“When I was 12 years old, my father’s business collapsed and he had to find a private job to survive. But his job was not well paid and my family is getting a portion of financial assistance from one of my uncles. As the eldest child of my parents, I always felt my responsibility to play a supportive role and dream to get rid of the financial crisis for my family. From my childhood, I realized that I am good with artworks and able to create paintings or drawings as a hobby and wanted to transform this hobby into a profession especially for digital artworks. Some of my friends are also engaged in online freelancing and earning a handsome amount from a different online marketplace. Their success motivated me to become an online freelancer.”-said Swakahar Sarker. Swakahar Sarker, a 23 years old who is pursuing his graduate studies in Accounting at the Gaibandha Government College, dreams to be an independent online freelancer. To full-fill his dream to be a freelancer, Swakahar recently registered in a freelancing course in Gaibandha which is being initiated under an online freelancing project named ‘Skin in the Game: Micro-equity and Mentorship for Online Freelancing based Micro-entrepreneurs in Bangladesh’. The project is being funded by Private Enterprise Development in Low-Income Countries (PEDLIC). This is an experimental intervention, carried out by Dr. Abu Shonchoy (with Dr. Simon Quinn Mehrab Bakhtiar and Muhammad Meki ). The intervention aims to introduce an innovative new micro-finance product, based on the principles of equity financing, in which promising potential entrepreneurs are provided with capital, training, and mentorship to help them become online freelancers. Swakahar was desperately looking for a freelancing related training centers where he can get adequate training. He was asked to enroll in PKSF funded graphic design program named Skills for Employment Investment Program (SEIP) in Gana Unnayan Kendra (GUK). But he found the program less promising to become an independent freelancer. Meanwhile, he got the information from advertisements that a freelancing course is going to be initiated in Gaibandha by MOMODa FOUNDATION, in co-operation with Creative IT Institute and Gana Unnayan Kendra. He also found the offered course to be suitable, as the content of the course met his requirements and was conducted by one of the most renowned firms called Creative IT. After getting the information, he immediately enrolled himself as a would-be participant of the project through the online registration process and was randomly allocated for the upfront contract group; a group was offered the financing for the program cost of training and mentorship. Freelancing
is the first choice where he wants to flourish in his career as an independent freelancer. His family also wants to see his dream realized. He is currently a 3rd-year student and wants to carry out his studies without any interruption. “I want to focus on freelancing as my career and want to continue my study up to the post-graduation level. If I consider the present job market situation in Bangladesh, I might not get employed. The unemployment rate in Bangladesh is climbing higher. Freelancing requires utmost dedication and hard work and my backup career plan will depend on my education unless my freelancing plan is being collapsed by any reason.”
Through the training, Swakahar got a certain level of expertise in some specific fields like business card design and logo design. He also created an account on the freelance.com and fiver.com.
Swakahar recently participated in the logo design contest and won the contest, from which he earned USD 100 which is equivalent to BDT 8000. Apart from that, he is participating in different contests and getting good rating points from the buyers.
“As a beginner, I feel ready to take any paid work I can get my hands on and fortunately I got the opportunity to earn the aforementioned amount from the contest.”Swakahar further explains, “In the last two or three years, it was very difficult for us doing such activities in this region. Freelancing needs some basic facilities like high-speed internet service, proper training along with communication skills. Internet service has been widened from the last few years and more people are now surfing on the web.
Now, it has a greater potential for young people in the Northern part of Bangladesh. Also, People here are reluctant to go outside for a job that pushes them towards unemployment. Since they want to secure their earnings from being here, it’s a great opportunity to establish their career on freelancing
with the help of dedication and hard work.”
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