UNB, Naogaon :
Sitting together on a mat, the casual conversation among groups of women in a mango orchard is going on amid sewing and weaving white pieces of cloth which will be turned into tupis (prayer caps).
Such sights are similar in Khosalpur, Kunjaban, Khajur, Ranail, Valain and 30 other villages in Mahadebpur upazila where women have become self-reliant sewing and weaving prayer caps.
This prayer cap has helped the women of the district to become financially sound, as it is now exported to the Middle East, fetching huge foreign currency.
Speaking to several such weavers and traders, it is found that at least 15,000 women are involved in the production of prayer caps, who produce them on the basis of their foreign clients’ requirements with relevant threads and designs.
Their payment is given on the basis of the time they give in designing those and their efforts. The price ranges from as low as Tk 20-25 to expensive ones such as Tk 600-700.
A woman weaver usually earns Tk 3,000-4,000 a month making prayer caps.
Rabeya Khatun, a weaver from Khosalpur village, said she was in great financial crisis since her marriage 15 years back. After coming to Mahadebpur upazila 10 years ago, she was motivated
by a neighbour to take up prayer cap weaving, and she never had to look back since then.
Years of hard work has led her to acquire a pucca house on 300 decimals of land.
Shamima Akhter, another weaver from Ranail village, said poverty in the family had led her to this trade five years ago. Now, thanks to her new fortune, she is able to rear domestic animals such as cows and goats, alongside sending all her children to school.
Arifa Khatun, Shamima’s daughter, said assisting her mother she earns as much as Tk 2000-3000 every month herself which enable her to purchase school books and other equipment.
Mazharul Islam, a retail prayer cap trader in Mahadebpur, said although “Kupia” design of local caps were weaved previously, and in the last 10 years several foreign designs are being weaved in this region.
He added that these prayer caps are later exported to different countries, including Pakistan, Saudi Arab, Malaysia, Kuwait and Bahrain.
Sitting together on a mat, the casual conversation among groups of women in a mango orchard is going on amid sewing and weaving white pieces of cloth which will be turned into tupis (prayer caps).
Such sights are similar in Khosalpur, Kunjaban, Khajur, Ranail, Valain and 30 other villages in Mahadebpur upazila where women have become self-reliant sewing and weaving prayer caps.
This prayer cap has helped the women of the district to become financially sound, as it is now exported to the Middle East, fetching huge foreign currency.
Speaking to several such weavers and traders, it is found that at least 15,000 women are involved in the production of prayer caps, who produce them on the basis of their foreign clients’ requirements with relevant threads and designs.
Their payment is given on the basis of the time they give in designing those and their efforts. The price ranges from as low as Tk 20-25 to expensive ones such as Tk 600-700.
A woman weaver usually earns Tk 3,000-4,000 a month making prayer caps.
Rabeya Khatun, a weaver from Khosalpur village, said she was in great financial crisis since her marriage 15 years back. After coming to Mahadebpur upazila 10 years ago, she was motivated
by a neighbour to take up prayer cap weaving, and she never had to look back since then.
Years of hard work has led her to acquire a pucca house on 300 decimals of land.
Shamima Akhter, another weaver from Ranail village, said poverty in the family had led her to this trade five years ago. Now, thanks to her new fortune, she is able to rear domestic animals such as cows and goats, alongside sending all her children to school.
Arifa Khatun, Shamima’s daughter, said assisting her mother she earns as much as Tk 2000-3000 every month herself which enable her to purchase school books and other equipment.
Mazharul Islam, a retail prayer cap trader in Mahadebpur, said although “Kupia” design of local caps were weaved previously, and in the last 10 years several foreign designs are being weaved in this region.
He added that these prayer caps are later exported to different countries, including Pakistan, Saudi Arab, Malaysia, Kuwait and Bahrain.
