Notes from the Field - Issue 2

Asian Aid in Bangladesh

notes from the field

issue 2

www.facebook.com/asianaid

www.asianaid.org.au


Hoping for more

Today it rained. A lot. It reminded us quickly we were in Bangladesh on the tail-end of monsoon season. Earlier this year floods displaced over 100,000 people and claimed the

lives of over 1000.

Today we were to visit three schools, but we could only drive in our van so far, then we’d be on the back of a motorbike

travelling on what they call a road (a path of mud) for the rest. For us it was exciting and adventurous, for them it was just

another common aspect of their day. Out came full rain coats (head to toe), we covered and held onto our gear as best as

we could. Today we interviewed 8 different children for our

Asian Aid Hope-a-thon campaign. Today we were witness to eight stories of hope.

Pirgacha School

page 3www.asianaid.org.au

Pirgacha School consists of two classrooms, one in the main hall of a church and the other in the back office of the church. There are no lights, but there are windows, and desks for each of the students.

The kitchen is small, it leaks and as most Bangla-deshi rural villages, it uses firewood to cook. It’s no easy and quick button-pressing process, though these cooks have it down to a science.


The school teachers at Pirgacha School are hus-band and wife and live behind the school. Somiron and his wife teach 32 children, five of which are cur-rently sponsored by Asian Aid. The school teaches from Nursery to Grade three, all of which occurs in two classrooms. From here students typically go to nearby JASS (Jalchatra Adventist Seminary School) for further education.

Somiron and his wife lead the school with an in-credible air of humility. When asked about their needs they outlined quite a few, all of which sor-rounded making the school more efficient and pro-viding more for the children. The school desires to have a small library of books, as the resources for teachers and students are next to nil. There is a need for play equipment as well to enliven their small grass patch used for play time. Their well in monsoon season provides more than enough wa-ter, but in the dry season it nearly taps dry. Somiron suggested another 50ft deeper than the existing depth of 100ft would ensure water throughout the year.

It would be great to see a volunteer group come out and tackle some of the needs this school, and many others, have.

Despite their needs the couple is heaps jovial and grateful for the support they get from Australia (as you can see from the photo). Humility is such a common characteristic among the Bangladeshi people; it’s such a blessing for us at Asian Aid to work with such committed-to-the-goal staff.


We interviewed these three young boys from Pir-gacha School. As you can see, one of them is spon-sored and two are not. These two young boys are beginning to build up a debt to the school as the school has still decided to give them education de-spite having their funds covered from overseas aid.

Though all their surnames are the same, they are not related, as this name also denotes the locale they come from and is quite common practice through-out Bangladesh. Suborno, who is in class two, enjoys reading and he wants to be a police-man when he grows up. Kajol and Bibek are both in class one and both come from bigger families with siblings also in need of sponsorship.

Follow this link to hear their stories first-hand: https://vimeo.com/52612857

SUBORNO BORMONcurrently sponsored

KAJOL BORMONpending for sponsorship

BIBEK BORMONpending for sponsorship


Hoping for moreBanoria School

After visiting Pirgacha School we mounted the mo-torbikes again in the pouring rain to head over to another feeder-school for JASS; Banoria School.

Banoria School, much like Pirgacha, is nothing more than a small building. Banoria has only one class-room where classes go from Nursery to Grade three and here there is only one teacher, Belikeman Dofo.

A mild-mannered and young teacher (pictured right) who has a passion for bringing education to the rural villages; he has been working here since the beginning of this year. The school has 24 stu-dents in total, five of which are currently sponsored through Asian Aid.

Though the school has been in operation since 1999, it has had no major developments in it’s structure. For this reason growth of school num-bers has not been persued due to limited capacity. On days where it’s overcast, the windows stretch

as far as possible to let in enough light, but fail. Continuous eletricity in rural communities in Bang-ladesh is nearly unheard of, considering even in the capital city, Dhaka, there are still powercuts daily. For Banoria school, this means the children either have to have class outside (when it’s not raining) or struggle to read and learn with the available light.


Mala (top) and Pial (bottom)We interviewed these two children from Banoria School. They are both currently spon-sored and enjoying their school.

Pial enjoys playing football (soc-cer) and wants to be a police-man when he grows up. Mala enjoys playing a local game called ‘Boochi” and aspires to be a nurse later in life.

You can hear their story first-hand by following this link: https://vimeo.com/52612857


Hoping for moreJalchatra Adventist Seminary School

Finally we made our way, via our van, to Jalchatra Adventist Seminary School. We arrived just in time for a late lunch and tour of the school. There was a break in the rain when we arrived but we were hungry. Unfor-tunately the rain decided to make an appearance just as lunch was finished and we got to see how the students navi-gate the muddy campus dur-ing the monsoon.

As we walked around the cam-pus, we had to be so careful with every step to avoid slip-ping, especially myself (Josh)

who was carrying the Asian Aid camera gear.

JASS is a medium sized school in this northern side of Bang-ladesh and currently there are 141 enrolled students. Among those students 35 are spon-sored by Asian Aid.

The school has many facilities and resources, though it suf-fers from a lack of classrooms. There are many classrooms where water leaks through the monsoon-bullied roofs, making dry study sessions a challenge.As we continued to tour this boarding school we noted that

it was quite congested in the dorm areas, reflecting that it was at capacity. Upon inquir-ing; overflow is typically sent to Monosapara School (will visit this school in ‘Notes from the Field’ in an upcoming issue).

Meeting with the staff and faculty, this school despite its monsoonal challenges that af-fect the schools layout and op-eration, showed us that there could be smiles amidst the storm, as the picture (above right) shows.


aboveAll smiles after classes are done for the day. Traditional-Bangla fashion reflects much more colorful than their school uniforms!

backgroundThough this classroom has the es-sentials, many classrooms at JASS have leaky roofs and not enough desks. A common struggle is a lack of resources for teachers.


The boarding facilities throughout many of our schools Bangladesh are regularly overcrowded due to limited funding, and limited available land. The children make the most of the circumstances however, and do well to accommodate for each other by stacking and storing their belongings in long rectangular tin boxes.

In many of the boarding schools we visit we note the amazing camaraderie and brotherhood/sister-hood that exists. Children have to share their living space, but as bonds grow between the chil-dren over time, they begin to share much more

than that. Sharing clothes and life dreams, that life-long concrete bond is formed. Our local part-ner, Shohag Boidya, who works here and tooks us all over Bangladesh was a sponsor child himself (we will cover his story in an upcoming issue) and as we went from school to school he was often happily reunited with someone he shared a dorm room with in his childhood. Usually this meant we’d have to wait or explore the campus on our own while he had the all-im-portant catch-up.

The children shown in the picture above; I won-der where their paths will cross later in life. I hope that the sponsorship they’ve received will help them and inspire them to achieve what be-fore may not have been possible. The aim is that these young children will contribute back to their communities through the gift of education. Even in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, the lit-eracy rate is just over 60%. There is a lot work to be done!

The school currently teaches classes UKG to Grade 5, and is in need of additional teaching resources, including an equipped library. Classes taught at the school include Bangla, English, Moral, Social Science, General Science, Maths, Health, and Drawing. For those children fortunate enough to attend Jal-chatra Adventist Seminary School, and than move on to Monosapara School, here in lies a good foundation for a hopefilled future.


aboveStudents attending their school assembly; no seats except a small few at the rear. The children were indeed the example of good behaviour.

belowAfter we'd had lunch we begin our interviews with these three bright futures pictured below. Antor was quite reserved and shy compared to the other two and Tumpa was our first female we'd interviewed. She is incredibly intelligent and po-lite, though they are all incredibly polite! Sangnaumthang has high hopes of becom-ing a scientist when he grows up. You can watch their full interview through this link: https://vimeo.com/52612857

Antor Bormon, Tumpa Hajong and Sangnaumthang Bom

page12www.asianaid.org.au

"Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently." -Maya Angelou

Documents

Notes from the Field - Issue 2