Ten teenage girls are earning a great deal of profit and becoming self-reliant in Baniarjan village of Gaibandha through producing sanitary napkins and supplying those to local drug stores.
They are Rupa, Afruza, Ripa, Hena, Situ, Jui, Mahmuda, Lebu, Khadiza and Hiramoni.
Alongside pursuing education at different schools and colleges, they are making around 400 pieces of napkins a month under a project named “Sanimart”.
The girls are also running their own shop named “Sanitation Mela.”
Their handmade sanitary napkins called “Aporajita,” have already gained popularity among locals, informed Murshidur Rahman, executive director of Swechhashebi Shongothon Chinnomul Mohila Samily, the initiator of the project.
He said: “We selected ten students from lower and middle class families upon consent of their parents and provided them training on making napkins. Necessary equipment like sewing machines, printed packets, a shop and other goods were provided to them on conditions. Now they are working three hours a day besides studying.”
The project aimed at making the local young girls independent and creating awareness on health issues. Through this project the teenagers were emerging as small entrepreneurs, said Murshidur Rahman.
Ripa, an HSC candidate, said: “Although we faced problems initially, people are now appreciating us.”
One packet of Aporajita contains five sanitary napkins and costs Tk60.
A statement on the cover reads: “The money spent to buy this will help teenage girls to become self-reliant.”
“Through this pilot project we are trying to make the poor girls financially stable. If this project turns out to be successful, then we will go for wider programmes,” said the executive director.
The project is supported by Practical Action Bangladesh and funded by the Unicef and the UK-AID.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
Profitable business? Really? Now it’s time for the moron Bangali politicians to forcibly take
over the business from these girls.