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Like other poor families living in Bandi Maira, Iqra is responsible for taking care of her seven younger siblings, and her father, a retired civil servant, who earns Rs. 7,000 (AUD $70.00) a month from his government pension. Living with such a little amount every month makes it really hard for Iqra to meet their basic needs.
“I always wanted to do something for my old father and my family living in poverty,” said Iqra. But despite the desire, Iqra could not get permission from her father or brothers to work; a girl earning for the family would bring shame on them, they preferred poverty to shame.
But Iqra didn’t lose hope. She started doing some voluntary beautician work in the village, offering to do make up for the village girls for different ceremonies, like wedding parties. But due to pressure from her family, she was not allowed to take payment – she continued her work free of charge. This work gave her at least one benefit: she became connected with the village girls and women.
Iqra had another advantage though too, she had twelve years of formal education. And despite the discrimination she was confident and refused to give in. “I often thought of ways to utilize my own abilities to do some job and earn money to live a respectable life in my village,” Iqra said.
In October 2011, she received an offer to join a new project [Women Entrepreneurship Development] for the women and girls of the village who want to undergo some training and start earning. However, when Iqra asked, her family stood against her wishes; but Iqra went to work on her family and eventually convinced them that there is no shame if a girl works.
With her father’s and brother’s permission, she started attending candle making classes in the village. “Being a girl it was very difficult to work here in my village where acceptance level is very low that a women can also work and support her family but my thinking was different,” said Iqra.
“I decided to learn candle making and wished to start my own business. Although at village level, it looked quite difficult to me how I will start a good business from a training only, however after going through business cycle training I was able to understand how I can improve my skills, start production and sell my products”, said Iqra.
With help, Iqra started visiting Abbottabad city markets and negotiating with shop keepers, presenting her beautiful candles in the first two months after completing her training and receiving startup material, Iqra earned almost Rs. 15,000 (AUD $150.00). With this good start, Iqra has now contacted her cousin in Rawalpindi city and plans to visit and meet some market owners and establish business linkages and get orders for decorated candles. Expanding her business would be a great hope for Iqra to become a successful entrepreneur. Now, with the confidence of her family and her relatives, Iqra is really motivated.
“The most important thing is that I am now living a respectable life. My little brothers and my father do not tease me and I am happy that I can support my family, which was otherwise very difficult for my old father,” said Iqra. “I am confident that my future is bright. I earn as my father and my brothers earn and it is not only helping our family financially but also giving my family a sense that girls can also work,” she further added.
Iqra has also started training eight other local girls from her village. “When all girls of my village give me respect and call me their Teacher, I feel very proud and happy. First I was kind of an unknown person in my village, but not now, as villagers now started realizing that this is a respectable work which a girl can do in the village,” she said.
(Abridged from a report by Nadia Qasim)
