Thirty-five-year-old Noorjahan Akhter Munni lives in Dhibi Para, Balubari, Dinajpur. Breaking away from stereotypes in her community, Munni, a mother of three children, has emerged as person with an identity of her own and has helped many other women steer the course of their lives.

Her daughter, who is the eldest of her children, was keen to take her senior secondary examinations. Resisting societal pressures, Munni actively encouraged her and ensured that she took the examinations. She herself had, however, been unable to pursue her dream of continuing with higher studies because of financial constraints in her family. She was able to study only till the tenth standard.

Munni has also made sure that she treats her daughter the same way she treats her two sons. This is unusual in the community she lives in where the preference for sons is very strong. Her daughter is now in college and Munni’s perseverance in educating her daughter has resulted in five more girls showing determination to attend college.

Munni has also boldly broken away from tradition by going to work outside the home. When she initially suggested the idea of earning money to step up the family income, her husband, Ismail Hossain, a trader, opposed it fiercely. Over time, she was able to convince him that her contribution would help to nurture the children better. Today, he supports her decision and stands by her. He cooks, looks after the children and assists in the household chores. He also encourages other women to seek employment and works to raise awareness among the men of the locality to solve family problems through discussion. Munni has been his mentor in this area as she actively counsels her neighbours when they face problems.

In another departure from tradition, Munni works for a Dinajpur-based NGO called Polli Sree. As a health worker, she helps her community members understand the health risks they face and informs them about the help available. She says, “Ten years ago, Ajija of Polli Sree used to come to our area to talk of concerns like early marriage and multi-marriage, dowry and trafficking of children and women. I was motivated by Ajija and joined the Polli Sree group. I am now a member of Ward Committee Number 7, known as the Bithi Women's Group. Every week, I arrange yard meetings at seven pre-arranged places where I encourage mothers in the community to attend. We discuss health problems, particularly those related to diarrhoea and pregnancy; and a wide variety of issues relating to early marriage, vegetable production, and sanitation. In the last year, we at Polli Sree have been campaigning on violence against women.”

Munni is also involved in various awareness-raising activities of the municipality as a member of the Community Resource Management Committee (CRMC) formed under the aegis of UNICEF’s Slum Development Project nine years ago. CRMC is run by the collective efforts of the municipality and the NGOs Polli Sree, Udyog and Mohila Bohumukhi Shikkha Kendro (MBSK) and is funded by CARE Bangladesh.

Immensely popular, Munni has recently been elected as the Vice Chairman of the committee by the slum dwellers. She has played a huge role in shutting down local gambling and drug-peddling dens. Munni’s initiatives have helped the women in her community seek employment and turn self-reliant. Most of them now run small enterprises. One can see women running grocer's shops or selling nuts in their area. These women are also articulate on the issue of family violence and attempt to change prevailing biases and mindsets by convincing people that violence against women affects the entire household and not just women. They also actively encourage men to attend meetings on this issue to motivate public discussion and debate.