A brighter future for Shukla

Shukla Das, who lives in Bangladesh, got married in 2008 when she just 14 years old. With little education and no means of earning an income, she and her husband relied on support from Shukla’s parents just to cover their basic needs.

Shukla was desperate to improve her family’s situation, so she decided to try rearing poultry. She started with two chicks and ten ducklings and worked hard to look after them. But because she didn’t know how to protect the birds from disease, sadly they died one by one.

Shukla realized that she could not run a business with such limited knowledge. So when she heard about the Empower Youth for Work (EYW) project, she jumped at the chance to increase her skills. She took part in three different training courses covering soft skills, poultry-rearing (including feeding, disease management, etc.) and entrepreneurship skills, which covers the basics of managing a small business.

 

I know how it feels when your family is going through a financial crisis. Now I can take care of my family’s needs.”

 

Thanks to the training, Shukla had the confidence to try her hand at poultry-rearing once again. With her family’s support, she brought 40 ducklings and 10 chicks and invested BDT 20,000 (210 Euro) to restart the business.

After analyzing Shukla’s business plan, the EYW project provided grant support of BDT 10,000 (159 Euro) which enabled her to get the business fully established. Now she sells eggs, ducks and chickens, and earns around BDT 30,000 (310 Euro) per month. The impact of lockdown reduced her income by 20-30%, but she didn’t give up and her family continued to support her.

Shukla is gradually recovering from the loss and has plans to expand the business and create job opportunities for other women, particularly those affected by the economic impact of Covid-19. She says: “I know how it feels when your family is going through a financial crisis. Now I can take care of my family’s needs. I am fortunate that my family and my son have always supported me till now and will support me in the future.”