A Mother's Hope For Her Children Fuels Her Resolve

One figure, a woman holding a chicken and smiling
Where once Chingkume’s life did not go beyond the four walls of her kitchen, she now raises livestock, owns several successful enterprises and has made her family financially stable.
Monday, April 3, 2023

“There was a time for our family when we could not send our children to school even if we wanted to. It was not possible to feed our three children and run our family expenses on my husband’s income alone,” says Chingkume Chakma, 42, from Cox’s Bazar.

“This is why we had to stop our children’s education.”

To make matters worse, Chingkume’s only daughter had a speech impediment and suffered from mental illness. The stress of managing her health expenses only added to the suffering of Chingkume’s family.

In 2018, the GPOP project, a project funded by the Bangla-German Sampreeti and implemented by World Vision Bangladesh, enrolled Chingkume in its programme and provided her with invaluable life skills training. After completing her training, she also received financial assistance and several inputs to start a small business. With the goats and chickens she received, Chingkume grew a flourishing business and became a success in her community.

Despite her circumstances and the fact that she was a woman from a minority tribal group, Chingkume managed to change her family’s luck completely and become a valued and respected member of her community.

The produce from her chickens and goats provides her family with the nutrition they need and Chingkume sells the rest at her local market. She also grows vegetables in her homestead garden. In a span of a few months, Chingkume sold chickens worth BDT 35,000 and goats worth BDT 15,000. She also makes about BDT 1,000 every month selling her vegetables.

Where once Chingkume’s life did not go beyond the four walls of her kitchen, she now raises livestock, owns several successful enterprises and has made her family financially stable. She no longer worries about feeding her children, rather she dreams of what more she can now do for them!

Chingkume watches her children go to school now every day. Her daughter’s happiness and health take away some of Chingkume’s pain of not hearing the child call her ‘mother’. Her life’s bliss lies in the fact that World Vision and the GPOP project gave her just the right support she needed to become successful in life and provide her children with all the tools they need to build a brighter future.