CELEBRATING WOMEN ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

Women have been gathering together for centuries to demand rights they had been excluded from.  In the U.S. it began in 1848 when women demanded a right to speak out against slavery at a convention in New York.  In Europe it began in 1910 when women gathered in Demark to fight for the international right to vote.  In 1913 Russian women gathered to protest WWI and a few years later 1200 women from 13 countries gathered to continue that protest.  These gatherings continued for years until in 1977, the United Nations proclaimed March 8 as International Women’s Day.

Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in the last 20 years in improving the lives of women and girls. The US-based NGO Global Summit of Women honored Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (a woman) with the Global Women's Leadership Award in 2018 for her outstanding leadership in advancing women education and women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh, Asia and Asia-pacific region.  It is evident that steps are being taken to empower women in Bangladesh.

Yet, the poorest women in rural areas of the country struggle significantly when their husbands die or leave them.  These families represent the majority of those we serve.  We have a profound respect for these women and their desire to do whatever they can to care for their children.

Women like Sharina who lost her husband in an accident, leaving her to raise their three young children.  She had been working a few hours a day for another family in her village when he died.  Her work was not enough to sustain the family.  When our social worker visited her, she was anxious for any opportunity to create a sustainable future for her and her children.  When the social worker discovered Sharina could sew, they agreed – together – that if she had a sewing machine in her hut, she could earn a better income through sewing AND could continue to stay home and care for her children.

That was the beginning of Sharina’s uplift over a year ago.  She was given a sewing machine and some fabric, thanks to our generous donors.  Today, she can provide nutritional food for her children, as well as health care, education, and, the most important thing, stability.  She has earned the respect of her neighbors and is proud of how she was able to survive and thrive.    

We honor Sharina today – and the millions of women just like her around our world today who have found they are able to transform their family – all they needed was a little help from someone.

You can be that someone!  Any donation can be used to support our important work and transform the life of a family in Bangladesh today.  Click here to get started!  Thank you.