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Bangladesh
The Church of Bangladesh is a tiny church of around 15,000 members in an Islamic nation of 140 million, but it has a large vision. Through its development arm, the Church of Bangladesh Social Development Programme (CBSDP), it plays a significant part in transforming society.
Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world, and its large population has had to bear an unfair burden of problems; such as being ranked the most corrupt nation in the world, as well as periodic natural disasters of cyclones and floods. Women suffer disproportionately, due to a second-class status. For within Bengali society, a woman’s status traditionally derives from her position and role within the family. Within this system, the father – or in his absence the next male kin – is the head of the household. So both decision-making power and economic control are vested in the hands of men. Wives are expected to be obedient, faithful and fertile. If they fail in any regard, they are easily divorced. Polygamy, domestic abuse and mistreatment are common and women rarely have access to any form of legal or community redress.
However the CBSDP seeks to follow Christ’s teachings, in particular His statement in Nazareth, "The spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me. He has sent me to announce good news to the poor and to set the captive free" (Luke 4:18). In Bangladesh, women – especially those divorced or widowed – are among the poorest in society, while in terms of human rights, dignity or ability to economically sustain themselves, they are held captive by the constraints of religion, culture and male dominated politics.
CBSDP has now for over ten years centred its work round a framework of micro-credit. Poor and vulnerable women are formed into groups; group members take a small loan of around US$40 – US$100 and invest it in various ways: buying livestock or poultry to breed or produce eggs to feed the family or to sell; starting a shop; or even investing in welding equipment to hire out. The women pay back very low interest of 12% – of which only 6% is service charge. The rest is put into savings and is owned by the group for future loans and investment.
On the weekly day for interest collection, there is also a group meeting in which a CBSDP fieldworker conducts training on a variety of issues such as: gender rights, the outlawing of dowry, how to start a kitchen garden (to improve family nutrition), literacy, business skills and environmental awareness. A condition of the loan is that they invest in a (subsidised) sanitary latrine. The groups are also involved in community politics as within a village they are federated into ‘Group Organisations’, which gives them the ability to lobby and raise women’s issues with community leaders and government officials.
Initially, husbands and conservative Muslims leaders are suspicious and resist the CBSDP coming into their villages, but after the men see the increased health of families, appreciate the new source of income and benefit as a community from women’s empowerment, they are enthusiastically favourable. Women have gained respect from the men around them, have more freedom to travel alone (such as to market), are more involved in household decision-making and can improve their children’s prospects through better health and being able to afford schooling. It really is a win-win situation for both men and women, and the CBSDP’s groups presently contain a staggering 17, 000 women who are all benefiting from the large vision of a small church.
Faridah.
“I don’t want handouts. I want help to start a business and earn money. My crazy husband probably won’t let me get a job outside. But I can perhaps have a little grocery shop in my house and it’d be ok for me because I won’t have to go out. Or if I am trained, I can also make handicrafts at home.” Faridah.
Faridah’s story.
Faridah is a housewife who went to India when told by a woman she could buy plates and cups cheaply there to then sell on her return to Bangladesh. On following the woman across the border, she was imprisoned in a brothel and forced to do the household work. She eventually escaped and paid an agent to take her to Bangladesh. Faridah was accepted back in her village, but her husband was reluctant and abusive. He was cruel to her before, and now is more oppressive and violent.
Sabina
“I’m the eldest in the family. We’re very poor because my father had two wives. There are altogether eight of us. All of us never went to school. I stayed at home to help my mother. We went from house to house to do housecleaning in exchange for food. When I was 12 or 13 years old, an Indian lady used to come to visit us. We were really poor and she always told me, “See, nobody can feed you here. If you come with me, I’d give you a better job. So come with me, but don’t tell anyone.” I didn’t really know her but I was tempted by the idea of having a job. She promised that I could get a job hawking steel cooking pots in India.
One day, I told my parents that I’m just going out with this auntie and I’ll be back very soon. I didn’t take anything with me, I just left with her. I still remembered that when I left, I was thinking of the money I’d get, that if I can get a job, I can save money and even marry someone really good in India.
I felt good that I was going to get a job but I was feeling a bit scared because I was going to a new place and I wouldn’t know anyone. Also, I’m totally illiterate – I can’t read or write – so I can’t read anything to know where I am.
The lady then sold me to a house and I had to listen to another lady. The second lady locked me in a house for seven days. I tried to escape but the door was locked and there were no windows. They gave me food once a day, a bit of rice and dahl or chapatti.
During those seven days, they tortured me two, three times a day. There were 10 to 15 men every day and they did all kinds of things to me. When I protested, they tied me with rope and beat me. I thought, I’m almost dead. I wanted to die.
I used to do all the housework at the house and sometimes I also worked outside, selling pots and pans. But at night, I had to do a lot of work that was really bad. I had to give company to the men who came at night. I was used and tortured very meanly.”
Sabina managed to escape, with the help of another woman. She eventually returned home where, although welcomed by her family, she was shunned by the community. Her parents arranged a marriage for her, with the husband believing he would get a dowry. But he divorced her as she had been in India and was pregnant. She now stays with her parents and helps to harvest rice and vegetables from the fields to get money. Her one wish is to get some land for her son and send him to school so that he does not end up like her.
CMS is running a campaign "setting captives free" in support of the work of the Church of Bangladesh, and two mission partners are working with victims of trafficking in Bangladesh and North India. Please support and pray for the work of this campaign.
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