Grapes, greens and affluence
Most of the villagers were poor and illiterate, mainly dependent on farm labour. Crop damage by flood from Ghagor river was usual every year.
Those days of hardship are gone. They are well off now. No one works as farm labourer. Literacy rate is cent per cent. Children go to the high school, set up in the village.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. They have changed their lot by joining hands and doing other income generating activities like fishery, poultry, fruit and vegetable.
The village in Dakhin Ghagoa union in Daibandha Sadar upazila is also known as 'grape village. Nearly 100 families out of 1500 grow grapes.
The man who played the pioneering role in changing the village is Rafiqul Islam Sarker known as Ratan Bhai.
Initiated by Islam, the villagers formed Konarpaa Unnayan Samity. All the families were enrolled as its members. They began thinking how to develop themselves.
They were made aware of the need for literacy and the vast potential they had. A desire to change the lot and joint efforts are necessary. The Hunger Project came forward to help them.
Rafiqul Islam first introduced grape cultivation in the village in 1998, collecting saplings from Kashimpur government agriculture farm. But the people showed little interest. But he was not disappointed. He started motivation through holding group meetings and workshops. Now, grape plants are seen in majority of the homesteads.
"I harvested nearly 60 kg grape last year", said Jamil Sarker.
He has also a small dairy farm with five cows. He earns around Tk 400 a day from sale of milk. There are many like him in the village.
In 1999, some 16 jobless youths of the village took training on poultry farming. They jointly set up a farm with 300 ducks. This was the beginning.
Now over sixty families who worked as day labourers earlier are well off from poultry farming. Even housewives have small scale poultry farms.
"Poultry farming has changed our condition. I have over 100 poultry birds now," said housewife Mallika Begum.
Mosharaf Hossain is a commercial bee keeper.
Konarpara was a flood prone area. Crop damage by flood was usual every year.
The situation changed after construction of the 14- kilometer Sonail embankment with joint efforts of people of Konarpara and neighbouring villages.
Once completed, youths of Konaroara and adjacent villages under an arrangement with the authorities planted tree saplings along the embankment. Now there are over 20,000 grown up trees on the embankment.
Many of the villagers are engaged in fish cultivation, either individually or collectively by forming cooperative societies.
To spread education in the village, Rafiqul Islam set up a high school in the village in 1981. The school has about 300 students now including female ones.
Their success drew many dignitaries to this model village at different times. They include Shipping Minister Col (Rtd) Akbar Hossain, Dhaka mayor Sadek Hossain Khoka, Environment Minister Tariqul Islam and Dr. Badiul Alam Majumder, Country Director of Hunger Project in Bangladesh.
But the villagers have qualms also. Talking to this correspondent, many of them said kutcha roads turn muddy during rainy season. But construction of pucca roads need huge amounts of money. They ponder how to have pucca roads in the village. This will develop the communication system and be a boot to economic activities, they feel.
Rafiqul Islam was not available during this correspondent's visit to the village last week. He is in the United States on a tour.