Samantha Morshed Interview (Part Two)

Samantha Morshed Interview(Part Two)
by Jessica

This is the second part of Shopping for a Change’s interview with the lovely Samantha Morshed, founder of Pebble Child.

Seeing two octopus toys give each other high-fives on the cover page of the Pebble Child website was already too cute to handle. After scrolling through pictures of various food-shaped rattles and animal-themed toys, I was almost ready to buy all of them for myself. When I finally had the chance to talk to Samantha, it was no surprise that I found her to be a funny and an all-around kind person. Her passion for helping out the women of Bangladesh was evident and her charming British accent was enough to win us over completely. During the interview, we learned a lot about Samantha’s past and her inspiration to start Pebble Child. In 1992, Samantha was first introduced to Bangladesh by her future husband Morshed, who wanted to show her where he had grown up. It was in her return trip of 2002 that Samantha started up Pebble Child to help out the women living there and improve their lifestyles. Though Samantha was faced with a daunting task, she was lucky to have her entire family supporting her. “My husband helps me – we work together as partners.” When she first started setting up centers, Samantha did not have the language skill to communicate with people, so Morshed stepped in to assist her. In addition, Samantha’s children (2 boys, 11 and 13 years old) are also involved in the process - I was surprised to discover that oldest son had even independently designed some of the products, including the Chubby monster toy.

Pebble's precious duo of boy and girl bunnies.

In the interview, Samantha filled me in on the significant changes Pebble Child has made in the artisan’s lifestyles. Normally, people in Bangladesh do not have many options when it comes to employment opportunities. Working in the season field, which is work usually done by the men anyways, is the only other job open to the women in Bangladesh. Samantha described some areas as “so poor that the women don’t even have a sari blouse -it's undignified for women not to have a sari blouse because it's like not having underwear.” Working for Pebble Child not only gave the women an opportunity to earn their own income, but also gave them the liberty to invest the money however they pleased. Many of the development aid programs had dictated how the women spent their money, stripping them of their freedom of choice. To Samantha, it is important that “when we start to help people, we are not disempowering them by making decisions for them - something that is overlooked in many large development aid programs that go on…” 

Fortunately, Pebble Child operates on better standards. “We don’t assume ourselves to be the experts in what the women need. These women have lived lives that have required enormous resilience and they’ve learned a great deal from that. While they might be illiterate, they are certainly not stupid and they know what’s required and what’s best for their family.” When given the ability to spend, women knew what they wanted.  Samantha notices huge changes in their lifestyles. First, the women started to buy additional protein for the family. They made improvements to their living conditions. A concrete floor took the place of the mud floor, making their houses more stable and resilient to floods and the harsh weather in Bangladesh. In addition, the women replaced the matted roof with a tin one and bought televisions for their houses. Then, the women started to make bigger changes in their lives. “Over time women make the decision not to give birth at home but rather go to the clinic to give birth” While schooling in Bangladesh is free, families need to ensure their children have uniforms and second hand books, so “we start to see that the women are able to afford these items and send their children to school.”

I had questioned Samantha about what inspired her to start the organization. She had graduated in physics from Oxford University, worked at BBC as a researcher, earned a postgrad diploma in financial economics, and spent eight years working in investment banking. It struck me as odd that she didn’t have a background that really connected her with her work in Bangladesh. Seeing my confusion, Samantha answered with:

"You haven’t been to Bangladesh. It's impossible to go to Bangladesh as an educated person feeling that you have some skills, and not get involved... to be honest with you. The need is all around you even if you live in the smartest area, in the capital city you step out of your house and there are beggars, there are people with real needs, there are people living in the streets....it's impossible just to turn your head away and not to try and do something... you can’t sleep at night feeling like you're not do something when in actual fact you do have some skills that maybe would enable you to do something… it’s compulsory, really. There is no choice in it--you just get on with it.”

Hey guys, my name is Jessica. I'm 16 and an upcoming senior at high school. I really loved talking to Samantha Morshed, and this Pebble Child blog was probably my favorite one to write...so I hope you guys enjoy this article as much as I did!