“I have been working here for the last 14 months. I am from Joyngar, in Old Dhaka. Now I live in Azimpur with my auntie. I have two sisters and a brother. I am the youngest. I had two years of schooling. My big sister got married a year ago. My mum works as a maid in people’s houses. She earns about 150 taka each month.

I start my work at 6 am and finish at 11 pm at night. I eat my breakfast and lunch in the tempo. There is no chance to spend time in a café, so I buy my food and eat it as I work. I give all my money to my mum.

Sometimes I work for 5 days a week, sometimes 7. I rarely fall really ill, but most of the time I have a cough and a pain in my throat because I have to call out for passengers every day. When my cough gets really bad I have to take a day off. The problem is that drivers don’t allow this, so that day off means losing your job and then having to fight for a new one. Within the past month I have had to change tempos twice for this reason. It’s always hard to adjust to the ways of a new driver and a new tempo.”



Tempos at the Farm gate Stand.