Kohinur comes from the village of Konapara. Her father sells ice cream. She is the youngest of four daughters. Kohinur was healthy at birth but her parents began to noticed that she was not meeting certain developmental milestones like others her age. After visiting various village doctors and hospitals, Kohinur was diagnosed as physically disabled. 

As she grew up, her neighbours started looking at her with distrust and hatred. The family was very poor, and their situation got even worse as they had to pay dowry for marrying them off. Through another beneficiary from our program, she got to know about the “Rupantor” Project. She joined in 2014. Prejudice from her village people was strong and they questioned if a ‘mad’ person would be able to do actual work. The general perception is that people with a disability are unable to work and the only work they can do is to beg on the street. Many see disability as a curse and a cause of shame. 

Many changes took place in her life as she joined our program and worked for 2 days a week. With her earnings she bought goats and started rearing them. She was also able to take a loan from a local NGO bank. With this money she helped her family build a new brick house. Her parents were very happy with Kohinur’s progress, and today they feel proud of her. Her neighbours see the changes in her life and say that this was possible because she joined our project which helped her to build her skills and self-esteem.