Nurjahan Begum, born in 1955 to a poor family in Dhaleswar, Sirajganj district, has become a successful entrepreneur thanks to her Polliphone (village phone) business. Despite facing numerous challenges, Nurjahan took a microloan in 1987 of Taka 2000 to set up a grocery shop. She became a trained veterinarian, traveling to neighboring villages to vaccinate farm animals and poultry. She also started a beehive, which was damaged by the 1998 floods. Nurjahan won the local council elections and invested Taka 25,000 in her Polliphone (village phone business). The first village phone was handed over to her in a ceremony, fetching her Taka 300 as her first income. People from far-off villages used her phone to call or receive calls from relatives in India, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and the United States. Nurjahan has further diversified her telephone business by taking an additional connection from “Sheba” another rural telephone operator that provides WLL connections operating fax machines at cheaper rates. She has also acquired CD players for renting out, fetching an extra monthly income. Nurjahan has recently bought a computer for her son, who just finished high school. She hopes her son will be able to set up a village kiosk or cyber café in the nearest district town.

Source: Case Study