Zahra’s mission to change her fate
Like many poor families 27-year-old Zahra belonged to a family where her dream of seeking an education was shattered due to the bad economic situation. Zahra was involved in child labor when she was 9 years old. When asked about her childhood, Zahra had to travel back into her memories again and tell us about the bitter days, while drying her tears with the long red scarf wrapped around her.
When she was a child, Zahra had to take care of her sick mother by carrying the burden of heavy work in a factory, where she could barely earn enough for a meal. She said, “I had dreams of living a prosperous life like other people, but poverty was taking me to a darker future. Life was not easy at the factory, especially for a girl. I was harassed and still have back pains from carrying heavy things” continued Zahra.
For Zahra, life didn’t take a different direction even after marriage. Her husband was a home servant whose earnings did not cover their expenses. As she reached the end of her story Zahra said with a slight smile on her face says that God finally heard her voice when she found out about the Zardozi Manbeh in the area. Zahra has now been a client of Zardozi for 3 years. Zahra’s trainers say that they saw special capabilities in Zahra and all they had to do was explore them. After attending a variety of training sessions Zahra decided to open a dairy farming business which was both difficult and exciting. Zahra was finally becoming an important person and ready to run her own business.
Zardozi supported Zahra with loans with which she bought cows. Since she still lacked proper knowledge about raising cattle for milk production, she thanked her husband for helping her a lot to maintain a steady supply of milk.
“I am very happy that my children do not have to bear a similar ugly childhood like mine. It is their time to play and study, and all my efforts are to ensure a better life for them. I want them to become good doctors and engineers,” said Zahra with hopeful eyes.
Zahra concluded, “Zardozi helped me to gain professional skills in managing my business. I learned from other women and Kadars in the Manbeh and use those skills to improve my own business.”