Perseverance pays
Lutfa Begum, a Patuakhali victim of Cyclone Sidr, shows how to rise from the ashes
Lutfa Begum tends her profusely yielding cabbage garden raised on a fallow land beside the flood control embankment on Buragourango River at Charkhali village in Galachipa upazila of Patuakhali district.Photo: STAR
Lutfa Begum, one of the worst victims of Cyclone Sidr, has become self-reliant by farming different kinds of vegetables at her village in Galachipa upazila of the district. Her family suffered massive losses due to the cyclone that wrought havoc in the coastal districts on November 15, 2007. While visiting Charkhali village recently, Lutfa, wife of Abdus Salam Sikder, told this correspondent that Sidr washed away their wholesale fish shop with fish worth about Tk 50,000 and completely damaged their house. With a hope to recoup the losses, she borrowed Tk 1,000 from a relative and started cultivating vegetables like basil, snake gourd, sponge gourd and cucurbit in June in 2008 on a fallow land beside the flood control embankment near Buragourango River. Later, Mosharraf Hossain, an employee of Muslim Aid, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), came to her house and gave her an interest-free loan of Tk 10,000. “I with the help of my husband started cultivating seasonal vegetables and earned Tk 20,000 by selling those in 2009, Lutfa told this correspondent. Lutfa said she cultivated winter vegetables like brinjal, tomato, cabbage gourd, bean and celery on the land the same year and earned Tk 30,000 by selling those in the market. “In the begining First it was a challenge for me. But I took up the challenge and successfully met it", she said. Vegetable farming has brought smile to my family as we earn Tk 60,000 to 80,000 every year, said. Lutfa, who received only primary education at a local school. “we are now self-dependent and passing happy days with our two daughters---Maa Moni and Tanzila. Moni reads in class seven while Tanzila in class three at local school. Lutfa has also built a new house at a cost of Tk 60,000 this year.
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