Bangladesh children return to school after 18 months
Finally, it is happening! After 544 days of waiting (18 months), schools in Bangladesh got reopened for young and old schoolchildren on the 12th September 2021. Children are coming back to school gradually under precisely given conditions. We wish them smooth return and we thank everyone who supported them during the school closure.
Schools in Bangladesh were closed on the 17th March 2020 due to the spread of COVID-19. They were opened on Sunday, 12th September 2021, after almost 18 months.
Children of the 5th, 8th, 10th and 12th grade are now going to school every day as they will take state exams at the end of the year. The rest of the children take turns in groups, so currently they are going to school 2-3 days a week and study at home for the rest of the week.
Good decisions and loving help
One year and a half was not easy. COVID-19 pandemic has caused great concern and suffering to the millions of people in Bangladesh. Not only were schools closed, but also factories and markets. People were not allowed to go out into the fields. Many people lost their jobs and had no income. The poor ones had to borrow from others as they had no savings at all. Some families did not even have food.
Luckily, even in this difficult and complicated situation the program BanglaKids were able to help children and their families. We managed to support them thanks to the big heart of our donors and their decision to temporarily change the purpose of their donations. This allowed us to quickly create a system of long-term humanitarian aid in the event of a crisis caused by COVID-19. For quite a long time we have been helping 1434 families with children.
Food support and the community
Village schools became not only the distribution centers, but also the centers of good words and hope. Temporary teaching took place at home on a very personal basis. Humanitarian and human assistance was highly valued by the parents. It often happened that the help came in at the right time as we have already written in the articles such as With love from a happy family or I danced with joy that we had something to eat again.
We also made sure that our help in the villages was culturally sensitive and did not jeopardize the relations in the community. For this exact reason we helped families with the kids of all ages, not just the ones supported by the program BanglaKids. The result is great confidence in teachers and village school staff.
Mobile bridge and the challenge called “Boarding school”
A major challenge was to help children from boarding schools as their homes are scattered throughout Bangladesh. It was not possible to deliver food aid directly due to the capacity and logistical reasons as well as the travel ban during the strictest lockdown.
In this situation we have used the so called “mobile bridge”, mobile service bKash, that allowed us to send notifications about the money transfer via the mobile phones allowing the subsequent withdrawal of cash. Thanks to this service the families with children from boarding schools had money to get basic groceries.
Crisis resolution and marvelous mission
Today we can rejoice that the basic needs of children were met even during the school closure. We again will be sending money to children in schools.
Together we have overcome the biggest crisis so far in the history of the program BanglaKids. Now we continue our mission – to help children from poor families in Bangladesh to get an education and have a better future. It is a wonderful task!_a(1).jpg)
Donobad in Bangla = Thank you in English
Dear donors and sponsors of the BanglaKids program, we would like to thank you for all the love and support of the children in Bangladesh during the coronavirus crisis.
P.S. You can find a few pictures from the grand opening of the Monoshapara boarding school in the photo gallery.
