MUKHARA, a rural hinterland village, is situated in the northwest part of Bangladesh. Like other villages of the country, rich and poor people also live together in this village. Some people are owners of big auto-rice mills and some are day laborers of this same village. Usury is also prevailing in this village, at the same time hunger and starvation affects the people.

Once, Helena and her child with two sisters lived in this village. We can describe her tiny house for proper realization the then socio-economic condition of Helena, as follows.

Immediate after rainfall their floor was flooded by rainwater. The roof of the house was made of leaves and straw. The wall was made of mud. Even in the daytime, darkness more or less covered the house because there was no window in the room. Actually, there were no furniture except some dirty clothes, some hanging jars made of jute rope, an aluminum jug and two-earthenware plate. Although, there was some firewood nearby chula (burner). Three or four years back this was Helena's family life. But now while she was giving interview with me, she was standing on the veranda (front space of house) of her four-room tin shed building, which was made by her own income. Let us know the story of Helena's life struggle in her own statement...

'I am Mrs. Helena Begum. My father was a day labour. We were eight children (Six sisters and two brothers) Of my father. Can you imagine how much painful situation! How a family like this can run by one day-labours income. So
My elder sister and I took departure from family and we took shelter of my uncle’s house. I had a chance to take some education but my elder sister was quite illiterate. Due to over-burden of family, my uncle gave us early marriage together. My husband was an unemployed, illiterate man. He had no work to do. Even he had not a piece of land of his own to stand on it.

My grand mother had a straw-made house. She donated it to us. And that was 'Our dream house 'of conjugal life. Please listen to my life story, my husband started to torture me immediate after One week of our marriage. After a few days, he also stopped to give me any kinds of expenses. He was a day-labour of an auto-rice mill and didn't come home regularly. He didn't take any care of my activities, my movement and me. In his working place he was busy with other girls. If some times he came home, but tortured me even for any minor wrong. After one year of our marriage, I produced a female child. This added my misery of life. But on request of villagers my husband then started to provide me fifty Taka (less then one US $ ) per week. But the amount was so small that I was not able to provide my family. I cooked 250-gram rice once in a day and rest of the time we suffered for hunger. Suffering was too much that my sweet child didn't got any breast milk? The situations make bound my child to take rice instead of breast milk. But still the money was remaining fifty Taka (Bangladeshi Currency). When I went to kitchen and cooked 250-gram rice, it was not possible for me to take in mouth, due to my sister's hungry appearance. How I can take my food while they were suffering for hunger. Then I made a plan and mixed some leafy vegetables with rice and after boiled, everybody of us took it.

This was my life!

Due to extreme poverty, I had to work as a made servant in neighboring, peoples house. In the meantime, I produced my second male child. When the child was in infant stage Grameen entered in our village. We, some of our neighbouring woman poor villagers started samite (association) after counseling with one another. Since then gradually I started to improve my condition of life by taking
micro-credit from Grameen Bank. When Grameen Bank offers me a cellular phone for call center business, it seems to me as an "Aladdin's Lamp".

After getting cellular phone, I purchased 20 decimal of land from its income. My leafy dream house has now turned into a tin-shed building. My elder daughter Nasima and my second son Rubel are now reading in college. I am providing their educational expenses. Grameen's mobile phone has brought a change in my life-style. To me, it's a magic lamp. This lamp offered me solvency, gave me a certainty of fulfilling my dream and hope of happiness. I pay my respect to Grameen Bank and its Founder Prof. Muhammad Yunus.'

The benefit of ICT was worked like magic lamp in Helena's life. She received mobile phone in the year 1999, but in the meantime she paid bills near about 6,00,000 taka (9235 US $). The profit by this phone is double on its call rate. So it can easily be estimated how much profit she gained from this phone. Once she was an asset-less, helpless maidservant, but now she is an owner of many valuable assets. Now she is living in a four-room building. Besides this, she has 20 decimal lands adjacent to the highway. She is now depositing 700 taka (11 US $) per month in Grameen Bank in a deposit Pension scheme. Once she deposited
80,500 taka (1240 US $) in Grameen Bank, which she later spent for building her house.
Now Helena herself is an entrepreneur. She is providing training in tailoring to distressed woman in her village.
After being trained by Helena, many poor villagers are becoming self-reliant day by day. Like Helena, some other Grameen Bank borrowers are doing call center business
By using mobile phone in the village. Helena's comments in this regard are as follows, "I realise the actual pain of hungry and starvation from my own life. After a serious struggle I become self-reliant. So if other poor people become self reliant through struggle, I have nothing to feel jealous about. Instead, I become highly satisfied at their joyous appearance, which I don't get anywhere in the world." Her efforts brought a change in the appearance of the whole Moukhara village. It decreased the number of moneylenders who provided taka-1000 as a capital and did usurious business.

A soft touch of ICT brought solvency for Helena and turned her into an entrepreneur. There are millions like Helen living in our rural Bangladesh. Some of them get the benefit of lCT, but most of them are suffering from hunger and starvation. When the farmers of other countries in the world are now receiving Information about agriculture, weather forecast, exchange their ideas through Internet, unfortunately, most of the farmers of our country still do not known even the word "Internet." Information and communication technology for eliminating poverty is still infant stage in our country. But only the lCT can bring prosperity among the poor people and can dramatically reduce the rate of poverty in this country. The mobile technology of Grameen created many such examples of Helena those who gained solvency and inspired others to become solvent.
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Reporter: MD. ARAFATUL ISLAM
e-mail: writearafat@yahoo.com