Growing Up with Grameen Bank: My Story
Sabiha Akter Monny
I am Sabiha Akter Monny. I was born in 1990 in a small village name Char Sreerampur which is in Mymensingh district. My father was a government employee with small salary (now he is retired) and my mother is a housewife. I have three sisters and one younger brother. Including my grandmother, in total there are eight members in our family. My two elder sisters used to go to the school near our house in the village. The teachers of that school suggested my father to move to town as my sisters are very good at their studies and intelligent. My family moved to a small town when I was 4 years old. My eldest sister did outstanding result in SSC on 1998 and my father was very much inspired and started dreaming about his daughters. My mother was always supporting him to educate us properly.
In 2000 when I achieved primary scholarship in 1st Grade (talentpool), my parents were overwhelmed with my results. By that time my eldest sister got admission in Chittagong Veterinary University and my elder sister was in secondary school. My younger sister and youngest brother also started going to school. I achieved 1st Grade scholarship (Talentpool) in Junior Scholarship Examination on 2003. My younger sister and brother were doing well in their school as well. It was a very critical time for my family. It was very hard to support all of us for my father as he was the only earning member in our family. When my parents were about to give up, one of my aunties told my mother about Grameen Bank and the scholarship provided by Grameen Bank to the poor and talented students. My mother became a member of Grameen Bank immediately on 2004 and she took loan and started to grow vegetables in the small area besides our house. Time to time she took loan from Grameen Bank. My mother started poultry farming in a small scale. Eventually we were benefited a lot. My younger sister and brother both achieved 1st Grade scholarship (Talentpool) in their Primary Scholarship Examination in 2005. So my younger sister Adrita Afrin received Grameen Bank Scholarship which was really a great support for our family. In 2006 I attended SSC examination and got GPA 5 (Golden A+) from Ishwargonj Bisweswari Pilot High School. Only two students from Ishwargonj gained Golden A+ (excluding additional subjects) in that year.
Besides my studies I used to participate in all kind of extra -curricular activities. I had the opportunity to be the best speaker in debate competition and gained awards in essay writing, extempore speech, public speaking, poem reciting, drawing, good hand writing, and memory test math race and for 100m running. As a result, my teachers from my schools requested my parents to admit me in a district level college to explore my latent talent. My father was in hesitation as he knew it will be very hard for him to support me financially. Again Grameen Bank became the light of hope. They selected me as the best student and gave me Grameen Bank Branch Scholarship. My parents admitted me in the renowned college ‘Bangladesh Agricultural University College’. Later on, I have received Scholarship from Dhaka Board and District office, Mymensingh because of my result in SSC. In 2008, both my younger sister and brother achieved 1st Grade Scholarship in their junior scholarship examination and my sister Adrita Afrin received Grameen Bank Scholarship. I also received Grameen Bank scholarship for my result in HSC (Golden A+) on 2009.
In 2009, the branch officer of Grameen Bank, Ishwargonj branch informed my mother about the Khazanah Asia Scholarship. I applied for the scholarship and after the primary selection I went for 5 days assessment in Grameen Bank. The authorities of Khazanah came to the assessment camp from Malaysia. Forty talented students from forty different zones came to Grameen Bank for assessment as well. Those 5 days in the assessment camp were really very important in my life and I have learnt a lot from that assessment camp. After 2 months, there was a call from Grameen Bank Head office. That was the best day in my life as I was informed that I am one of the selected students for Khazanah Asia Scholarship. I couldn’t believe my ear that I will go to Malaysia to study Electrical & Electronics Engineering. Studying abroad for Bachelor degree (Hons) in a foreign country was beyond my imagination but because of Grameen Bank my dream came true.
Finally the day came when my four other friends and I had to depart from Bangladesh for Malaysia on 22 June, 2009. Grameen Bank arranged a lunch party on that day for our family members and us with Prof. Dr. Yunus. After lunch Prof. Dr. Yunus talked to each and every family and wished us best luck for our future challenges in a foreign country and assured us he will be on our side for any necessity. The flight was at midnight. The experience of getting into plane for the first time was very exciting.
Our plane landed to Kuala Lumpur International Airport on early morning at 6.00am and the officials from Khazanah was there to receive us. From there they took us to a five star hotel and we stayed there until 27 June as our registration in our University was on 28 June. Three of my friends went to International Islamic University, Malaysia, one of my friends went to Multimedia University, Malaysia and I was in Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Malaysia.
I was the only one Bangladeshi in my university. I was very afraid but Malaysians are very friendly. It took some time to cope with the new culture, new language, new people but the people from Khazanah were always beside me. They always motivated me, inspired me which helped me a lot to face all the challenges. The lecturers of my University are very helpful and friendly. After that I didn’t have to look back. Beside my studies I started to participate in extracurricular activities. For more exposure, I started to explore the beauty of Malaysia. Malaysia is a very nice country for travelling and very safe for girls to go around. Going out isn’t a problem as they have prayer room in every shopping mall and everywhere for both male and female. First few months I used to miss my family members and friends of Bangladesh but when I started all these, I just started loving Malaysia and my foreign friends. I had been to many places in Malaysia. I went to twin towers, highlands, sea beaches, hills for hiking and not to forget the shopping malls as Malaysia has lots of shopping malls.
I didn’t forget about my studies. I achieved dean list (a list of best students) in 7 semesters among 8 semesters in my University. I have completed my Honors degree and finally I achieved CGPA 3.73 out of 4 which is very hard to achieve from Electrical & Electronics Engineering in my University. All my lecturers, professors and dean from engineering faculty congratulated me for graduating with impressive CGPA and specially for being the 1st Bangladeshi girl to graduate from Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Malayisa. After completing my graduation successfully, I came back to Bangladesh on 2 March, 2013.
Khazanah, Grameen Bank and specially Prof. Dr. Yunus were always with me through my journey of 4 years in Malaysia.
I am grateful to Yayasan Khazanah, Grameen Bank, Yunus Centre, all the lecturers and professors of Universiti Tenaga Nasional, my each and every friend for being a part of my life. Special thanks to my parents who are most important part of my life, for their spiritual love, unconditional support and motivation throughout my whole life. Not to forget my siblings, who have given me the courage and moral support to believe in my passion and pursue my dreams. It is because of them, that I am where I am today.
