Nigar Sultana: Investment certificate recipient

When a dream, nurtured for years, becomes a reality, the feeling is beyond any explanation. Nigar Sultana is one of the lucky ones to have been able to experience that feeling. She had been persistently trying to make her dream come true. Despite several failed attempts, she did not give up. After every failure, she came back stronger, starting afresh. Finally, her relentless effort and dedication got the required support from Fair & Lovely Foundation. Today, Nigar Sultana is a successful entrepreneur. 

Nigar Sulatana, who comes from an impoverished family in Dinajpur, always had the dream of starting a business of her own. With this dream, after completing her higher school studies, in the year 2000, Nigar moved to her sister's home in Dhaka. Seeing all the glittery fashion boutiques in the city, her dream only got stronger. Nigar says, “I didn't have the money or the training to start my own boutique then. Despite that, I did not lose hope, my dream was still alive. I knew I had to do it. My sister's landlady knew block designing. Since I didn't have the money for proper training, I started helping her out with block works which taught me a lot. I also learnt tailoring. Later, I bought some materials with borrowed money from my sister, with which I made some block dresses and sold them. In 2006, I got married. Soon after our wedding, my husband left his job. A new struggle ensued. For my family to survive, I had to use up my savings for the boutique. I couldn't even afford a sewing machine. Then, when my husband found a new job, I went back to making block dresses with a 10,000 taka investment. 6 months later, my husband left his job again, and I ended up using up all my investment for my family, once again. This is how things continued for the next few years. In the meantime, I became a mother. The financial crisis became so unbearable that we had to go back to our village. Later, in 2012, I borrowed 12,000 taka yet again to restart my business. However, I kept stumbling due to the lack of money. Finally, in 2015, I saw the ad of Fair & Lovely Foundation, “Tomar shopno koro shotti” campaign, and applied for it. I got selected and received 2 lakh taka to start my business. At present, my business is in full operation. Before receiving the donation, I had taken some loans. I have been able to pay back the whole amount of loan with the profit I made with the contribution of Fair & Lovely Foundation. And today, I am free of any loan and am self-sufficient.” 

Nigar is no longer worried about financial crisis putting a pause in her business again. Now, she dreams of expanding her business. She hopes more women will get such career boosts in fulfilling their dreams.