After every night of infinite struggles, comes reviving dawn with a taste of relief, where pain leads to power and struggle leads to success. And Sayeda Khatoon, an undaunted woman from a small village in West Bengal, proved that no matter how long the night is, the dawn will break. Sayeda was born in Lakshmikantapur village, located in the Kandi subdivision of Murshidabad district, situated in the state of West Bengal. An extremely remote backward village that exists in a low-lying area and has a warm summer and a chilly winter, staying lush and evergreen during all the seasons so much that it is hard to resist the tempting call from hometown. However, being an absolute remote area, the place obviously has no access to the internet or any government schemes. A small village, full of diversity and lively people, where People are helpful but also judgemental.

Sayeda, lived in a small kutcha house in this village, with her parents and three brothers. She belonged to a poor family, who barely had any means to live. Sayeda’s brothers were all married and least bothered about the family condition. Now, Sayeda being the only hope of her family went to Delhi to find herself some work to support her family both financially and morally. There in Delhi she worked as a house helper for 11 years of her life. Meanwhile, she also joined a stitching school in Delhi, named Khazani school, where she learnt stitching and attended fashion events and had a lot of fun in Delhi. All those years were some of the best years of her life, says Sayeda.

She was soon married to a man called Abdul Alim. He was an auto driver by occupation. The initial years of her marriage were good and she also had a son but soon after she started seeing the difference, the reality that permeated from under the stagnant truth below. Her husband turned out to be a drunkard, who abused Sayeda almost frequently. He even put infidelity charges on Sayeda and made her feel delusional and insignificant. She now knew, that the place which once used to be her home, was no longer the same. She was now all alone in this abyss, where she could no longer find herself. She yearned for her home, through the walls of her aching heart, to be back to where she truly belonged. This betrayal completely changed Sayeda, her heart now resembled the eternal rock beneath, hard and despicable.

She separated from her husband, took her child and came to Jamshedpur, where she stayed at a friend’s place. Through her friend, she got to know about ALIG and the kinds of verticals it is working on to help empower women. Sayeda went to the skill centre. She could see something new coming her way, a new life, a new hope perhaps and the joy of it could be substantiated by the big goofy smile that she always wears on her face ever since. Sayeda was good at stitching so she enrolled herself in the stitching and embroidery course, where she was given further advanced training in these skills, completing which she became a part of our SHG women group. ALIG holistically provide support to SHG women, by being the mediator with an aim to provide and improve market linkages by integrating the value chain, increasing accessibility that leads to a number of bulk product orders. After being a part of the SHG group and getting fully trained in the required skill, sayeda used her business skill for effective order fulfilment. ALIG through this platform helps women earn adequate income to financially support them. Sayeda like other SHG women also became financially stronger and more stable. Since she had no place to live, she was provided with a one-room quarter from ALIG, which she can call hers. She is also provided with a free ration every month by ALIG and that’s how a fighter was born. Through her dedicated efforts and hard work, she has now saved enough money, with which she plans on enrolling her son in one of the most reputed schools of Jamshedpur when he is eligible. She is now living happily but at times still feels caged and says she had her best times in Delhi because some memories never fade, but securely dwells in our everlasting irrevocable past.

Hence, Sayeda proved that strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle, and once all struggle is grasped, miracles are possible.