Welfare for women : Where Rs3,000 a month goes a long way
According to district government officials, the women living in the shelter will now receive a monthly welfare cheque in the amount of Rs3,000 to Rs5,000. “We didn’t really know about how bad things were in the Darul Falah until we received reports that families of ten people were sharing one blanket,” said a volunteer at the centre Nadeem Kamiana. “The assistance by the government will go a long way to help these people,” said a manager at the centre, Nida Shah. Shah said “All the women at the centre told me that they would use their first cheques to put their children in school.”
At present, nineteen families are seeking shelter at the Darul Falah in Multan. Most of the funding the centre has been receiving has been by local philanthropists. “It certainly hasn’t been enough to live on, we usually get one meal from someone in the neighbourhood and several people donated blankets this month,” said a resident at the centre Ameena Bibi, who is the mother of six children. The residents said that now that they would be receiving money they would be able to put their children through school as well as earn for themselves. “Many of us can sew and we thought that we would buy sewing machines and start stitching for people to earn our own money,” Rashida said. Rashida said that she had come to the Darul Falah four years ago after she escaped an attempt on her life from her husband. “When I came here I was drenched in oil. He was going to burn me in my sleep but I escaped and came here with my two children,” she said. There are 41 children at the centre and so far none of them have been admitted to schools given the lack of funds available to the residents at the centre. A volunteer at the centre said that the families were previously relying solely on donations from local philanthropists but have now begun to receive a monthly allowance after three months of managing without any money.
“I know this will turn their lives around. Most of them have even said that they want to start small businesses such as stitching clothes or making baskets from their money,” said Raheem Shah, a guard at the centre.
The manager of the Darul Falah, Tasawwur Hussain, said that women with one child would receive a cheque of Rs3,000 and others with two or more children would receive a cheque of Rs3,500.
“We are trying to encourage the residents to take this money to put their kids in school and to start some small business that will allow them to keep earning,” Hussain said. Hussain said that he hoped the women would use the money as a ‘micro loan’ that would eventually help them become independent.
The Darul Falah is being run by the district social welfare department to provide shelter to destitute women and their children. “I think this scheme has the potential to change these women’s lives. They have undergone immense trauma that brought them here but this will offer them a fresh start on their own terms,” a lady health visitor at the centre, Rehana Jameel said.
“I am immensely grateful for this money. I now have something to build upon. The first thing I will do is put my daughter and son in school and then I will find work,” said a resident at the centre Zarmeen.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 23rd, 2010.
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