Rehana Khatun has lost everything in the vicious cycle of poverty. Her last refuge now is the railway line. The bare ground is her homestead and the sky her only roof. With two children, she battles a merciless fate every day — no shelter over her head on one side, and uncertainty over food on the other. In such a situation, to pay her rent, this woman finally sold the hair on her head.
Living under the open sky near the railway line in Santoshpur village of Rampal upazila in Bagerhat, Rehana Khatun’s life is a harrowing tale of a struggle against poverty.
Her fight for life with two children again seems to prove that before the strength of motherhood, all the world’s sorrows are trifles. Ignoring her own suffering, Rehana struggles anew each day to survive for her children.
Rehana, it is learned, used to live in a rented shanty. But unable to pay the rent, she lost even that shelter. She is now trying, with local help, to build a house of bamboo posts on government land beside the rail bridge. But where arranging even one meal is hard, building a house seems a daydream.
For several months only bamboo posts have stood there; it has yet to become a shelter. The harsh heat of the sun and the tears of the rain come and go. But when a smile of relief will come to the lives of Rehana and her two children remains a question.
A local woman, Ferdousi Begum, said that with no place to shelter, Rehana had been staying in a nearby house. To pay the 500-taka rent for that room, she sold her hair.
Ferdousi Begum said: “One day I suddenly saw Rehana had no hair on her head. I said, what’s this, what happened to your hair? Then Rehana burst into tears and said, ‘Oh sister, don’t tell anyone — I sold my hair for 500 taka to pay the house rent.’”
Given Rehana’s condition, locals have demanded she be given the benefit of a government housing project. They have also called on the well-off and humane members of society to stand by her.
A local elder, Abu Taleb Sheikh, said: “Given Rehana’s condition, she should get a house — I will apply to the government to give her one quickly.”
On the ground, the bamboo frame of a house stands at the entrance to Santoshpur village beside the Khulna-Mongla railway line. Rehana and her two young children could be sheltered there, said villager Mohidul Islam.
Mohidul Islam said: “Since the bamboo frame is there, if the cost of tin and fencing can be arranged, Rehana will be taken care of.” He called on well-off people of the area to come forward.
Looking at the faces of her two children, Rehana struggles anew each day to survive. She lives a subhuman life beside the railway line. Her dream is not very big — a tin roof over her head, so that when the rain comes her children need not get wet, and two innocent faces can sleep in peace at night.
To get a little shelter for her two young children, Rehana sold the last thing she had — the hair on her head. Alongside it is the constant torment of hunger.
In a tearful voice, Rehana said: “I cannot bear to look at the faces of my two children. On one side there is no house, on the other the torment of hunger. Helpless, I sold my hair.” She has appealed to the government and to well-off people for help.
Though she gave in to poverty by selling her own hair — considered a woman’s pride and last possession — Rehana has not let go of her love for her children. She has sacrificed even her last possession for them.
Now there is only one question — how many more sacrifices must a mother make to get a little shelter over her head?
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report