Photo Blog: Basnama works hard for education of her daughters

Basnama is a 46-year-old tribal woman living with her family in a native village of Mardan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Her husband is a farmer. The couple has three children – one son and two daughters.

The son is eldest of all. He is working in another province. Their elder daughter is studying in 8^th class and the younger one is in 6^th class. Both girls go to a nearby government school.

Basnama starts her day early in the morning. After finishing her morning prayer, she goes to her fields to cut the green fodder for her cattle.

Basnama is cutting green feeder for her cattle. – Photo by Saba Rehman

She has a few cows, hens, and goats. She gets milk from her cows which is a major source of income for her and her family. She sells the eggs to buy basic utilities for her house – detergent, matchboxes, and spices.

She takes cares of her cattle’s as its one of the major sources of her income. – Photo by Saba Rehman

Basnama sells the milk she gets from her cows to save some money for her daughters’ education. – Photo by Saba Rehman

Basnama never went to school but she wants her daughters to get higher education. She works from dawn to dusk to make enough means to fund her daughters’ education.

She burns wood in the stove to cook food for her family. – Photo by Saba Rehman

She believes only education can change the life of rural girls who do not have many opportunities. If not anything, they will be, at least, able to teach their own children in the future.

Basnama is a beneficiary of “Benazir Income Support Programme”. – Photo by Saba Rehman

Basnama also helps her husband in the fields. She does all the household work and then goes to the fields to help her husband there.

She also makes handicrafts at home which she sells in a nearby market.

Her elder daughter is making hand bracelets which she sells to her class fellows and other girls in the village. – Photo by Saba Rehman

This family is living in a mud house with no gas and water.

She washes her home utensils in running water. – Photo by Saba Rehman

She burns wood to cook food for her family in a clay stove.

Without electricity, they are having their dinner inside the kitchen. – Photo by Saba Rehman

Basnama sleeps around 10:00 pm in the night and wakes up early in the morning next day to work for a better future of her daughters. She believes only education can guarantee a bright future for girls.