$type=grid$count=4$meta=0$snip=0$rm=0$show=home

Former Child Bride Stitches Together a Future for Her Children

Written by FH staff members Sam & Eryn


BIBI WITH HER FOUR CHILDREN (LEFT TO RIGHT): SADIA, ANAS, MASUMA, AND MABIA.

“My Savings and Loans group loaned me money to buy a sewing machine, and a FH staff member gave me the idea and the training. I would not have been able to do any of that without FH.”

Before joining a Savings and Loans group, Bibi’s family was struggling. Due to their low income, Bibi and her husband faced significant challenges - they didn’t have enough money to feed or clothe their children, pay for medical emergencies, or cover the cost of their children’s education. 

Pause for a moment and imagine what that would feel like.

As parents, our most basic instinct is to protect our children. Imagine looking into the eyes of your 10 year old, 8 year old, 6 year old, and 2 year old, knowing they are hungry but you are powerless to feed them. If that’s not heartbreaking, I don’t know what is! 

This extreme poverty and chronic hunger impacted the kids’ schooling - they often missed class and didn’t complete their homework. 

But Bibi isn’t the kind of mother who gives up - she fights for her children! When the opportunity arose to join a Savings group, Bibi jumped on the opportunity. Through this group, she learned to read and write, and gained access to vocational training, and kick-started her own business. She trained as a seamstress, learning everything from choosing fabrics to making and cutting patterns to operating a sewing machine. 

And then she began earning a living for her family. 

The training Bibi got gave her the skills she needed to start her own business. As a self-employed tailor, she fashions rugs, bags, and clothes, taking custom orders from her neighbours and always delivering on time. Bit by bit, Bibi has earned professional credibility in her neighbourhood that has spread all the way to the outskirts of her community.

Bibi’s total monthly income is around 8,550 taka ($340 CDN). She now has the power to feed her four precious children and provide for their basic needs, like clothing and school fees. On top of that, every week she puts money away in her Savings group savings account. 

“It would have been difficult for me and my family to survive if I did not join a FH Savings group,” Bibi shared. “Life was very challenging for me. Before joining FH I could not write or have any other livelihood skills. Without the help of FH it wouldn’t be possible for me to learn how to operate a sewing machine.” 

>>>Help more mothers like Bibi kick-start their own businesses.

As a parent, Bibi has a dream to establish the future of her children - she has enrolled them in primary school and is determined that they will each finish secondary school. In addition, Bibi is working towards sending all four of her children to college for higher education - even the three girls! For a woman who was herself a child bride and couldn’t even write her name until a few years ago, this is an astounding vision. And based on her track record, Bibi won’t rest until it’s realized. 

KICK-START A BUSINESS






GET POSTS LIKE THIS IN YOUR INBOX!

Name

advent,3,Africa,17,agriculture,14,Annual Report,4,Artex Barn,1,Artist,11,AWANA,1,Bangladesh,61,Bootcamp,1,Breastfeeding,2,Burundi,59,Business,5,Cambodia,81,Canada,111,child marriage,1,childlabour,1,ChildSponsorship,75,Christian,3,Christmas,7,CleanWater,1,Coffee,2,COVID19,11,CreationCare,3,development,3,diary cow,3,disability,1,divorce,1,EarthDay,1,Easter,8,Education,71,Emergency Relief,59,Empowerment,1,Environment,11,Equity,1,Ethiopia,87,Events,3,Expand Hope,1,extremism,1,Family,4,Father'sDay,1,Feed Kids,23,FeedingFamilies,9,Food Security,28,FoodFarming,113,fuel efficient stove,1,Fundraiser,1,garden pack,1,Gift Guide,55,graduation,2,Guatemala,99,Haiti,41,Halloween,1,HealthNutrition,115,HopeNotes,168,hospitality,2,Hunger,13,husband,1,Impact,5,ImpactPartner,9,incomegeneration,2,Indigenous,1,instagram,1,International Day of Happiness,1,International Women's Day,1,Iraq,1,justice,1,laughter,2,Leadership,33,Learn,7,Legacy,2,Lent,1,Livelihood,82,Love,1,Malaria,1,marriage,2,Medical,23,menstrual hygiene day,1,MentalHealth,4,microcredit,2,microloans,2,Moms,9,Mother's Day,1,Mozambique,1,Opinion,89,Over 1000 views,36,Over 800 views,15,Partnership,70,Peace,1,period,1,period poverty,1,Peru,7,Philippines,20,photography,2,pig,1,podcast,2,Poverty,26,President,2,Recipe,20,Recipes,18,refugees,8,Resources,4,RioAzul,1,Rohingya,4,run for water,3,Rwanda,45,sanitation,2,Savings,10,Soup Campaign,9,Soup Campaign 2015,2,South Africa,1,South Sudan,2,Syria,4,terrorism,1,thanksgiving,5,Tigray,1,toilet,2,tools,1,tourism,1,Uganda,69,Valentine's Day,1,veggies,2,Videos,30,WASH,2,Water,44,wife,1,WomenGirls,83,world childrens day,1,world toilet day,3,WorldFoodDay,1,Yemen,1,YouthEmpowerment,1,
ltr
item
Food for the Hungry: Former Child Bride Stitches Together a Future for Her Children
Former Child Bride Stitches Together a Future for Her Children
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3L9jsV8JrG3mP72FvVPuuKh_RI0Ug10Q4G6G36bsWHPGmIj_n9PS54MISl3IYcv1y0H4WmVkdejwPuX9jI9iEGv_Z3aOMh3o57GduMaK6EP8ThSob3Ix0M_UVSSoD8ZWNHaHwOWxGACPa/s1600/Hawa+Bibi+with+her+children+%25281%2529.JPG
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3L9jsV8JrG3mP72FvVPuuKh_RI0Ug10Q4G6G36bsWHPGmIj_n9PS54MISl3IYcv1y0H4WmVkdejwPuX9jI9iEGv_Z3aOMh3o57GduMaK6EP8ThSob3Ix0M_UVSSoD8ZWNHaHwOWxGACPa/s72-c/Hawa+Bibi+with+her+children+%25281%2529.JPG
Food for the Hungry
https://blog.fhcanada.org/2017/05/former-child-bride-stitches-together.html
https://blog.fhcanada.org/
https://blog.fhcanada.org/
https://blog.fhcanada.org/2017/05/former-child-bride-stitches-together.html
true
6831483658384501334
UTF-8
Loaded All Posts Not found any posts VIEW ALL Read More Reply Cancel reply Delete By Home PAGES POSTS View All RECOMMENDED FOR YOU LABEL ARCHIVE SEARCH ALL POSTS Not found any post match with your request Back Home Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat January February March April May June July August September October November December Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec just now 1 minute ago $$1$$ minutes ago 1 hour ago $$1$$ hours ago Yesterday $$1$$ days ago $$1$$ weeks ago more than 5 weeks ago Followers Follow THIS PREMIUM CONTENT IS LOCKED STEP 1: Share. STEP 2: Click the link you shared to unlock Copy All Code Select All Code All codes were copied to your clipboard Can not copy the codes / texts, please press [CTRL]+[C] (or CMD+C with Mac) to copy