“Life has very interesting turns in it. The way it goes is not quite predictable” said Ms. Wazeeran from village Zemi Sharif of district Jamshoro.
Despite of large family, blissful and delighted movements we spent together in our home. My father was uneducated but very positive in his nature. One of my uncle was teacher. He was known by the importance of education and he compelled our family to let girls to get the education. Luckily, I got the opportunity to get education and did matriculation from Manzorabad in 1991.
There was liberty in my child hood, I enjoyed the free will at our home and dreamed to make it possible for all the women of our village but who knows that this would all be vanished by the time. My father died and soon after, our family decided to arrange my marriage with cousin and he was old enough than me.
Sometimes we could not control the situations in hand, “I gave honor to the family’s decision” but this was not as easy as saying because I knew that the strange and hard things are supposed to be adopted to make new life cheerful”.
Time passed by, the life went by as a housewife and now I am mother of four children. My husband is farmer and he never liked a female goes beyond the boundaries of home. Since last four years, he has gone under heart disease and it became difficult for him to make possible the bread and butter for our children. I had insisted him since long that there are lot of opportunities for a woman who had the certificate of matriculation and every time he ignored. It was extremely challenging period for us.
Couple of months ago, a female from TRDP visited our village and introduced European Union funded SUCCESS programme that 100% women community institutions’ are being fostered through this programme. Being optimistic in nature, I realised that this could led us to the betterment but at the same time it was as hard as rock to motivate my husband for participation in the programme activities.
Consistently, I realised my husband that I have confidence in myself and besides gave him the example of female staff of the TRDP that they are mobilising the communities throughout district and he finally agreed and my faith leads to this achievement that my husband gave me permission to participate in the community organisations.
Being only educated woman in my village, I was selected as Community Resource Person (CRP) by village organisation that enabled trust within myself. I am not only getting the honorarium of twenty-five hundred rupees monthly as CRP but getting known by most of the women of our union council otherwise it was hardly possible.
The factor which makes me distinguish among other women of my village was that I was somehow educated, that has given me the strength but there was no any platform available for rural women in remote areas. Now after being part of community organisation it has become familiar that women could also make change in the society. Thus, prioritising the education at first and I have planned to commence school voluntarily in my village as there is no any female teacher available in our village that parents deny to send their girls to male teachers.
I feel happier and confident than ever before that prejudiced attitude of my husband would never be faced again as now he has more faith and trust in me. Besides, I have been honored by other women of our village that they have recommended my membership in all the three tiers of community institutions (CO/VO/LSO) and on platform of these institutions – together we would be able to empower more women of our union council Unerpur of district Jamshoro.