Fatema’s Perseverance is the Key to Her Success
Fatema Akhtar lives in a village named Chittolia of Kendua Upazilla under Netrokona district in Bangladesh with her five young daughters and old mother in law. When her husband was alive Fatema was the owner of two goats and 10 decimal of land where her husband grew vegetables. After the death of her husband she did not have any alternate means to bear household expenses. She decided to sell off her goats and purchased 20 desi chickens with the amount she received. Poultry rearing became her main source of income.
One night, two of her chicken died of no apparent reason. She could not understand the
reason for their death. The next day 13 more chicken died and she was overcome by grief. Now she was again on the verge of losing her only source of income. Her neighbours advised her to take the dead chicken to the upzila veterinary doctor and seek his advice.
The doctor performed a post mortem on the chicken and declared that they had died of RaniKhet Disease. He advised her to bury the dead chicken and medicate the rest of her flock. In the meantime her aged mother in law fell ill. Fatima was depressed for a while with the situation in her home. She realized that 8 chickens were not enough to provide income to sustain her family of seven. With a heavy heart she decided to sell 10 decimal of land and buy more chicks with that money. As per the advice of the veterinary doctor she introduced bio-security measures on her poultry farm. This included vaccination program to prevent disease outbreak. With fewer birds falling prey to diseases, her income from poultry increased. In the meantime she took part in a number of training courses on backyard poultry rearing, vaccination and bio-security programs. This made her more aware of poultry diseases and she was on the lookout for symptoms of ill health in her birds. There were no more outbreaks of serious diseases in her or her neighbour’s farm. She immediately contacted the veterinary doctor in case of any problem relating to poultry.
Women in her village were impressed by her success and decided to rear chicken as well. They sought her advice on rearing poultry and she became a source of inspiration to them. She is now an owner of 50 chicken, 4 cows, 3 goats and 50 decimal of land. Most of the people in the village appreciate her perseverance. Her daughters are getting better education and also help their mother with the work. She did not loose courage after selling her 10 decimal of land but went on to build more assets than before. She is therefore a successful chicken rearer in her village. Now she wants to rear the birds free of diseases and educate her children. So perseverance is the key to success.
Contributed by - Country Team Bangladesh
