Nasima
LIVING A VICTORIOUS LIFE; FREE FROM CHILD MARRIAGE
"My sister was only 14", says Nasima. "My father forced her to get married before completing school."
Nasima, 24, a former World Vision sponsored child from Bangladesh, knows the harsh realities of child marriage. She's seen first-hand the dreams that are stolen from young girls around the world, including her sister's.
Child marriage was nearly her fate as well. When she was in secondary school, her father tried to marry her off so that their family didn't have to bear the "burden" of additional family members.
“My parents couldn't comprehend that a girl child could also help support the family. They felt I was a burden. So they tried to get rid of me as early as possible by forcing me to marriage. But I was strongly motivated not to be married at that time. I was determined to complete my schooling.”
Nasima continues, “I had a dream to be established, a self-earner. It led me to graduate and pursue my dreams.”
Nasima graduated from Rajshahi University, a renowned university in Bangladesh, and has motivated her brothers to continue in their educations...
But, she still feels the pain of seeing her older sister get married as a child.
“If she could've continued in her education, maybe her life would be different. Her husband is not educated enough to get their family out of poverty.” says Nasima.
The situation is very different for Nasima, whose husband is graduated and has a government job. "Now my parents feel guilty seeing me with bright future. They said we have committed a great mistake giving her (Nasima's sister) to marry as a child.” says Nasima.
While she was in World Vision’s Sponsorship programme, she was introduced to various educational programmes that spoke about child rights, particularly around child education, leadership development and others. This is where she found support. “Without receiving this assistance, it wouldn't be possible to be where I am now.” Along with these programmes, Nasima also received support with school fees and a stipend for University from World Vision. Now her dream is to get a first-class government job.
Along with this, Nasima hope to be a voice for her community, especially to protect girls from child marriage. She has inspired the community children and parents to seek higher education, especially the girls in her community.
“The girls who are interested for higher education, I want to take responsibility of them.”
She added saying, “World Vision supported me, I will do the same for my community girls. That’s my dream. I am grateful to World Vision for bringing hope in my life.”
Nasima is a role model in her community. She says, “Many times I have heard them say, 'the elder sister could not do anything, but see how the younger sister resisted, showed her boldness against child marriage, and now she is the pride of our village.”
"I feel very proud", says Nasima.
