Playing the role of torchbearer

Dishari is a Bangla word which means someone who shows the way.

Launched in 2003 at a remote village in Nasirnagar upazila by a handful of illiterate poor women, it now draws attention of local elite and officials for its service to the distressed women and creating awareness among them.

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Alongside training distressed and divorced women in various crafts to help them become self-reliant, it also performs social responsibilities. In last three years, it has arranged 10 marriages without dowry and reunited 12 couples who had fallen apart after family feud.

Most of its members are divorcees but they are now self-reliant.

It has trained over 200 women in different crafts like sewing, making fashionable garments and dolls. Their products are sold to wholesale buyers who now come to the village from different areas of the district. After training, Dishari supplies raw materials and buys back the products. The women members make the items at home.

Parbati of Khandura village is one of the members. She was betrayed by her husband Parindra who married another woman.

Later, the couple was reunited following an arbitration by Dishari leaders Nasirnagar thana officer-in-Charge and village elders.

Now, Parbati earns by making garments and adds to her poor husband's income and they are happy, she told this correspondent during a visit to the village.

One Hena Begum had married Safique Mia in 2004. After marriage, Safique tried to engage her wife as a sex worker. She left her husband and filed a petition to the authorities with the help of Dishari.

Now Hena is self-reliant and also supports her parents by sewing clothes. also supporting her parents by sewing cloths.

Talking to this correspondent, Dishari president Begum Ayesha Bulbul said their campaign has created awareness among rural people, particularly women.