A proactive women group leader – SOHANA

Sohana is an active member of IED organized one of the women groups in Jashore. Involving in group activities for long time she has become very active to help other group members and community people as well. She always feels about the helpless situation of women in the community. She is very sensitive to help people and stand beside them. She always moves to interact with group members and community people.

Managing her household chore, she strives to take care of information of people including group members. She maintains continuous communication with union parishad to avail services and facilities through which she builds good relationship with chairman and members of the councils. She gets informed the members the ways of applying to get services and facilities from council and extends cooperation to get them. She keeps eye on Covid-19 safety measures of the councils. She lays pioneer role so that people wear mask while going outside and wash hand regularly. She also keeps information if there is any opportunity to get food assistance from government or individual level during covid-19 period and equally distribute those to group members having get assistance. She manages to dole out the services and facilities among indigent and needy through elected representatives. She assists the group members to get grants received Tk. 2500 and 450, Eid gift from union council that includes rice, vermicelli, sugar etc. VGD, VGF as well as other services and facilities. During this pandemic situation, she discusses at group meeting to create mass awareness in the areas and distributes mask taking consent from them. Group members provide contribution/subscription to speed up her initiatives and invites chairman to distribute the mask. Chairman hails her initiatives and cooperate her. She doles out mask in the areas engaging elected representative. Not only that, to raise awareness on corona, she is inspiring community through home visit, make them realize to practice hygiene especially wear mask and hand wash. She provides cooperation to person who falls sick to get admitted to hospital for treatment. If anyone eligible for adult allowance, widow allowance and disability allowance in the area, they inform Sohana. She cooperates all as required.  Not only that, she encourages girls to receive skill training so that they become self-reliant in the areas and those who are interested are contacted by various institutions and assisted in taking up training. Therefore, she maintains communication with government women affairs department, social affairs department and other service providing agencies. Regarding social awareness works, she said that her dream was to work for the development of the people and now she is doing that and able to do. Her capacity to communicate with different people and organizations has been increased.  Now she can move freely, give opinion in the family and in the community, participate in arbitration, and work to prevent domestic violence. She is happy to be able to work for the people of the area. This is how she wants to work and she dreams that one day a society will be built where there will be no discrimination between women and men, everyone will be treated equally and poverty free society will be built.