Care in the village

Shefaili Akter lives on one of the large sand banks in the Brahmaputra River with her husband (a day labourer) and four children (2 boys and 2 girls). Their lives are very insecure as they never know when the river will take away the sand bank, but there is nowhere else for them to live. Shefaili and her husband regularly quarrelled as there was not enough income each day to provide all the food the family needed. Sometimes her mother-in-law would also tell her what needed to be done and this did not make the situation any better.
The local community asked Symbiosis to work amongst these people, who live in an area where there is almost no infrastructure. When talking to a Symbiosis worker, Shefaili found out that there was a ladies group being formed in her area, to teach group members how to read and write and, eventually, to form a small savings co-operative.
Shefaili accepted the invitation to join and completed the three books of the Functional Education course. Meanwhile the group had formed their small savings co-operative with each member contributing to the group savings account the Australian equivalent of 13 cents a week. Soon the group had enough funds to provide loans to some of the members. Shefaili took a small loan and she and her husband started a market garden and grew some vegetables. The surplus from the sale of the vegetables was more than her husband could earn in a month.
They then decided to buy a cow and soon realized that by selling the cow’s milk their family income had more than doubled. They are now able to not only feed the family but also to send their children to school. The bonus for Shefaili is that her mother-in-law now leaves the family alone.
Symbiosis International is presently working in more than 15 different communities providing these programs. No monetary aid is given – only education, empowerment and opportunities. The people themselves do the rest, resulting in broadening of family incomes, and great improvements in family living conditions.

Unskilled & Ignored by Society

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Empowering the poor of Bangladesh
Symbiosis Bangladesh was established in 1995 and is now serving the nation’s poor and disempowered people through 23 separate projects in 9 districts of the country.
The programs offered include Integrated Rural Development Projects, Arsenic Mitigation, Eye Camps, Dental Camps, Eye Disease Prevention, Technical Skill Training, Social Justice and Gender Equality and Marginalized Community Empowerment.
Through the rural integrated programs it has become apparent that basic services and training need to be delivered where the people live. These projects offer increased awareness of their situation and ways that each family and the group as a whole can begin the process of improving their health and well being.

Relevant Training for the Rural Poor : Integrated Rural Projects