I would like to start my own business.  I thought a lot about what kind of business I should do?” Describing the circumstances under which she started her own business, Razia added “I thought of the idea of buying saris and selling them in apartments around the city. Women in the apartments buy things if they get it at their doors.” 

"Poor women and men like me from this slum got training for four days on how to run a business and how to keep track of expenses and profit. As we all had to take leave from our work for the training, we are given a small stipend for each day of training”, she said.  “After the training, I went to the market to buy saris and other necessary things for my business. With the DSK officer and my COB members, I bought materials worth about 5000 TK.” Taking out colorful saris from her bag and spreading them on her lap, Razia explained, “Now I buy saris from wholesale markets in Gulshan and sell them to housewives in apartment buildings. I also sell them in Badda, TNT School and in this slum.  I make about 40-60 taka profit per sari.  If I am lucky I can sell 5-7 Saris a day.”  

Explaining her daily routine of selling saris, she added, “I get up in the morning and cook food for my children. After finishing eating, I get out by 8:00am. I sell saris till 12:30pm. I come home, cook and eat food with my children. I try to rest for an hour or so. I go out selling saris again in the afternoon. I am back home by 8 in the evening.” She added “now I know all the spots good for selling saris. After 2 months or so, I got another grant of TK 5000. Now I also sell petty-coats and blouses. I already sold the saris from my first lot and brought another lot worth TK 5000.”

Razia’s mother-in-law also receives a TK 600 elderly stipend. She has received it for the past 4 months and will get it for another 2 months. Pointing to her elderly mother-in-law Razia said “this is a great help to the family. Everyone from the poor families like us needs to work. She is too old to work. This money helps me to get medicine and food for her.”

Razia folds her saris with care, returns them in her bag and puts the bag in her room. She returns with a notebook where she writes down her daily earnings and expenses. “I was relieved to get this chance.  Now I have enough time to spend with my children. I can look after them properly.” Explaining her current situation, she added “I just started, but I earn much more than I used to make in a month.  I got about 3000 TK for past month alone. Now my family gets to eat 3 meals a day.”  She added “my eldest son likes to eat egg. Now I can give him an egg once in a while. I also bought a fan (TK.1000), clothes for my children and for myself.”

Razia is proud of her success. She thinks she can face any challenge which presents itself to her. “I have to plan for the future. I could not send my son to school, but I want my daughters to finish their primary education. I have to save money for the marriages of my 3 daughters. I have to leave something for my son, start a shop for him. I want to buy a piece of land in my village so I can live there in my old age.”  With a proud smile of satisfaction, she adds “I always dreamed of doing things of my own. People like us never had opportunities. This gives me a chance to make my dream true.”