I collect lentil and wheat from the street when they fall from the wagon going to nearby factories. Two other women who also collect in that area can collect double what I collect because they are not old like me!
I can hardly collect three to four kg lentil and wheat a day after working the whole day. Then I separate them from the dust and I sell them to a local shop. I get seven taka for each kg. I can hardly earn 30 taka a day. With this money I buy some rice and vegetables and cook for myself when I return home. The last 42 years I have been living alone. I sleep outside of a sweet shop with a plastic sheet which is my only home. The shop owner allows me to sleep there after they close the shop. In exchange I clean their shop sometimes without any money.
I tried several times, I went to local union office for old age allowance, but nobody would help me because I am a poor old lady who has nobody in this big world. I eat one meal a day. When it’s raining I don’t find lentil and wheat. The last three days I had body pain and got a fever. I could not come to gather. Nobody came looking for me!
📷 Captured by : GMB Akash
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