Bangladesh: Giving disabled children in poverty a brighter future

It's been a great year for Bhola's Children, the west London-based charity which supports a home and school for disabled children on Bhola Island in the Bay of Bengal.

A year ago, Our Lady of Grace and St Edward RC Church in Chiswick launched an appeal for funds to repair the 45 year-old original school buildings. The astonishing sum of £22,000 was donated, and the buildings with a range of facilities, including classrooms, a medical treatment room, and workshops for the children have been repaired.

In providing education that would otherwise not exist for these disabled children has being life-changing. The development of skills builds the children's confidence and their ability to stand out.

And now more good news: Sheikh Hasina, the Honourable Prime Minister, started a trend to use drawings by disabled children in all the official greeting cards her office publishes.

For each occasion our children hold a drawing competition and send photographs of the winning three. We have been sending photos for years but did not hear any good news till 22nd February 2019. That day was amazing!!!

A letter from the Honourable Prime Minister's office came addressed to one of our young students, Tanvir, and it was addressed to him by name!!!

"Congratulations! Your picture has been selected and used in the 'Happy New Year 2019' card by the Prime Minister's office! And you will be donated 100,000 taka as honorarium for the picture."

What Tanvir was not expecting was to additionally be invited to the Prime Minister's office in the Bangladesh capital, Dhaka. Accompanied by Bhola's Children Director, Mohammad Zakirul Haque, Tanvir was welcomed personally by the Prime Minister with flowers and the cheque for the donation.

This special meeting has had a hugely positive impact on the children, inspiring them all to be more creative and overcome the challenges they have in life.

Bhola's Children is a small and very personal charity. It is hugely rewarding to see small children who arrive at the gates with low self-esteem, quickly develop into confident young adults with better prospects in the world.

Tanvir's story is precious because it shows the tangible result of being generous and helping others. His success is shared by the school, and all of the other children feel lifted by his success.

LINK

Bhola's Children
https://bholaschildren.org