Nilima Das, a 35 years old housewife, has been living at Uttar Shakhipur village under Shakhipur union of Debhata upazila of Satkhira district with her husband and two daughters.
Shankor Das, Nilima’s husband is a 43 years old day laborer who has earns his livelihood by working in a shrimp gher. They have been passing their life as husband & wife for 12 years. Their elder daughter is reading in Class III and the youngest daughter is 4 years old. They have a homestead with 0.05 acres of land. Apart from this, they don’t have any land for cultivation. They have one house where all family members stay together. They have one kitchen and one ring slab toilet. Nilima Das enlisted herself as the beneficiary of Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) funded APAR project to improve the overall situation of their family.
Their family income is not enough for maintaining their family smoothly throughout the year. During lean season, their family income varies from Tk. 100-150. But during pick agriculture season, they earn handsome amount. In the lean period they have to pass their life with hunger, as they have to face acute seasonal food crisis during the period of mid June to mid September. They suffer from malnutrition due to inadequate food consumption and lack of proper health care. In 2012, with the financial assistance from MJF, Uttaran established “Food Bank” to solve the seasonal food insecurity during lean employment season through providing 140 kgs paddy to each account holder of Food Bank. Nilima Das opened an account in the Food Banks depositing 147 kg of paddy.
Nilima Das, as an account holder of Food Bank, has withdrawn 140 kg of paddy from Food Bank. After getting this support, Nilima could tackle her family’s difficulties what she faced last year. During off season, most of the time her husband remain jobless so they don’t have the ability to bear the educational expenses of their daughter. Through this Food Bank support, Nilima resolved this problem and paid the tuition fees timely. As a result, their daughter is performing their educational activities regularly. Now they are free from seasonal deprivation of food and passing their life smoothly. So Food Bank has emerged as a real friend to the poor to mitigate their seasonal hardship.
