| |
"I
have been given a new life and brought out of darkness into light. I
now earn Tk. 9000 ( US$ 250 ) per month by assembling solar accessories
such as DC-DC converters mobile chargers, invertors for lamps etc. I
can look after my son and my old mother in law. I am the sole earner in
my family. I hope that other women will get the same opportunity as
me."
Like many other rural women, Nilufa has a sad history. She was
married off at young age with a dowry. Her husband who set up a shop
with the dowry money was incapable of managing the shop and soon lost
the money. He continued to request more money which he used for
gambling and drinking. Her mother was forced to sell land and give the
money to the husband to protect her daughter from beating and abuse.
Soon he left her for Dhaka and kept no communication with her. Nilufa
was left with a very young child and her aged mother in law. Her father
in law who was a Madrassa teacher was dead. It was then she heard about
Grameen Technology Center in Fulpoor. She joined the fifteen day
training program and learned how to assemble solar accessories such as
lamp invertors , mobile chargers , DC-DC converters etc ; as well as
install, repair and maintain Solar Home Systems. Grameen Technology
Centers have been designed and set up by Dipal Chandra Barua ,
Architect and First Managing Director of internationally renowned and
award winning Grameen Shakti, to train rural women on assembly , repair
and maintenance of Solar Home Systems and help them to become Green
Energy Entrepreneurs . She came second in her batch of solar
technicians. Her trainers remember her as a diligent and intelligent
learner. As recognition of her skills, A 130 watt solar panel including
a 100 Ah battery was installed at her home in 2008. She was also given
tools, a tool bag plus a cabinet to store her equipment. Her home
became her working place . She calls it Nilufa Technology Center . She
has come a long way. She can dream big, set higher goals as Solar PV
technology becomes more and more popular in the rural areas. Currently
around 20, 000 systems are installed per month ; this will double and
quadruple within few years. Mr. Dipal C. Barua an internationally
renowned promoter of Solar Energy advocating the installation of 7.5
Solar Home Systems by 2015 to reach 50% of Bangladeshis and believes
that by 2011 nearly 1 million systems will be installed in Bangladesh .
This means more business and income for Nilufa. Many rural people
contact her to know more about renewable energy technologies. She is
marketing, installing solar Home Systems in her area. She is also
promoting biogas plants and Improved Cooking Stoves. She has also
installed over 100 Solar Home Systems. She is having a big impact on
her community; she is helping to expand renewable energy technology in
her community. By assembling and repairing solar accessories, she is
helping to provide efficient and cost effective services to rural users
of solar PV technology. Her husband has started contacting her. He has
stopped beating her and threatening to throw her away from her home.
Now, he respects her and listens to her. Her social status has
increased in her community. Many women contact her on how to become a
renewable energy technician and entrepreneur. She is a proud recipient
of Zayed Future Energy Scholarship . The scholarship has been initiated
by Dipal Barua out of his Zayed Future Energy Prize money to help Rural
Women Green Energy Entrepreneurs like her. It was an overwhelming
experience for her to take the scholarship from Mr. Barua, The award
has motivated her to expand her business and contribute to the well
-being of her family. She wants to make her son an engineer. Recently ,
she was invited to Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, to give a
speech on her experience at a workshop. She has set an example for
other rural women on how to become independent and live with dignity.
Nilufa, who was an unknown marginalized woman like many of rural
sisters a few years ago, has now become a force of positive change in
her community and her country. |
