"We don't want to give up"
Meet some of the garment workers who have received your support through SAJIDA Foundation.
Each purchase of a Lost Stock box provides a week’s worth of support to garment workers in Bangladesh through our NGO partner, SAJIDA Foundation. With over 116,000 Lost Stock boxes now ordered, we are able to provide SAJIDA Foundation with 116,000 weeks of support to distribute to garment workers who have been adversely affected by the cancellation of stock orders.
At the start of this project, SAJIDA Foundation planned to provide vouchers for workers that would allow them to buy supplies at specific stores. However, thanks to support from the Bangladeshi NGO authority, SAJIDA Foundation has now in many cases been able to provide cash transfers to workers through mobile money technology allowing workers to utilise the money raised for rent alongside food.
Here are just some of the workers who, thanks to your help and generosity, SAJIDA Foundation has been able to help since Covid caused such chaos to this industry.
Stithi - 25 years old
Jesmin - 25 years old
"My sole income was what put a roof over my family’s head and fed their stomachs. Our company stopped receiving orders because of the virus crisis and a lot of us were let go from our jobs. The uncertainty of the lockdown felt as if someone had snatched the ground from under my feet. I could reach no one for help and had no idea how to put food on the table."
Farida - 34 years old
"Making ends meet had always been a challenge for me with minimum wage and my husband losing his job. When the pandemic hit the country, it hit us hard as well. My work at the garment factories was off and our futures seemed bleak without the support of SAJIDA Foundation. We don’t want to give up; we want to pick ourselves up and start anew."
Tuli - 26 years old
"I lost my job since the beginning of the global lockdown. My in-law’s family and two children dependent heavily on my earnings for their livelihood. My husband also suffered from a salary cut. Circumstances won’t allow chasing a new job opportunity anytime soon either. Nothing has improved for us, our lives have been very difficult and lack of hope is affecting us mentally as well."
Bilquis - 32 years old
"I had a job and ran a store from the finances of which I take care of. The pandemic has not only taken all that away from me, I don’t know how to go forward with life in this situation. No one wants to help each other out anymore. Even if they want to, they can’t even help themselves in this crisis. How do I educate my children? How do I bring food on the table?"
It's estimated that 2.28 million garment workers have been affected by cancellations caused by the pandemic. Whilst clearly we can’t help everyone, we know that Lost Stock has made a real impact to so many lives already, and that we can’t stop now. Stories like these make us want to continue to support as many workers and families as possible and, with your help, we can carry on this mission.
We know what we’ve created isn’t perfect so that’s why we’re doing everything we can to reduce delivery times and better match products to your tastes.
You can continue to support Lost Stock by buying an Autumn/Winter Lost Stock box, checking out our kidswear range, or just helping us spread the word through social media or in real life. Whatever you can do does make a huge difference, thank you!