Japanese tale of a Bangladeshi woman

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in his speech at the 68th United Nations General Assembly has mentioned name of a Bangladeshi lady to highlight Japan’s development concept.

He said Nilufa Yeasmin, a mother of two, had been able to send her children to higher education by combining her income with her husband’s.

“Poverty caused Ms. Nilufa to give up on the dream she had cherished as a little girl to become a doctor someday,” he said. “But I understand that now she proudly states she has become ‘a doctor of clean water’.

He mentioned the name while explaining that Japanese development concept were aiming at creating a society where women shine and shed light on some issues that must be tackled.

“Can we not say that Ms. Nilufa has acquired self-esteem, the most precious asset of all?” he said.

Nilufa works with the made-in-Japan water purification technology called “Poly-Glu”. Her professional title is “Poly-Glu Lady”, the Japanese premier said.

Nippon Poly-Glu Ltd, invented the ‘cheap’ ingredient extracted from Japanese traditional food, Natto, to clean dirty water of ponds and rivers.

“…you simply add it to turbid water. Poly-Glu acts as an adsorbent, adhering to excess substances in the water, and then falls to the bottom as a precipitate, leaving the water clear,” he said.

“It is necessary to teach people how to use it correctly at the outset, and Ms. Nilufa and other "Poly-Glu Ladies" serve as both salespersons and instructors.

“As you can see, as what is called a "base of the pyramid" or "BOP" business, this endeavour is characterized by the expectations placed on the power of women,” he said in his speech on September 26 in New York.

“My government wishes to bring forth as many Ms. Nilufas as possible,” he said and that “we will work to enhance the assistance to such companies and organizations to make their ideas to bear fruit”.