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Lenten StoriesWeek 1: Fishing brings new life to farmers in BangladeshClick here to download a PDF of this articleLower Primary School (216Kb PDF) Farid Pathang, 43 and his family are from the village of Samuniapara in Mymensingh, Bangladesh. “Before we received support from Caritas life was very diffi cult. It was hard to survive,” said Farid. Families struggled to grow enough food to eat. They lived a subsistence existence and suffered from malnutrition. When desperate they borrowed from moneylenders at high interest rates. In 1991, Caritas came to Samuniapara offering assistance to the villagers. Caritas listened to the villagers concerns and helped them set goals for the future. They helped form a village committee and provided training and support to achieve these goals. Since Farid and his family joined the program in 1998 they have achieved a great deal. Farid’s wife, Alpona, 42 is a member of the women’s savings group. Women in the group share knowledge and learnings with their husbands and families as most men work as labourers during the day to provide income for the family and are not able to attend meetings. The group has taught the village women to save money and each family represented on the committee now saves 10 thaka (approx twenty cents) each week enabling them to have access to an interest free loan from Caritas when they need one. The group has provided the village women with training on how to establish a fi sh pond and vegetable garden. Today villagers are encouraged to grow a variety of vegetables all year round. Farid and his family have planted a vegetable garden on the edge of their fi sh pond where they grow tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes and green chillies. This is a vast improvement from the past when they grew one crop in winter and had to buy vegetables for the remainder of the year. Excess vegetables and fish are now sold at market for income which is used to repay their loan and pay for any household and health related expenses. With fresh vegetables and protein from their home grown fish, Farid and his family have more energy and better health. They have planted trees near the fi sh pond including mango, guava, beetle nut and olive trees and some timber trees which they will sell for income in the future. Farid and Alpona have one son, Homar, 9, who attends school and in his spare time works with his parents tending to vegetables, weeding the rice crop, feeding the fi ngerlings in the fi sh pond and minding the cows in the fi eld. Farid and Alpona have taken three loans with Caritas. In 2003 they borrowed 1200 thaka (approx $23) from the savings group to buy food for their baby fi sh (in their newly dug fi sh pond) and in 2004 they borrowed 1500 thaka (approx $29) to re-stock their pond with fi sh and buy more fi sh food. In 2005 they borrowed 6000 thaka (approx $115) to buy a cow in partnership with their neighbours. They use the cow manure to fertilise the green algae in the fi sh pond which provides extra food for the fi sh, cutting down on cost of purchasing fi sh food. The cow manure is used to fertilise vegetables and crops and the cow milk is sold at market for additional income. Farid is happy that his family no longer needs to buy food from the market and is proud that he can help relatives on occasions by sharing fi sh and vegetables with them. Like many parents, Farid and Alpona hope that their son Homar will continue his schooling so he will have a better life. Your donation to Project Compassion will allow communities like Farid’s to gain food security and become selfreliant, enabling them to look forward to the future with hope. More information on our fisheries project:Hear Dr Anwara Begum Shelley talk to ABC Radio about her work for Caritas Fisheries section in Bangladesh. (6.81Mb MP3)
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