By Asadullah Mirbahar
“Going out of village for days to attend any meeting or training without the male members, and spending the whole day at unfamiliar place is discouraged and considered bad in my village. This is also unacceptable for my family.”
The above statement was made by Shazia, who is the Manager of CO Majnoo Keerano, located in Union Council Ali Akber Shah of Taluka Mirpur Bathoro, District Sujawal. The Majnoo Keerano Village consist of 94 Households, with the adult females observing strict religious and cultural norms. The village’s livelihood largely depends on livestock herding and small scale agriculture farming.
Majnoo Keerano village is the poorest in the union council according to statistics gathered by National Rural Support Programme (NRSP), as part of a poverty score-card survey required under the European Union funded SUCCESS Programme. Majority of the village’s residents are unskilled labourers.
Shazia’s family got 6 points based on the poverty ranking survey, meaning they are among the poorest of the poor.
Shazia’s life has transformed after joining the Community Organisation
“I remember the day when some ladies visited our village and gathered information from each and every household. The team told us that this survey will be used for the planning for the betterment of lives in the village. We were not convinced initially. We did not think the organisation will help us improve our lives”, says Shazia.
“Then one day all the village women came together for a meeting with the NRSP’s staff. They told us about the work they were going to start, especially with female members of the households. They urged us to form Community Organizations (CO). That was the day I made up my mind to work for village”, Shazia adds.
The NRSP team supported the fostering of the CO. The members elected Shazia as the CO’s first Manager. Shazia was very enthusiastic and willing to work for the village as CO Manager but her family was reluctant to let her do the work.
“One day female members of the CO came to my house. They had a long discussion with my family members and were able to convince them to allow me to work as the CO’s Manager. They women said that they trusted me. My family agreed and that was the day I felt really valued and trusted”.
Later, Shazia attended Community Management Skills Training organized by NRSP.
According to Shazia, “We had in our first CO meeting decided to start cleaning the village at some point of time. One Friday morning, we decided to clean the village after the CO’s meeting.”
“After the meeting, all of us go up and started cleaning the village. Initially the CO’s members took part in the cleaning process. But, with the passage of time, other women, men and even children joined us. The CO also decided to hold a regularly cleaning day every Friday. The men dug landfill sites, where we are currently disposing the solid waste.”
Shazia is not only her CO’s Manager, she is also actively participating in the Village Organisation as a member. Based on her enthusiasm and trustworthiness, she has also been chosen as the President of the Local Support Organisation (LSO), the union council level federation of the COs and VOs.
“My appointment as LSO President was one of the happiest moments of my life. Now I am leading many Village Organizations and my family feels proud of me and they trust me very much compared to the days when I was struggling to be the member of CO”, Shazia says, with a broad smile on her face.
“I was really excited on receiving a letter from NRSP about a five-day training for LSO Presidents and Managers. I had my fears about being away from the village. But, very fortunately, my family members encouraged me to attend the meeting”, remembers Shazia.
“I joined the training where we learned how we can work for the community institutions as a leader and how powerful and important LSOs are, and what positive role the people’s own institutions can play in transforming their lives. Today, I feel accomplished and confident as I am leading all the villages at the Union Council level. In the coming days and months, I look forward to working with NRSP staff on improving the lives and livelihood means of the poor women of our communities. With our own Tanzeem, we can now look forward to the future with confidence. Tanzeem has given us strength”.
The contributor is Capacity Building Officer at NRSP.