Biswajit Mondal from Shyamnagar, Satkhira

Serving is religion. Throughout the ages, many people have named themselves in the history of the past by devoting themselves to the service of creation. They become immortal in the quality of our work. Inspired by their graceful life, many people have been encouraged to lead life. They have been associated with the development of the society from their respective fields accepted the service as religions. Stand and organized the community people against the society’s corrupt issues. With the time rural marginalized women also take leadership and contributed to the trend of social development. Delowara Begum (45) president of Badaghata ICM Agriculture Club is likewise a woman.

Delowara lives in Badghat village of Shyamnagar upazila of Satkhira district. She has a happy family with husband, children, grandson, and granddaughter. She employs herself by using her inherited family knowledge of serving people. From childhood, she was very brave and very close to her grandmother. Being brave and close to grandmother, Grandma teaches her granddaughter Delowara to serve humanity by using her own knowledge and experience. Her grandmother used to serve the people of her village as a midwife. She teaches Deloawar the teaching of midwife services as the successor. She used to enjoy doing this with her grandmother. Delowara Begum said that she has been involved in this midwifery work for almost 26 years. From this work experience, once she got a job as a nurse’s assistant at Shyamnagar sadar Hospital. Delawara was then married and mother of a daughter.

She joined BRAC’s Palli Somaj and become the leader of that group. Palli Somaj has organized courtyard meetings to make awareness of rural women in the issues of health, nutrition services, and rural women rights. Delowara Begum started working for rural women with the help of BRAC. Through this work, she was appointed as a volunteer of BRAC. She has received suggestions and training on health, nutrition, and rights from BRAC. These training and counsels make her more skilled and help to make her work even more dynamic. She is known as a social worker who works on the health, nutrition, pregnant women’s midwifery, tuberculosis patients, child nutrition, for the people of her village and surrounding villages.

Delowara Begum has been working in the 26-year long midwifery service till June 2017 and been providing midwifery services for nearly 2600 families. She gives health advice to pregnant mothers. She usually provides midwifery services around 4 to 16 families in a month. Along with midwifery, she has been serving TB patients for 7 years. So far 55 TB patients’ have been provided service and advice from her.  To know her feelings about her performing tasks, she said, “I am happy to do this. Through this work, I have found love, respect, honor, and trust of many people. As well as have many contacts in the village and society. The patient has great assurance on me at the same time. Besides, when I go to the hospital with a patient, the nurses also rely on me by their responsibilities.”

When asked regarding the kind of support she received from the family?  Delowara Begum replied, “I get all kind of help from my family. Never being interrupted by any of my work. Rather, I was encouraged by the family to do this work.” she also said, “I do this work without expecting anything. I want to spread my work from myself to others like my grandmother. “

Through this work, she came in close touch of BARCIK, Uttaran, BRAC, Jagrani Chakra, Upazila Women Affairs Department, National Institute of NGO, and other public and private organizations. As a reward for her work, she has recently won the Best Joyita Award at Union, Upazila and District level. She has been awarded as best volunteer of the union from BRAC as well. Every day she is being praised for her work from many public and private organizations. Apart from this, she has been elected as female UP member of Ward no 123 of Shyamnagar sadar union in the last union council elections held on March 22, 2016. This new role increased her social responsibility many times. Meanwhile, she listed her work and published in a signboard hang on union parishad so that people could know what sorts of services are available.

Delowara Begum’s lifelong dream is to help helpless and oppressed people to stay with them and make them aware of the rights of rural people. Delowara Begum said, “If I receive any training for working with public and private organizations in order to keep my work more dynamic and in the service of the people, my work will expand further and I will be able to serve more people.” In that case, she requests BARCIK to make such opportunities for her. Having a chance to expand her work by recognizing the local women’s knowledge and experience, she can play a leading role in rural women’s freedom and health awareness.

Translated by Bahauddin Bahar