Sheuli's story

Sheuli* leaves her daughter at Nagorik's day care centre while she works at the garment factory. She feels safe knowing that her daughter will receive nutritious food and the support she needs for her speech disorder.

Sheuli is a young mother of a little girl. She was born in a small village, the third child of four siblings. Sheuli’s father worked as a farmer and mother took care of the household. Finding it difficult to support the family of six, her father decided the family should relocate to Dhaka in search of better work opportunities. In 2004, they came to Adabor in Dhaka. Sheuli, 12 years old then, started working in a garment factory as a helper. After six months, her monthly salary increased from 900 to 1,300 Bangladeshi taka (£8-£12).

In 2009, at the age of 17, Sheuli was married to Ataur* whose proposal came through one of their neighbours. Ataur worked in an insurance company as a field worker. After five years, Sheuli gave birth to Aayat*. Sheuli had left her job sometime before Aayat’s birth, however, with a child added to the family, she realised that her husband’s income alone wasn’t sufficient. When Aayat turned three, Sheuli decided to return to work.

"It was around this time that we discovered that Aayat had a speech disorder. We started communicating with her through gestures and came up with sign language for her. Before I could join work to help sustain the household, I had to make arrangements for Aayat’s care and wellbeing.”

“If I hadn’t found day care, I would not have been able to work again. The day care centre took away all my worries about my child’s wellbeing allowing me to focus on earning the money we needed to survive.”

A neighbour told Sheuli about Nagorik Uddyog’s day care centre for the children of workers in garment factories. When she visited the centre, Sheuli found it to be the perfect for her daughter’s needs. In April 2018, she enrolled Aayat in the centre where she would stay from morning till evening, playing and learning. Soon after, Sheuli found work in a garment factory as an operator with a salary of 9,500 taka (£90) a month.

"With the special needs of my daughter, there was no place better for her than at the day care centre. She was safe there, given nutritious food and primary education. Being with other children, her speech has also improved a lot. The teachers encouraged her to open up and speak freely.”

Sheuli* leaves her daughter at Nagorik's day care centre while she works at the garment factory. She feels safe knowing that her daughter will receive nutritious food and the support she needs for her speech disorder.

"It was around this time that we discovered that Aayat had a speech disorder. We started communicating with her through gestures and came up with sign language for her. Before I could join work to help sustain the household, I had to make arrangements for Aayat’s care and wellbeing.”

“If I hadn’t found day care, I would not have been able to work again. The day care centre took away all my worries about my child’s wellbeing allowing me to focus on earning the money we needed to survive.” ​

"With the special needs of my daughter, there was no place better for her than at the day care centre. She was safe there, given nutritious food and primary education. Being with other children, her speech has also improved a lot. The teachers encouraged her to open up and speak freely.”

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“If I hadn’t found day care, I would not have been able to work again. The day care centre took away all my worries about my child’s wellbeing allowing me to focus on earning the money we needed to survive.”