Asma Khatun: On the way to a new dream

Asma Khatun loves to dream. Chasing her dreams to turn them to turn them into reality is something she loves even more.

That is why when she saw her friend working as a labourer outside the country and earning a good living, Asma decided to go abroad as well. She made arrangements for her son to be taken care of when he was old enough and then left for Lebanon in 2008.

She realised that working abroad is not as glamorous as it sounds, once she reached there. She had to wait almost a month to get a job and finally managed work at a medical center. Her monthly income was USD 400, which covered her expenses and a small amount that she sent home for her son. One day her son would take her out of her misery – that was the dream that kept her going. She also saved something from that USD 400, in case of any emergency in the future.

Slowly the days rolled into months and the months rolled into years. Asma’s son grew up and got admitted to the Dhanmondi Boys School. Asma was desperate to see him. How long could she go on like this? She wanted to hold him, spend time with him. Would she lead her entire life abroad working? Asma wanted to return home.

When she got in touch with the embassy, they informed that she could only return by paying a USD 1200 fine. She paid the fine from her savings and returned to the country.

Asma started dreaming of something new. Now that she had her son living with her, she could focus on her career. Unfortunately, that is when the COVID19 pandemic hit.

Initially, she was under complete lockdown. Once people slowly started to get back to regular life, Asma also started to look for work. But by then, the context had completely changed. Large companies collapsed. No jobs were available at the market. Asma started to see her dreams fading away just like the little savings that she brought back with her. The future seemed bleak.

UN Women came as a blessing to Asma. She joined UN Women-aided mask production center. Asma already had experience working in the garment sector. So with an initial training, she started to make masks. Many women like her who had returned home during COVID, were engaged in the mask-production.

Marginalised and disadvantaged communities are the most affected in COVID and women count for a large portion of that group. This project by UN Women, aided by the Government of Japan and implemented by Bangladesh Nari Sramik Kendra (BNSK) and Badabon Sangho, has been working to support these marginalized and disadvantaged women since 2020.

And what about Asma? And her dreams? Are they dead? She smiled and replied “With this experience, I want to open a tailor shop in future. We will call it Asma Tailors.”