by Habibullah Mizan
Published on: Mar 16, 2007
Topic:
Type: Interviews

Habibullah Mizan
Staff Reporter
The New Nation, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Back from Rangpur

A girl living with starvation, abject poverty has finally made an extraordinary success facing manifold problems in her day-to-day life.
She, however, needs financial assistance to materialise her dream for dedicating her whole life for the betterment of the distress humanity across the world.

Some journalists found the brilliant girl, while visiting the Bidi (tobacco) factories at Haragas under a field-trip organised by Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) as part of a project on ‘Child and Women Development Communication Programme- Third Phrase, which is being implemented by the Ministry of Information of Bangladesh government financed by UNICEF.

This girl is nobody but Dil Aforza Begum, a worker at Ansar Bidi factory at Haragas upzilla of Rangpur district who is student of MBBS at Rangpur Medical College (RMC).
From her childhood, she along with her elder sister Arzofa dream to be doctor seeing a grim picture of health facilities in their locality.
She got talent pool scholarships both in class five and eight.
Afroza obtained A+ in the SSC examination and in HSC examination in 2004 and 2006 from Haragas Bhahomokhi High School and Haragas Degree College respectively.

Though she had no private tutors in her student life, she always stood first in all previous classes. Even without any coaching, she got herself admitted into MBBS course at RMC. Because of acute financial crisis, she could not stay in the college hostel.

Her father Alamgir is a registered worker of Ansar Bidi factory, has three cards, which allow them to produce 7500 bidi every day.
His wife Shamsunahar, two daughters and two sons finish the first parts of production .His another daughter Arzofa is a student of second year student in Zoology department in Rangpur Karmichael University. Two minor sons Shohag and Shamin are also students.
By working for Ansar bidi factory he can earn only Tk 3,712 every month. Alamgir works as a agriculture worker when the factory remains closed to maintain his family. Besides, his two daughters Arzofa and Afroza earn some money from coaching students privately.
While talking with this correspondent, her family members described their hard days because of huge amount of education expenses.
Replying to a question, her mother said, no one financially helped her family.
Afroza proudly described her daily life, ‘‘We get very little time for our study as my father finished the bidi production only but all the prior processing are done by us at home. I have to take care of my little brothers for proper guidance. If we were not born in such a poorest family, we would fully utilise our merits,’’ she stated.

‘‘My father had to sell the rest of his agricultural land for admitting me into the medical college. Since all the medical books and equipments are highly expensive, my study may be stopped in future, she told this correspondent.
‘‘If any organizations provide us some education loans, we will be grateful to them, she appealed to the affluent people of the society through the journalists.
mizandeshi@yahoo.com

« return.