Struggling woman.Laila living by selling vegetables in Sapahar
Sapahar (Naogaon) Correspondent
There is no one in the family who can earn an income. Not even the husband. There are no sons or children. Two daughters are married. Among them, one daughter has left her husband's family and returned to her mother with her two children. Now, the only hope for the family of four, including her two daughters and her daughter, is 50-year-old Laili Begum.
She grows vegetables in a small area in her backyard. The little money she gets from selling those vegetables in the market is enough to cover the food, medical treatment, and daily expenses of the four of them. Some days, all of them are sold, while some vegetables remain unsold. Still, Laili has no chance to stop. Because if she stops, the whole family will stop.
Laili Begum of Ganjakuri village in Sapahar upazila of Naogaon now faces such a difficult reality.
On Wednesday afternoon, Laili was sitting with a few kachur mochas at the raw market in Sapahar Upazila Sadar. She does not have a specific place to sell vegetables in the market. Sometimes she has to sit on the sidewalk in front of the shop, sometimes in a corner of a sidewalk shop, and sometimes next to the people walking by.
He sits in the hustle and bustle of the market, looking at his vegetables. Sometimes buyers come, sometimes he has to wait for a long time. But his eyes and face show not only the impression of poverty, but also an indomitable effort to survive for his family.
Laili Begum said, "There is no one in my family to earn an income. I grow vegetables in a small area in my yard. I sell them in the market to support my family. But even when I come to the market, I can't find a place to sit. I don't know how long I can go on like this."
He became emotional as he spoke.
Laili's suffering does not end here. She also has to bear the costs of multiple ongoing lawsuits with the forest department. On one hand, worrying about feeding her four family members, on the other hand, the costs of the lawsuits - all of this makes every day a new struggle for her.
Laili Begum added, "I have not received any assistance from the government or any private organization so far. If I had been provided with a family card, I would have been able to run the family a little better."
Locals say that providing Laili Begum with one-time financial assistance alone will not provide a permanent solution to her problems. They demand that Laili Begum be provided with a family card under the government's social security program and that initiatives be taken to make her permanently self-sufficient.
Laili Begum may not have much capital, nor does she own a shop or a large piece of land. She only has the will to work hard. The vegetables she grows on the small plot of land in her yard are her livelihood.
So Laili doesn't ask for much—a family card, a little help, and a chance to stand on her own two feet. If someone can provide that opportunity, then maybe this woman sitting in a corner of the raw market will one day become the biggest shelter for her family.
Sapahar UNO Romana Riaz said that the upazila administration will provide all possible assistance to Laili Begum after investigating her case.
