The New Nation - Internet Edition

Shilpi Rani Roy

Nothing worse can happen to Rahmat Alii and his wife Laila Perveen. Rahmat is suffering from liver cirrhosis while Laila from Hepatitis B. Rahmat passes his time waiting to meet the angel of death on a hospital bed in Old Dhaka. Laila too spends her time bedside her husband thinking about their gloomy future.

The ill-fated couple has given up all the hopes when doctors advised them not to take any baby.

According to their doctors, they could have averted this terrible consequence had Rahmat underdone medical test before their marriage to detect whether he was carrying any contagious disease.

Laila's mother says her daughter was married off with Rahmat, an expatriate, barely two years ago. As distant relatives, they knew each other. Therefore, there was no query before the marriage.

A few days after their marriage, Rahmat was down with fever and he gradually started showing some more symptoms like headache, fatigue, loss of appetite and vomiting. Laila's mother-in-law, an old-fashioned woman, started giving Laila a hard time because of Rahmat's illness. She was pretty sure Laila is influenced by demon. The family is in real trouble.

Rahmat confesses that during his stay in Dubai he got affected by Hepatitis B virus. And its ultimate consequence is liver cirrhosis or cancer. He was aware of the disease before the marriage. He kept it secret fearing that the other side could stop the marriage.

Laila's sister-in-law says, "The marriage took place quickly due to pressure from their side. I cant realise how they could do that knowingly. Laila would not have to face this fate had Rahmat disclosed the fact before their marriage."

In Bangladesh, most marriages are settled by the families of brides and grooms, and emphasis is given mainly on family status, beauty and profession. In most cases, physical problem is concealed by the families.

According to World Health Organization, about five percent of Bangladeshs total population is long-term carriers of Hepatitis B virus. Of them, 20 percent may die of liver cancer and cirrhosis. In practice, Hepatitis B is 100 times more infectious than AIDS and it causes more deaths than AIDS.

Lets see what happened to Nitu Islam (not her real name), a student of Political Science at Dhaka University. She married her classmate after a long affair. A few days after the marriage, Nitu was tested Hepatitis C positive.

Nitus in-laws always give her hard time for bearing the virus and try to keep her husband away from Nitu. "Had I undergone medical test before the marriage, I wouldnt have got married. Now I suffer from a sense of guilty feeling. I always remain sacred of the fact that my husband might be affected with this deadly disease,says Nitu.

According to doctors, both bride and groom should undergo medical test before marriage to be sure whether they are carrying any communicable disease.

World Health Organization Report 2004 says there are about 40 lakh people in Bangladesh who are affected with Hepatitis B virus.

Dr Mahbub Alam, a specialist of medicine at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), says people need to be aware about various communicable diseases, including Hepatitis B and C, AIDS, Syphilis and Gonorrhea. He apprehends that Hepatitis B and C may break out in an epidemic form in Bangladesh for lack of awareness of the people.

Another doctor, Abdur Rahman, of the same hospital, says, "In most cases marriage means union of two unknown individuals. The couple needs to know each other before marriage. And as part of that process, both the possible bride and groom should undergo medical test. Concealment of health problems may lead to many physical problems, divorce and transmission of diseases to their future kids."

The World Health Organization emphasizes safe sex in order to prevent STDs. "Find a faithful partner to remain healthy," it says.

Dr Shafiqul Alam, a liver and medicine specialist, says, "Most people in Bangladesh dont even know what STD is. For enjoying a health life, everyone will have to know how STDs spread. Besides, every citizen needs to have health card to easily identify patients."

According to a Dhaka University Psychology professor, premarital medical tests are very essential for ensuring a safe and healthy life. Besides, the would-be husband and wife should know each other's physical and mental health. The issue of STDs should be included in textbooks too.

Rabbi Alam, a human rights activist, says, "The number of conscious people in our country is very negligible for lack of education and poverty. Premarital medical tests are good for both the possible bride and groom. And its also a moral right for both." Reazul Islam Azad, a lawyer of the Bangladesh Supreme Court, says, "There is no law in the country to deal with STDs and other communicable diseases. Its one type of crime to get married hiding the facts of contagious diseases. In this case, the cheated person can file a case for concealing information. Besides, proper enforcement of Safe Blood Transfusion Act is also very important."

Specialist doctors say everyone should also know how to prevent STDs. These are personal hygiene, refraining from illicit sexual relationships, using disposable syringes and ensuring the use of germ-free equipment while undergoing dental treatment and taking vaccines at right time.

Ziana Qaiser

To many, design and social work would appear as unrelated fields. But not to Rebecca Kousky, 26, of St Loius, Montana. A young post-graduate in social work, Kousky, has successfully managed to blend her passion for both into creating Nest, a non-profit organization that provides micro-credit loans to women artists and artisans in developing countries.

Kousky formed Nest just two weeks after completing her mastersdegree in International Social Work from Washington University where she specialised in women and families. "I wanted to merge fashion, art and design with my love for social work and quest for social change," she explains. Her earlier development work in Mexico and India, which she carried out as a volunteer, was instrumental in the creation of Nest.

When in India, Kousky taught at a preschool in Delhi - as part of a programme called Cross-Cultural Solutions that was run by an NGO - where half the students were disabled. "The school made its own prosthetics and taught the children how to use them, thereby becoming a trade school where everyone left with an employable skill," recalls Kousky. "My experience there really shaped Nest because I saw how it enabled people. A lot of charity actually is counterproductive and doesn't always enable people to help themselves. I see Nest as smart charity."

Nest's goal is to change the lives of women artisans in developing countries by helping them create sustainable entrepreneurial businesses. This is achieved by providing micro-credit loans that allow the women to begin or expand their craft-based businesses.

The funds for Nest's micro-credit loans are made possible by selling a wide variety of products made by Nest beneficiaries - loan recipients have the option of repaying either in cash or by giving their products for sale to Nest - and those donated by professional designers and artists. Inspired by Kousky's concept, not only have many designers offered exclusive merchandise for sale on Nest's website - www.buildanest.com - many have even agreed to advise loan recipients on building their businesses.

Initially though Kousky had started out on a shoestring budget. "I used my own meagre savings and a bit of start-up capital from family and friends," she says. "Several months into the project, I got US$24,000 by winning a business plan competition for social enterprises at Washington University in April last year."

Nest was formed in June 2006 and the online store was launched three months later. Kousky then picked out names of designers from fashion magazines and sent them blind mails in the hope that at least ten would participate in the social enterprise. But the response was beyond her expectations. Many came forward enabling the venture to take off. Nest rang up sales of US$10,000 within the first two months and hit $85,000 after one year. "The first group of designers was instrumental in giving Nest a positive start," says Kousky.

Till now, Nest has provided micro-credit loans to women in eight countries - Brazil, Guatemala, Turkey, Israel, Morocco, Mexico, India and Tanzania.

In order to be eligible for a loan, applicants must specify what they need the money for. The loan amount varies but is usually between US$500 and US$2,000. "A lot of micro-lending can be as low as US$25. Ours tends to be on the higher side because we largely work in slightly more developed of the developing nations. In Africa, $25 can change a life. In Turkey it takes more like $500. That's still incredible since there are women in the US that drop that on a pair of shoes," remarks Kousky. The recipients usually repay loans between one and five years. "We agree on a wholesale price for the items ahead and that sets the number of products they owe us," explains Kousky, referring to recipients who opt to reply the loan in the form of goods instead of cash. "We also decide a time frame. Normally, they pay their facilitator products monthly and we ship biannually or quarterly depending on how expensive it is to ship from their country. By repaying in wholesale prices we can then mark up the goods for retail thereby creating a revolving loan cycle that allows us to keep lending without charging interest. The wholesale prices are also well above fair-trade standards."

At the moment, 64 recipients are in the process of repaying their loans. "We saw two finish this month, but everyone else is just in process," she adds. "The shortest time taken for repayment is one year, so our first recipients are just hitting that mark."

The loans are provided through facilitators, like NGOs, in the countries of the beneficiaries. These facilitators also help locate and process each loan recipient. "We partner with NGOs. It allows them to expand their services and it's also to our advantage, as they are already registered in their country."

Rose Deniz, a designer, is Nest's facilitator in Turkey. She began working with Kousky when the programme was just beginning. She became a Nest designer and felt that the micro-credit loans would address the needs of the women she worked with. "We found a perfect fit," she says. "Nest's first recipient was my jewelry and accessory maker, who continues to make items for Nest."

As a facilitator, Deniz considers her role to be both as a mentor and as the go-between person who helps make the loan process possible in an international setting. "I enable quarterly orders to be processed between Nest and the recipient, check on progress, facilitate payment, photograph, and ship items," she explains. Deniz also helps bridge a cultural gap by discussing issues of style, design and material quality with loan recipients. "The goal is to have the products designed by the loan recipients sell through Nest and make a full circle back into their loan or the loans of future recipients," says Deniz. "Therefore, it is important to have a product that translates stylistically from across the globe. I also see myself as a mentor because of the amount of time I spend with the loan recipients answering questions, discussing future goals and dreams, watching the loan transform their lives step by step."

Currently, Deniz facilitates loans for two recipients, Meral Tuncer and Sevinc Esen. Both women support their families through their businesses. Sevinc is a seamstress who runs a tailoring shop, while Meral works from home creating jewelry and knitted items. They applied for loans because they wanted their businesses to grow, but, according to Deniz, found limited resources in Turkey.

"The micro-loan addresses their needs in a way that a bank loan never would," she points out. "They repay in the form of product, not money, so there are relatively no risks for them. The loan gives them confidence in their work, recognition world-wide for what they do, and the ability to flex their design skills."

Nest's success with micro-credit loans has encouraged Kousky to focus more closely on the communities where they have already established a presence, and to expand into education and training for these artisans. Now that the loans are starting to be repaid, first-time round recipients are applying for second loans and Nest will be giving them priority. "Micro-credit loans give women the tools they need to provide for their families, resulting in stability and hope to families and communities," says Kousky.

"By providing entrepreneurial loans to craftswomen and artisans, their life can become their livelihood and the decorative objects that are the fruits of their labour can be enjoyed by discerning patrons throughout the world," she adds.

(Courtesy: Women's Feature Service)