Meet inspiring and resilient Sughra Solangi who has always tried to empower women in real sense!
Sughra Solangi was born on March 02, 1970, in village Muhammad Arab Solangi in Sindh Province, Pakistan. Her father was a teacher in government school. Sughra was fond of getting education since childhood but traditional barrier where marriage was seen as higher priority than education didn’t allow her to fulfil her desire to get into school. She became victim of child marriage and became child bride at an age of 12. Unfortunately, her husband abandoned her when she was 20, accusing her of being unattractive and illiterate.
But instead of resigning to fate, she struggled to change the fate of many women like her. After her divorce at the age of 20, she had nothing but to take care of her two young children. Divorce left her depressed, lonely, financially strapped but she kept going somehow. She decided to begin studying as her best coping mechanism. She wanted to reinvent herself through education to start next chapter of her life but once again her fate met with cultural norms where she was discouraged by her brothers and relatives. She began studying on her own. Eventually, her desire won the support of one of her brothers who allowed an older cousin to help Sughra in her studies. Within four years, she passed the matriculation exam. To get smart with finances, Sughra used to do embroidery in the evening. This was her first step in becoming economically empowered. She successfully completed Bachelor of Arts degree in education at the age of 31.
She is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Marvi Rural Development Organization. Sughra is one of the luckiest Pakistani Woman who became first Ashoka Fellow in 1999. In the year 2011, she received International Women of Courage Awards from the Former Secretary of State Rodham Hilary Clinton and former First Lady Michele Obama.
Sughra, an exceptional example of resilience and courage, has emerged as an example of how an oppressed woman can achieve success through sheer determination and strength. She believes the motivation behind her work for women is solely because of her bitter past.
