Toiyaba’s journey of resilience and empowerment

TAM Report ||

In a quiet corner of Cox’s Bazar, where the sun bakes the dusty roads and survival is often the only goal, one woman has rewritten her story. Toiyaba, once a struggling day laborer and a mother battling poverty, is now an entrepreneur who stands as a symbol of resilience and hope for her community.

Her transformation didn’t happen overnight. Toiyaba was forced to return to her hometown after fleeing domestic abuse, carrying little more than the determination to protect her children. Alone and unskilled, she struggled to put food on the table. With no formal education and few job prospects, Toiyaba had to make difficult choices—like pulling her eldest son out of school so he could work alongside her.

“Some days, we barely had one full meal,” she recalled. Her children were undernourished, and the family lived in a constant state of uncertainty.

That began to change when Toiyaba came into contact with a UNICEF-supported women’s empowerment project in Cox’s Bazar. Through the initiative, she received livelihood training, a small poultry starter pack, vegetable seeds, and a sewing machine. The program didn’t just offer material support—it offered Toiyaba a chance to reclaim her dignity.

With unwavering determination, she began rearing chickens, growing vegetables in a small patch of land, and stitching clothes for neighbors. Slowly but surely, the income trickled in. Her children began to eat better. She bought them school supplies. For the first time in years, she felt in control of her own life.

“I never thought I could earn enough on my own,” Toiyaba said with a quiet smile. “Now, I don’t have to depend on anyone.”

Toiyaba’s story reflects a broader truth about the transformative power of targeted aid and training for vulnerable women. In regions like Cox’s Bazar, where poverty intersects with gender inequality and displacement, such support can mean the difference between survival and self-reliance.

Today, Toiyaba is no longer just surviving—she is thriving. Her children are back in school, and her community looks to her as an example of what’s possible with opportunity and courage.

“I want other women to know,” she says, “that it’s never too late to begin again.”