Wind of change: SWAPNO

June 15, 2021

Champa Begum, originating from Kurigram’s Gopalpur, a successful tea stall owner and a mother of two daughters, tells a very different story when she talks of her past.

“We were extremely poor. My father left us when I was small and my mother worked as a housemaid. By the time I was in class three, I also had to start working,”said Champa

“My mother rushed to marry me off. But, by the time I was five months pregnant with my first child, my husband had remarried for dowry, and I found that he had done the same thing before.”

“We were so poor that my mother did not even think of doing a background check on my would-be husband – whether he had other marriages or not. After my second child, I just could not take it anymore and left him.”

After leaving her husband's house and she was forced to take shelter at her mother’s home, Champa was in a dire situation.

But all that changed one day after she decided to act after hearing an announcement from the local union council.

"They were talking about the SWAPNO project. I contacted them and got to join the project through lottery."

She continued to talk about how the project enabled her to work in government constructions during the 18 months to support her family and make some savings. The project members were also trained in business management, agriculture and animal husbandry.

Among the various activities of this project is the formation of savings-based associations in small groups of 12 members known as Roska or Tana Samiti.

Champa pointed out that she started saving money by taking part in such a Roska. She started a small tea stall with the money saved – working with SWAPNO in the morning and running her own business in the afternoon.

She invested the BDT 22,500 she saved during the project's tenure at the end of the period and expanded her t-stall gradually. She currently has a capital of more than Tk 100,000 for the shop.

Kajoli Rani from Haribhanga village of Kurigram's Rajarhat Upazila, a successful make-up artist, and a mother of one child, has a similar story to tell.

Only a few years ago, she was driven out into the streets by her in-laws along-with her child with only the clothes on their back and had to take refuge at her father's place, who himself was struggling to meet the days end.

After joining and receiving training from SWAPNO, Kajoli joined a local Beauty parlor as an apprentice and confirmed her job after 3 months.

With SWAPNO savings, she bought a cow worth BDT 35,000. She can now support her family through her consistent income of BDT 7000-8,000 per month. 

After graduation from SWAPNO project, the value of her assets has increased to around BDT 45,000, and her eyes tear up in joy as she sees her child leads a good life. She is now planning to open her own beauty parlor.

But it is not only Kajoli or Champa who talks about life-transforming interventions. 

The wind of change is blowing in hundreds of such families in Satkhira and Kurigram. Strengthening Women's Ability for Productive New Opportunities (SWAPNO), is being implemented with support of Marico-Bangladesh Limited and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).

Since its activities started in 2015, the project has, in two phases, made self-reliant about 9000 rural disadvantaged women. In a survey already conducted by the Cabinet Division, the SWAPNO project is considered one of the best social security programs. The National Social Security Strategy Paper recommends expansion of this project to more than 200 upazilas.

In 2020, the project was expanded to cover Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha and Jamalpur districts.