For people trapped in poverty, a small aid payment can open the doors to education.

Anju Begum was only 11 when she got married. She and her husband Mojammel have three children – two daughters and a son. They had sent their elder two children to the local government primary school, but their income wasn’t enough to keep their children in school. ‘I could not feed my children. Sending them to school was a far cry,’ Anju says.

Anju started receiving 105 taka (about US$1.50) of weekly stipend from the Bangladesh non-government organization BRAC, which convinced Anju to put her children back into school. ‘They encouraged me saying that someday my children will be educated, they will earn money and people will respect them.’ Her son Nafchu was happy to get back to school and has just completed grade 3. Nafchu wants to be a teacher after finishing his studies, so he can help children who cannot afford to go to school.

Source: BRAC