Parvin is the oldest daughter in a family of eight. Her father was a farmer, and his income was too poor to support his large family. Then, to make matters worse, when Parvin was only nine years old, her father became ill and could no longer work; her mother became very depressed.

"It was a hard time for our family. My mother was unable to provide for our most basic needs and we often passed the entire day without eating. Because of that, she borrowed some money from one of our relatives and started producing parched rice,” Parvin said. “But even though she worked hard and went from house to house in our village, she could not sell enough parched rice to meet the basic needs we had.”

With no alternatives, Parvin’s mother had to send Parvin and her younger sister to work in a neighbor’s house to reduce the family’s financial burden. They were forced to work long days with only two meals as compensation.

Because there was no way out of the poverty her family endured, Parvin was married at the age of 14 to one of her relatives who worked as a day laborer. Instead of improving her situation, early marriage worsened Parvin’s life. She lived with her husband at her father's house and had two children in quick succession.

In December 2019, when Parvin was only 18 years old and already had two children, she became a member of a self-help group organized by World Concern. As part of the group, she saved money every month along with fellow members, and in two years her savings have grown to $196 USD. Parvin knows that it’s very difficult to change your life on your own, and she’s working hard to change it with the help of her group. Because of this, she was able to enroll her daughter at the local primary school and her son is studying at a World Concern preschool.

“We are grateful to World Concern Bangladesh for shining a light of hope in our life for economic transformation,” Parvin said. “It is my dream after one year we will be able to involve ourselves in income generating activities and change our family situation.”

You can help families like Parvin’s in Harisia by partnering with them through World Concern’s One Village Transformed program.