Tarango "Be Bold for Change"

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I have spent the last several days with a wonderful NGO called Tarango. I was initially drawn to them because of their micro loan program, but I have gone on to learn more about their different programs and have continued to be impressed.

I will start with sharing about yet another inspiring woman who is leading this organization. Kohinoor Yeasmin has been the executive director since 1994 and has developed it into the organization that it is today. Kohinoor keeps calling it a small organization. Perhaps compared to the mammoth size of BRAC it is, but their impact is huge. From the first time I met her I could tell she does this work for all the right reasons. Because of that, anything I know about her I have googled compared to her sharing. She has many notable awards and honors, but she has even more requests that she turns down. She says she refuses to be a token woman for the government or any other organization. If they are not going to listen to her, or she sees no positive impact she will have, then she says no, regardless who is asking.

There are several facets to the organization, but their fair trade construction business is the largest. They employee over 20,000 disadvantaged women. They are primarily single mothers, widows, victims of domestic violence, and child marriage. They are able to remain in the rural areas and make a suitable living wage allowing them to care for and educate their children and themselves. They are limited to 8-9 hour work days, but have the option for limited overtime as needed. They use all-natural products and dyes, often using recycled materials such as rice bags and cement bags, and many jute products. Because of the materials they use and the wages the women are paid the products are expensive by Bengali standards and so are only sold internationally.

Most of the construction is done in the village areas, but I was able to tour the work they do in Dhaka. Here they do quality control as well as work requiring industrial machines as the village areas do not have reliable power to run those machines. The women were lovely to meet and when they learned I have a sewing background were anxious for me to sit down with them and sew. They employ a few men for jobs such as pattern cutting, but they have a zero tolerance on harassment. Kohinoor said the cook/maid is one of her spys. If she sees any inappropriate behavior from the men they are immediately released from employment with no discussion. The men understand this and are very respectful to all of the women regardless of position or age.

At the completion of each bag, Tarango takes 6% of the bag's value and puts it into a savings account for the woman who made the bag. This is basically a savings and retirement program for the women. They can only access this money with justification for why the money is needed. Tarango will try to find another way to help the women so the money can remain in their savings, earning 6% interest, to serve as a retirement fund later on.

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