Success Story: One Goat, and Jharna Begum’s Fresh Start

At a glance

In 2022, at the age of 57, Jharna Begum of Khan Bari in Hajir Hati was living with no capital and no way of putting her household on a steady footing. Under AKWO's self-reliance project that year she was given a single female goat. She raised it with great care. Disease killed three of her animals along the way, but she did not give up and continued to look after the rest. She now has six goats including kids. She has already sold three to meet urgent household needs, and she keeps two full-grown animals which she plans to sell, adding her own savings, to buy a small cow or a calf. Her recovery shows what a little help at the right moment can do.

Jharna Begum, 57, Khan Bari, Hajir Hati

A success story: 2022. At 57 years old, Jharna Begum's days were marked by deep uncertainty. Her household had no capital or means of bringing in steady income; it was a hand-to-mouth existence. That was when Abul Khair Welfare Organization (AKWO) stepped in. Under the 2022 self-reliance project, she was given a female goat.

Struggle and survival

With that single goat as her only asset, Jharna Begum set out to change her circumstances. She raised it with great care. There were setbacks along the way: disease took three of her goats. But she did not give up. She turned her grief into resolve and kept caring for the rest of the herd.

Where things stand today

The results of her effort were not long in coming. From that one goat, small gains are now visible. Current position: including kids, she now keeps six goats in total. Financial footing: she has already sold three goats to cover urgent household needs. Looking ahead: she currently keeps two full-grown goats. Jharna Begum's ambitions have grown with them, and she plans to sell these two and add her own savings toward buying a small cow or a calf.

Jharna Begum's recovery is a clear demonstration of what a little help, given at the right moment, can do to change the course of a person's life. Abul Khair Welfare Organization is proud to have walked alongside her on this journey, from a single goat to a dream of owning a cow.

Background to this report

The 2022 self-reliance project gave livestock to households in Nabinagar Upazila that had no capital of their own. Grants under the program are one-off and outright: there is no loan, no interest and nothing to repay, because a household in this position needs an asset rather than a debt.

Jharna Begum's account is drawn from her own words, translated into English and published with her agreement, including the part where disease killed three of her animals. We include the losses deliberately. A story with the difficult years taken out of it is not evidence that a program works, and the honest version is more useful to anybody deciding whether to fund the next one.