Banglar Nani gets new cycle, mobile

Jahiron Bewa, who has continued providing free healthcare services to rural people at a ripe old age of 90, yesterday got a new bicycle and a mobile set to help her in her work.

The philanthropist extraordinaire, living at Taluk Dulali village of Bhelabari union in Lalmonirhat's Aditmari upazila, got the items from a woman in the capital (not willing to disclose her identity) who was moved after reading a Daily Star report titled Change Makers: UNSTOPPABLE published on April 23.

“I'm really happy to get the two items as it will help me to do my services better. This is the first time I am using a mobile. From now on, villagers will be able to contact me whenever they need,” said Jahiron, locally known as Banglar Nani (grandmother of Bangladesh).

"Getting a new bicycle is also a happy experience for me. My last bicycle, a second-hand one, was purchased for Tk 1300 fifteen years ago. Earlier, I had used three bicycles one after another, and those were second-hand too," she said.

Jahiron Bewa, widow of late Sayed Ali, moves from house to house on a bicycle, from morning till afternoon for providing healthcare facilities to villagers in Aditmari, and she has been doing it for the last 44 years.

"We always salute Jahiron for her welfare work for the villagers. Today we saw her peddling a new bicycle with a smiling face as she was moving on the village road to visit people in need of healthcare service," said Badiar Rahman, 68, a resident of Haziganj village of Aditmari.

After the report on Jahiron Bewa was published in The Daily Star, many people from different villages are visiting her, said Mohammad Ali, chairman of Bhelabari union parishad.