Kaliganj, Bangladesh

Thanks to the sewing skills she learnt through Kaliganj ADP, Sandhya can now afford her children's education

Sandhya and her four children live in Kaliganj Area Development Programme (ADP). After she lost her husband in 2000, Sandhya struggled to provide enough food for her children.

Eventually, Sandhya met an old friend, who had become a development group leader in Kaliganj ADP. She suggested Sandhya take a handcraft training course through World Vision.

Sandhya says that was the turning point in her life. The 15-day course gave her the skills to earn her own income, and hope for the future. She then applied to World Vision Bangladesh for a sewing machine.

Before long, Sandhya became a member of a community business organisation and began contributing her meagre savings. Having proven her ability to save, she was able to take a loan from the organisation and purchase material for her sewing business.

Now Sandhya earns enough to pay all her basic family expenses and her children’s education. Her elder daughter is in her third year of a nursing diploma and one of her younger children is in school too.