NETRAKONA – Aleya begum, 35, a female entrepreneur of village Dorun Bali under Sadar upazila of the district, is no more poor now. She changed her fortune thanks to the project of Ektee Bari, Ektee Khamar (One House, One Farm) initiated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina led government. She now became self-reliant bearing her seven-member family’s daily expanses and sending children to schools which was a nightmare few years ago.

Commemorating her hard times in past, Aleya, broke down into tears as saying “my husband Hadis Mia was an underprivileged farmer and also ill. So, he could not maintain the family expenses”.

“Once we had to pass very hard time due to lack of income of my husband. It was not possible for my poor husband to fulfill our basic needs. Even he can’t arrange three times meal for family members on a day. That’s why we had
many days of starvation”, She said.

“But now situation has changed. We are not poor now. We make solvency taking advantages of the government project of one house, one farm,” Aleya added.

Her journey to become self reliant was not smooth. At first she tried to take loans from NGOs, but all of her efforts went in vain due to various conditions and high interest rates of the NGOS.

Then she had taken decision to become member of the association under one house and one farm project. After being member she started depositing taka 200 as savings to the association fund per month. Like Aleya, a total of
sixty members of the samity (association) deposited taka one lakh 14 thousands in a year.

After that, Aleya got loan taka 10,000 from the samity on January 12, 2015 last and purchased 300 ducklings setting up a ducklings rearing farm beside her house

After two months and 14 days, she sold the ducklings and earned taka 30,000 with making profit TK 20,000.

Then, she bought 2,000 ducklings and made huge profit with getting handsome money by selling those. Next year, she managed to pay her lend taking from the association.

Aleya also started cultivating vegetables on her house premises and made more profits by selling vegetables with ducks and eggs. On May 7, 2017 last, she had also taken loan TK 20,000 from the organisation fund. She purchased a
milking cow with a calf at the amount of money she got from the association. The cow now has been giving seven to eight kilograms of milk per day. She also started rearing chickens and goats building up her house as a farm.

“Aleya has already become self-reliant as she could bear her family expanses and educational expenditure of her children without seeking help of her husband,” said Titu Chandra Sarker, field supervisor of the one house one
farm project, Netrakona sadar upazila.

While taking to BSS, Aleya expressed her gratitude to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for taking up the one house, one farm project with a view to freeing the country from poverty and hunger.