In my parents' footsteps

Growing up in a Habitat home in Bangladesh, Biddut is motivated to be as diligent as his parents and has set his sights on taking over the family’s home-based business.

“I learned the value of hard work from my mother and my father who encouraged me to help in the store. I want to help my parents expand our business, raise my own family and care for my parents,” says Biddut, 22, who is studying marketing in a local college.

His parents Bivu and Lalita operate a sundry goods store in their Habitat home that was built more than 18 years ago. Biddut and his parents live in Mymensingh district, north of Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka. In the village of Raghurampur, their shop is a popular one-stop place for the community’s basic needs. Customers range from mothers who buy ingredients for cooking, to children looking for snacks.

Biddut mans the store with his mother Lalita, 45, while his father Bivu, 55, goes to the local market every day to replenish supplies. When the business is good, they can earn up to 3,000 taka (about US$35) a day — more than 10 times the store’s takings in the beginning.

She recalled setting up the store at a time when her husband Biddut lost his job in local bakery that had gone bankrupt. “Without this house I won’t be able to raise my family and set up my business. This house has been a blessing and great support for us — helping us survive tough times as we work hard to have a better future,” Lalita shares.