Milemari is a remote village in Gangni, Meherpur. The community is primarily agrarian, managing around 700 acres of farmland. Cut off from local roads, Milemari farmers had no access to markets and it was difficult to travel between their farmland and their homes. To resolve this, they requested grants from the local government to build a road…to no avail.
Therefore, The Hunger Project-Bangladesh trained two animators, Kaber Uddin and Siddik Ali, and two women leaders, Aleya Khatun and Sima Khatun, who took the initative to solve the issue on their own. They began advocating for the construction of the road with local resources, developing a volunteer team of interested community members. Youth leaders Ashik, Manik and Tanzuman coordinated efforts to persuade more of the community to participate in this initiative. They even encouraged the cooperation of the Union Parishad (UP). As a result of this diligent outreach, UP Chair Kabul Hossain and UP Member Nabich Uddin expressed their solidarity and extended their support for the project.
The construction began, with large participation from both men and women community members, sacrificing their work and household chores for the improvement of their village. In the end, a 10-foot wide, 2-kilometer long road was constructed by the enthusiastic volunteers, powered by the motivation to improve their communitry, rather than any practical skills in civil engineering.
Now the people of Milemari are happy. During a visit from THP-Bangladesh staff, little children were seen running on the road in flocks, dancing and chirping joyously. Villagers were seen walking hurriedly to the fields with tiny seedlings to be cultivated, and curious housewives from the roadside cottages were seen peeping out of the bamboo fence to take a look at the strangers passing by. They had the sign of satisfied accomplishment and pleasure in their eyes and smiles.
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September 14, 2013
