Working with WaterAid as part of our Bangladesh project, we’re supporting 80 women to run and manage their own water treatment plants. In Bangladesh, social norms mean that women and girls are often tasked with collecting water for their families. In many areas, this water is dirty, and it can take hours to collect. This leaves women and girls with little time to pursue education and employment opportunities.
The Women of Tengrakhali, Southwest Bangladesh
Tengrakhali is a small village in southwest Bangladesh. It’s around 300km from the capital city Dhaka.
Having limited options to earn a living, most people in the village live moderately and often close to poverty. Despite Bangladesh’s abundance of water, clean sources are very limited here; underground water is contaminated with arsenic and surface water has high salinity levels. To get drinking water, people depend on different sources in different seasons, and these are increasingly being impacted by our changing climate. During the rainy season the village uses a reservoir tank which provides water for about four or five months.
In hot weather, which is becoming more common with climate change, people have to buy water from reverse osmosis machines operated by businesses at high prices. Reverse osmosis is a simple and effective way to generate clean water, but the high prices charged mean that buying water from these is out of reach for many. Those who cannot afford the water from reverse osmosis machines have to drink directly from local ponds, which are often unsafe.
As part of our project with WaterAid, ten women from Tengrakhali village in Assasuni Upazilla, took on the challenge of managing a water treatment plant, making a business from selling water produced from a reverse osmosis machine. This was not an easy task, especially coming forward in a society that sees women’s roles as inside the home. Through this project, these women are becoming skilled entrepreneurs.
Gita Roy: Hero entrepreneur
One such entrepreneur is Gita Roy. Gita is determined that her children are able to continue their education once they finish school, and can look forward to a future of good opportunities. But education is expensive, and previously the family relied only on her husband’s low salary.
With her children’s future at the forefront of her mind, Gita began looking for opportunities to help earn extra income to support the family. She joined a women’s group that was taking part in our project with WaterAid.
Since becoming involved in the reverse osmosis business, Gita has become an entrepreneur in her own right. Not only is she coming financially independent and supporting her children’s futures, she is also a role model for other women and girls in her community.