Artisans
Ones Artisan's Story...
Neuti Rani Paul, Fiber Cutter/Cleaner,
Bonoful Hand-Made Paper Project,
Bangladesh
Neuti Rani Paul works at Bonoful Handmade Paper. She grew up in a Hindu family, the fourth child of seven brothers and sisters in the village of Dhorogram, in the Mymensingh district.
Her father worked as a potter and all of the children helped their father with his pottery so the family could earn a little more income.
Neuti was never given the opportunity to go to school because her family could not afford the school fees and supplies.
Neuti continues the story: "When I was 18, I was married to a man from the village of Fulbaria.
He was
already married to another woman and had three daughters. Because he urgently wanted a son, he chose to re-marry.
My father did not have to pay any dowry, and was supposed to
receive a little land from my husband for marrying me, but the land transfer never materialized.
At the time of my marriage, we found out that his first wife was pregnant again."
Neuti's married life was happy before the first wife's child was born.
When his first wife gave birth to a son, her husband stopped providing Neuti food and clothes and started to become abusive.
Neuti soon found that she was pregnant. When the abuse escalated to the point where Neuti's father could not tolerate it any longer, Neuti returned home.
A baby girl was born to Neuti. Neuti was disappointed because she had thought that if she had a baby boy, her husband would have accepted her. Now she had no hope.
Today Neuti works at Bonoful Handmade Paper as a fiber cleaner/cutter.
She cleans and cuts the raw materials (cotton, hemp, wheat-straw and pineapple leaves) which are processed into pulp for making paper.
With the money she earns she is able to help her parents and siblings.
She has built a hut for herself and her daughter.
On a typical day, Neuti gets up early, tidies the house and cleans the dishes from the previous evening's meal.
She wakes her daughter and gets her ready for school while preparing food for breakfast and lunch. She has a quick bath in the pond behind her house and then walks a quarter kilometer to Bonoful to arrive at work by 8 a.m.
She is able to go home for lunch. After work, she washes clothes, prepares food and
fetches drinking water. In her free time and on her days off, she likes to visit with relatives and
neighbors.
Neuti has been working at Bonoful for three years. Through her work at Bonoful, she has been able to participate in some adult education training courses such as:
Mother and Child Care, Food and Nutrition, Women in Society and Leadership
Development. Through this training, she has learned about the importance of education, how to save money, the importance of using sanitary latrines, and many other lessons.
She is happy because her daughter is studying in class four. She also feels a new respect from her
neighbors and find they listen to her advice.
Neuti is a member of the Producer Savings Fund. In 1998, with the 2,000 Taka she
received as a dividend from Bonoful, Neuti was able to take out a mortgage on some land which, this year, produced 264 pounds/120kg of paddy rice.
Neuti commented, "I do not want to marry again. Now I am very happy and delighted for my job, my family and my daughter."
Neuti dreams about
buying land for her own home and living separately with her daughter.
She also hopes her daughter can continue in her schooling and eventually have a good job.
Although her own marriage wasn't
successful, she dreams of finding a good husband for her daughter.
This article was written by Anita Fieguth,
Mennonite Central Committee, Bangladesh.