“We do not need to work for them at such a low rate. We have better income options.”

Credit: Tarik Rahman Emon

Bithi Rani has fought for her family’s financial freedom - by training in sewing and working in tailoring, she has been able to protect her family from local moneylenders (the Mohajon).

Bithi belongs to an ethnic minority community with few income earning options and her family is landless. They have all worked as seasonal day labourers, and when there is no work available they can become indebted to local moneylenders.

Bithi remembers how little she was paid for her labour - even more so when she was in debt.

“They would make verbal deals with us that, during harvest season, we will work in their fields. In exchange for our labor, we would receive around 150 to 200 taka each day, and gradually our debt would be paid off. But this was unfair because the labour rate would normally be 400 to 500 Taka.

There was no track of how much we were repaying as everything was managed verbally. We would keep on working through the entire season, but somehow our debt seemed to still have some unpaid portions.”

Bithi learnt the craft of tailoring and sewing and overtime has managed to escape this exploitation:

“We can stay away from the Mohajon now. There is no bad blood with them. But we can confidently reject them by showing that we are financially better off, and we do not need to work for them at such a low rate. We have better income options.”

Bithi’s earnings from tailoring, and money her family have carefully saved have protected them from the cycle of debt, and given her independence,

“Households like us need to learn this essential skill. It is good that I can earn money by making and selling clothes every week. But even beyond that, it helps me to save money too. Let us consider that my two girls need clothes to wear. If I had to get it made from somewhere, I would need to pay 40 – 50 Taka per item for the service. But as I can do it on my own, I can use that money for some other expense.”

Bithi is hopeful that her new skill will continue to help her family long in the years to come; she intends that her daughters will complete their education, and have more choices in their future too.