Meet The TEAM - The Mountain Climbers

A Team of us climbed mountains in Austria from 21st - 24th May to fundraise! On 16th November 2024 a team of young women are organising a Women's Networking event to raise funds - tickets are £25. In 2025 we want to build a learning institute in Bangladesh that will become an anchor for women from disadvantaged backgrounds to learn skills in agriculture, sewing, crafting, gardening, midwifery to enable them to become financially independent.

Why? Because women living in rural areas of Bangladesh have little opportunity for education and learning, which often means very limited employment prospects. For the vast majority who have very little education, working in garment factories or in people's houses as housemaids are their only options. The average monthly income is limited to 4,000 - 8,000 taka, equating to between £26 - £53. Meanwhile, household outgoings could be as high as 8,000 - 10,000 taka for single parent households. When those households are managed by women with little or no support from male family members, trying to make ends meet can be an uphill struggle. Many women end up in a vicious cycle of poverty, fighting to survive.

Monwara met Mayah and her daughters Halima and Meena in an area named Matarkafon during her visit to Bangladesh in December 2022. Mayah's husband died when her daughters were little and she has struggled to maintain her household ever since. The family is supported through the generosity of their neighbours and Mayah's ability to be industrious in earning money through various means such as selling vegetables and chicken eggs. However, there was no way for them to afford to build a house that would be more secure than the one behind them, in the photo. A committed Team in the UK, who raised funds by climbing Ben Nevis in Scotland and kind donations through Stow Inspire CIC (charitable interest company: Reg no. 13817028) we were able to gift Mayah and her daughters a home, which was completed in January 2024.

Domestic violence is a common problem in the villages, with women often lacking any kind of decision making power and girls as young as 12 unable to continue their education. A common consequence of domestic violence is the suffering and helplessness of women who are powerless to improving their life chances. However, if they can be taught skills to stand on their own two feet and earn a living, their lives can be permanently transformed.

We started a Sewing Class in Shamsher Nager in Dec 2022 and with the help of Shapla (our teacher), in the first year we helped more than 30 girls from 4 surrounding villages. Some of these girls are as young as 14 and are attending school as well as attending classes to learn how to cut, design and stitch clothing. A Licence for this social enterprise was acquired on 20.07.23; License No: 427/2023-2024.

An Institute that enables hundreds of women in Bangladesh to develop skills, supporting financial independence, will also result in transformation of the entire area and the whole community. We will be fundraising throughout 2024, with the aim of raising £50,000 to start building works in 2025. We need your help - be a part of our journey and 'LEGACY' - to make the world a better place for those less fortunate than us.