You may have heard the quote 'To be a mother is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body'.
Meet Songhita and her daughter Shumi from Bangladesh.
For mothers around the world, including Songhita, this feeling of fierce love for their child often drives them to find incredible strength, even through very difficult times.
Songhita's journey with her daughter Shumi has been a challenging one from the start. She says: "After Shumi was born, she did not grow like the other children. She has a disability. One day, my husband just left me, and then his parents left me too. I was in a terrible situation. Who would look after us?"
"We moved to my mother’s house. My mother was part of a Self-Help Group (a women's group run by TEAR's partner BASD - Bangladesh Association for Sustainable Development), and she encouraged me to join the group too. I did the training and have learned skills in accounting, management, leadership, and business skills.
I became a saleswoman for one of the other SHG networks. I buy their raw spices and grind them, package them up and sell them. I earn enough to support myself and my daughter.
Shumi struggles to learn, but I believe my prayers will be answered, and I will be able to teach her what I know. People with disabilities are considered a burden in our society, but I want her to be a contributing member.”
Become a monthly giver to Tearfund, and help our Christian partners like BASD (Bangladesh Association for Sustainable Development) bring hope and transformation to their communities. BASD empowers 60 Self-Help Groups in Bangladesh, each reaching around 20 women like Songhita with access to a savings and loan program, income-generation opportunities and education.
