Md. Ibrahim Hassan (25) is a young sanitary manufacturer of North Nalta village under Kaligonj upazila of Satkhira district. His father Md. Abdur Roshid was a petty sanitary trader. Ibrahim’s family was already struggling to run with the little income of his father. But the sudden death of his father in 2005 brought his family into more vulnerable position. Being the only son, Ibrahim wanted to holds the family’ sanitary business of his father and formed ‘Roshid Sanitary Center’ using his father’s name. He is now running the business successfully. Ibrahim said that, “when my father breathed his last, I was just a student of class ten. At that time my mother, younger sister and I was facing serious economic crisis because my father was the only earning member of our family. At this point he was bound to stop his study and started to run his father’s business. At the beginning though it was hard for him to do the business but his experience of observing his father’s work helped a lot to go forward. He did not have any cash for the business but had some sanitary equipment left in the factory. His mother wanted to help him in the factory but he never wanted her to work in the factory as it was very hard job.
In the beginning he only used to sell ring and slab. One day his uncle told him about the interest free loan scheme for the micro entrepreneurs of Uttaran. Then he thought, if he will take some loan and manufacture different types of sanitary item along with ring-slab might be more benefiting. Having justified the information and discussing this issue with his mother, he had applied for interest free loan amounting Tk. 75,000 from Uttaran in October 2011. After getting the loan, he bought huge raw material like-cement, brick particle, rod etc and some new types of equipment forma for manufacturing other various sanitary commodities. After using these materials, his business became profitable. Now he became a successful businessman. Meanwhile, he had an opportunity for receiving technical training on making of offset pit latrine under World Bank’s WSP Programme. After receiving the training, now he is using his learning. Now the production rate is increasing. He is also making manufacture sewerage pipe, house-making pillar, wooden burning cooker, ventilator, railing stamp, landmark pillar etc. Almost ten kinds of sanitary items are producing at his factory. Now masons are getting salary from his factory. In an average in every month he is getting a profit amounting Tk. 15,000 from this business. Uttaran provided this support to Ibrahim through its Simavi funded WASH project.
