Ghayasuddin

Mohammad Ghayasuddin, like many Bangladeshis, prefers to be called by his last name only. His story is one of long-term devotion to fair work for fair wages, resulting in good jobs for over 1500 women in Bangladesh over many years.

Ghayasuddin started working in fair trade in 1973, at the age of 18. His employer was Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), which is the parent organization of Ten Thousand Villages, the oldest and one of the largest fair trade organizations in North America. MCC has started numerous fair trade projects around the world.

For most of his years, Ghayasuddin has lived and worked in the northern city of Saidpur. He is the general manager of an organization that is now called Saidpur Enterprises, started by MCC and now operated as a nonprofit by Bangladeshis, with Ghayasuddin as general manager.

Saidpur Enterprises has two small companies under its umbrella. Action Bag employs about 70 women, most of whom make jute or cotton bags. Eastern Screen Printers also employs about 70 women, most of them doing screen printing on paper and fabric. The women elect their own board members, who together make policy for Saidpur Enterprises.

Several organizations often work together to produce a single project. For example Eastern Screen Printers does the printing on Action Bag bags, as well as on paper from other groups that collectively sell their goods under the name Prokritee.

For many years, Saidpur Enterprises has operated as a training ground for disadvantaged women. Typically, they work for up to three years, learning job skills as well as literacy, management and nutrition. Their wages include a savings plan. When they graduate, the women often start their own small businesses with their savings and their new skills. Of the first 220 graduates, 143 were still running their businesses successfully two years later. That is much higher than the success rate for new businesses in the US! Others had taken their money and moved to India or Pakistan.

Ghayasuddin, while not an artisan himself, is a great example of the many people around the world working tirelessly to make fair trade a reality for thousands of marginalized people, mostly women. Saidpur Enterprises and other fair trade groups in Bangladesh have also raised awareness and created new respect for women in their culture.

Ghayasuddin’s dream is to keep Saidpur Enterprises sustainable and growing, to help more women earn their way out of poverty.

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