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The Sreepur Village, Bangladesh
You can now get our regular weekly blogs on our own website. Please visit us at http://www.sreepurvillage.org and sign up for the newsletter, which provides readers with an insight into what we do here at The Sreepur Village charity.
Today
, when we arrived at The Sreepur Village’s main gate all of the children of grade four were also wandering in and, in spite of the cloudy and rather wet weather, they were all happily awaiting their teacher to escort them to school. When our communications team told them that we would go with them they became even more excited. To teach our grade four students we appoint two experienced teachers from outside government primary schools and at around 12 noon until early afternoon, it is these teachers that take the grade four pupils to and from school, one kilometre from The Sreepur Village.
You may be aware that since the beginning of the year, we have adopted a particular method for educating our children, which involves our grade four students attending school outside The Sreepur Village. From next year this will also apply to all grade five students.
At present, the grade four students are taking part of their Second Terminal Annual Examination and today is their last test. With the teacher taking the lead, we together walked the team of 16 students to school and rather than anticipate what questions may arise they, instead, discussed what they would be doing on the three-day holiday following their last test. At that moment, the teacher interrupted their conversations and asked them about their exam preparations and, as quick as the discussions had originally started, the pupils were separated and dispersed around the road.
With regard to the school examination system, the primary school’s academic year is divided into three terms. After the end of each term (approx. three and a half-months) they take an exam to assess what they have learnt, which is why this second term exam today was highly important.
For an insight in to attending school outside The Sreepur Village we grabbed the attention of Mamun, the leader of the team because he is the tallest boy in the group. He said, “I love going to school from my home and even though sir or madam is with us, we still get a chance to have fun. It’s just so cool to go out and about and we also get to have double snacks, which we love”. Finally, he solemnly added, “In spite of the fact we have been suffering from tests these last few days, in just a few hours it will all be over.”
When we reached the school, there was just five minutes until the test was to begin so everyone ran into the exam hall. This gave us the opportunity to talk to their teacher Rahima who said, “These children are a little different from other school students. They are very aware of discipline. Everyone in the school appreciates their drawings. They participate in various cultural programmes. As the representatives of the school we are delighted to be able to teach them.”
Finally, we left the team of 16 students to take their test and when they came back in the afternoon they were not just planning their vacation time, but also portraying signs of fear with the upcoming test results looming over their heads. In just a few days, the results of the Second Terminal Annual Examination test will be published but until then it is all fun, fun, fun. Good luck folks!
How many sons-in-law can one family have? Two, five or ten? You will be astonished to hear that there are more than 45 sons-in-law in the Sreepur Village family. Every year, we celebrate Jamai Mela (fair of sons-in-law) on our campus, a day-long festival with our married girls (ex-Sreepur girls), and their husbands and children.
During the summer season, a typical Bangladeshi tradition is for people to invite their daughter, son-in-law and grandson. You may be aware that here in The Sreepur Village we fulfil the role of guardian to many orphaned children and even though many of the girls are married, we still show love, care and responsibility for them. This festival is a mark of our affection and support towards them. It gives an opportunity for the girls who have been married outside the area to visit their home-Sreepur Village.
This year we welcomed 20 families, many of which arrived the night before the festival. In the morning, the programme commenced with a breakfast of seasonal fruit and was followed by an introduction and short discussion on various topics. The most exciting part was the ball games, which saw all of the sons-in law and daughters getting involved. One of the highlights of the day was the delicious lunch and in the afternoon, the families left the campus with a gift and a smile.
Moury, one of our married girls came with her little daughter and husband. We asked her what she thought about the festival. Moury said, “I left the village five years ago and because I now have a job, I just don’t get enough time to visit, but my heart always remains here. I do not have a house or parents so The Sreepur Village is everything to me. I can’t wait for their call and especially for this day because this day is just for us”.
Tiku, Moury’s husband said, “my wedding was very special. I married a girl and people used to say she was from an organisation, which didn’t bother me. The Sreepur Village treats me as a son-in-law like other families treat theirs. Pat is here. She is like other mothers. I love joining the festival.
For the last two days, all our children were very excited about this programme. They were able to meet with their older sisters, it really made their day.
Please donate here to help other mothers to be able to build themselves a life after Sreepur; and to live happily every after.
Every day at three o’clock, Sumi, a seven-year–old girl of Sreepur Village, rushes home from school eagerly wanting to visit the village pond. Keen to get there, when the actual time comes to dip her toes into the welcoming waters, Sumi doesn’t want to enter. When she finally gets in, she makes sure not to let go of her swimming instructor’s hand. Every day Mousumi and her friends Rimon, Sajal and Rani all have similar experiences which, seen from afar, provoke a number of emotions.
Currently, more than 70 children are learning to swim in the village, a programme which started at the beginning of July and is aimed at reducing the number of deaths by drowning. Every day in rural Bangladesh 46 children will die from drowning which amounts to 17,000 per year. Most of the children of Sreepur Village come from the rural riverine area where death by drowning is extremely common.
So, with these statistics it is clear to see why The Sreepur Village started the #SwimSafe programme. Teaming up with CIPRB (Centre for Injury Prevention and Research Bangladesh) The Sreepur Village funds qualified swimming instructors to teach the mothers and children of the village how to swim, a scheme which runs for two months this summer and again next year.
The swimming lessons are held in the pond, which is sectioned off by using natural bamboo. Using these local resources one can mimic, at low cost, a swimming pool with two sections. One is a low fenced-off platform which creates an artificial water depth of 40-60cm used to gain the children’s confidence and get them accustomed to water. The other section, 12.5 meters in depth and also with a boundary fence, is used to test their swimming and floating abilities.
We asked Sumi and her mother Josna what they thought about the swimming programme:
Sumi said, “I love to learn to swim. Even though I am afraid of the water, it is not very deep and I can even stand up in it. It is great having swimming teachers to help us and the best bit is I can also splash around with my friends – we all have fun together.”
Sumi’s Mother Josna explained that ‘Meghna’ (one of the mighty rivers of Bangladesh) is next to her house and almost every year there are floods. She said, “I never got the chance to teach my children how to swim. I was preoccupied with my family issues. However, here in The Sreepur Village my children have been given the opportunity to learn how to swim. This is such a worthy cause as three years ago, a daughter of one of my relatives fell into the water, she was lucky to survive but one day I will go back to my rural community to live and because of The Sreepur Village and CIPRB my children would have learned the essential skills to swim and not drown.”
From CIPRB and working with us are two female swimming instructors, Jhumur and Monika, both dedicating their time to teach the children how to swim. Monika explained that through a 21 step- process, the children are instructed to be positive in the water, to develop swimming and floating abilities. She said, “We also teach the children how to rescue somebody who is drowning and to identify life-threatening water dangers. All of the children are performing well. They are learning to swim fast. We are very proud of them and it is our pleasure to teach them life-saving techniques.”
All of the mothers of The Sreepur Village are required to participate in our education programme. When mothers are admitted here we assess their previous educational qualifications and we arrange proper schooling for them. Mothers start up from literacy class and study up to secondary school certificate. Indeed, even some of our mothers continue to higher studies. A large portion of our mothers are admitted to the Bangladesh Open University; here they do not have to study hard like the general curriculum institutes and they have enough time for life skills lessons.
Rubina is a little different to our mothers and she attends regular school with our older girls. Rubina, a single mother, came to us four months ago with her seven-month-old child. She is now in grade eight and loves going to school with other girls. Yesterday, when she was returning from the school, we caught her on camera wearing her school uniforms! Let’s make a noble wish for her better future!
Help us to educate mothers like Rubina to enable them to provide a better life for themselves and their children
You will remember our last update about the Leader Mothers at Sreepur, and we are excited to share with you our newest Leaders! Every six months we ‘recruit’ new Leader Mothers for the village – the candidates go through a rigorous and competitive evaluation to win a place as a Leader.
At Sreepur Village we are incredibly fortunate to have many strong and encouraging women who want to give their time to support and lead the other mothers, both those that are new to the Village and those who have been with us for longer.
The role of our Leaders is to provide this support network for all of our mothers, and to encourage others who want to be the next Leaders to put themselves forward.
We distinguish our Leaders by their green Saris or green Salwar Kamiz. It is also a symbol of their empowerment and makes them easy for mothers seeking guidance or support to find.
Each Leader is assigned to a different area of Sreepur, where they provide support to the clinic, big dining, school, special children, halfway house, mothers, children and most importantly our training programs. Our Leaders play a vital role in our Village.
This Tuesday we had a chance to sit down with our new leaders and asked them to talk to us about their role and time at Sreepur…
Shirina is the Leader of the tailoring section:
“I am here from a remote area. I suffered a lot in the early part of my widowhood period. Early on, I could not communicate with people. I didn’t know how to talk to others and it was very difficult for me to meet people. Since coming to Sreepur Village though I have become socialised and am now even the the leader of many other women. Nobody will believe it but until I came to Sreepur I had never I learn how to eat in front of others! The post of Leader has given me dignity and is a real honour.
Before coming to Sreepur I had only ever reached up to grade eight at school, but I am now preparing for my Secondary School Certificate. When I leave Sreepur I want to open up my own business, and Sreepur has given me the skills and confidence to be able to do it.”
Hasila is the Leader of Middle Boys House:
“I think, here every mother has individual freedom. Like me, all of them can consider their future, plan independently, and receive the support that they need to make their plans a reality. My future plan pushes me to be a Leader! I love this role! When the mothers, children and staff call me Leader-Didi (mother), I feel deeply honoured. I want to begin work in an official job, one that will help me reach my goals and I know that I will be able to achieve them with what I have learned since coming to Sreepur.”
Munia is the Leader of our Clinic:
“When first I came here, I saw all of the didi (mothers) wearing their green clothes; they set them apart from the other mothers in their green Saris and Salwar Kamiz. It’s attracted me a lot! I asked one of them, why they are different from us. Didi replied we are specially empowered to help others!
Since then I have had a small dream to be a Leader and to wear the green dress. I love wearing my green clothes, they help me to be determined.
I have suffered a lot in my life and being in a position where I am respected and able to help others who are only beginning their journey has helped me feel that one day I will be able to stand on my own feet.”
Every one of our mothers is empowered by this role in their own way, but all of them use their role to support and encourage others in the Village. They are proof of the considerable perseverance that all of our mothers have inside of them.
If you want to help empower more women like Shirina, Hasila and Munia you can make a donation, buy one of the products handmade by our mothers or buy a gift that gives
We are sorry for our delay in sharing our Eid celebrations with you but we’ve all been having such a wonderful time.
Eid-ul-Fitr is the most significant religious, social and cultural festival in Bangladesh, and the entire Muslim nation celebrates this day with due fervour and gravity.
The Sreepur Village celebrates this important festival every year, and this year was no exception and all of the mothers and children took part in the celebrations. A three-day long programme, full of religious solemnity, lots of sports, singing, dancing and joyful celebrations. We spoke to Swapna and her son Sumon, who celebrated their first Eid at Sreepur Village this year, and wanted to share their story with you…
“This was a very special Eid day for me. Before coming to Sreepur, I had never had a joyful Eid. I was born in a poverty-stricken family, and although we were together to celebrate my siblings and I never had a special Eid celebration like so many others had. My parents were unable to give us new dressed for Eid, and for three of our Eid celebrations we didn’t even have enough food for us all to eat that day. Having enough food to eat to celebrate Eid was a dream, a luxury, to us. When I met my husband, our Eid celebrations did not become any more joyful. He was as an unfortunate man as my father, a poor peasant day-labourer. After our marriage, it took him three years to give me a Shari (Bengali traditional clothing for women). My children also suffered a lot because of our lack of money, and we felt terrible that we could not give them all of the things we wanted to bless them with. It hurt me a lot. However, this Eid, I experienced a huge change in my life. My children get new clothes and delicious Eid dishes. I also get a new Sari. Basically, at this place (Sreepur Village), is where my children have become happy. I was worried when I chose to come to Sreepur, but each day I know that I made the right decision. Before I came here, I never thought that Eid would be a day of joy or celebration for me. My next hope is that I will be able to give my children new dresses that I have paid for myself by bringing in my own income.”
“Gracious! These three Eid days at Sreepur were astonishing for me! I got my new outfit three days before Eid. I didn’t show it to anyone before the Eid prayer and was so excited to wear it. All of my friends Hridoy, Hakim, Samuel, Saikot and all of us went to Mosque for Eid Prayer. Then we eat Semai (special dishes for Eid). Before the Eid day I coloured my hands with henna. The entire Village had great fun with lots of sports, fancy dress and with singing and dancing. All aunties (mothers) joined in. On Eid day, I also go for a trip out of the Village with my mother and sister and we ate beef for lunch. On the final day of Eid the aunties performed songs and dances, and in the evening the prizes were given to the winners of various sports and cultural events. I won an award for the sack-race! Lots of us received various awards from Michael mama (uncle (project director). I never had a celebration or day like this in my life before we came to Sreepur, and I will never forget how special this Eid has been.”
To make other mothers and their childen’s Eid special why not donate to us here
I always tremble with the thought I might one day be known as a ‘Rakkhusi’ (witch). At one time it became the truth. Born into a poor family I got married to a day labourer. He was 25 years older than me. Soon after the marriage, he became unable to provide an income due to a serious health problem despite this he was able to give me children. Sometimes I think men are experts at child production even if they can do nothing else. So within three years of conjugal life, I give birth to two children. My husband’s health deteriorated but his relatives did not give much importance to his treatment instead they blamed me. No sooner had he died the village shunned me and called me a ‘husband-eater’. Even my husband’s relatives beat me if I asked for food for my children. Through his death the domestic and social discrimination against me started in full swing. I know that my children deserve the inheritance property of their father and I also deserve some property but they refuse to acknowledge this. I became the head of my household on the death of my husband nonetheless they didn’t give me a single penny. My parents also rejected to provide me shelter so I came to Dhaka. I started working in a garment factory, they paid me less than other new employees. In addition to poor wages, they tried to sexually exploit me. Then I felt the scarcity of a guardian.
There I met with Kamal. A rickshaw puller. Men hardly want to marry a widow with children to bear the responsibilities, but he promised me he would help take care of my children. After a year, we got married. It was my second wrong doing. When I went to his house, I shocked to find he had another wife and they had four children. Because of this provided a shelter for me and my children and the fact that my husband’s behaviour was good, I stayed there. I gave birth to two children. Unfortunately, he died in a road accident and yet again I was generally blamed for my husband’s death. The common story starts once more; the story of exploitation and violence at the hands of my husband’s previous wife, children and relatives. However, he was a good man and had documented land in the name of my two children (his legitimate). I had a bit of confidence in getting the property, but again I was forced on to the street. There was nobody who could help me to claim my children’s lawful property rights.
The tale of Jesmin is the story of five million widows of Bangladesh. At this moment, like Jesmin there are 42 widows in The Sreepur Village. The widows of all ages in rural Bangladesh endure extreme poverty, isolation, violence, destitution, ill health and discrimination in law and custom. A lack of inheritance and land rights, widow abuse and the rules of remarriage practices of widows are prime examples of human rights violations. Among the neglected women of society, they are the most vulnerable. The Sreepur Village is working to rehabilitate these mothers with their children for their development and for a better future.
The scenario of widows in rural Bangladesh is even worse than that of urban areas. In addition to poor wages, they are sexually exploited and denied basic human rights. They are discriminated by their husband’s family and do not have any space at their maternal home. Besides being illiterate, they have no skills with which they can earn a living. They find themselves cornered from all sides. The widows in rural Bangladesh suffer multiple problems, disadvantages and deprivations.
If you would like to help Jesmin please visit our website to make a donation or purchase a handmade product https://www.sreepurvillage.org/pages/donate
His name is Sagor, he is 12 years old and he has been sheltering at The Sreepur Village night shelter in Tongi for the last 11 months.
He has always lived in extreme poverty. As part of a family of five, Sagor’s father was the only one who had an able body to work but it wasn’t enough to provide adequately for the whole family. Around five years ago Sagor’s father was crushed to death beneath the wheels of a lorry, sadly his mother died just two years later. Sagor was forced to live with his uncle but this provided nothing but a life of torture, abuse and beatings. One day, after being beaten badly once again for absolutely no reason, he got on a bus headed for Dhaka to escape.
Tongi Railway station became Sagor’s new home. He slept on the platform of the station exposed to the risk of abuse, trafficking and all manner of dangers. The Night Shelter, run by The Sreepur Village in Tongi, provides a safe and nurturing alternative for Sagor, giving him respite from the dangers of the streets. Sometimes he will use the Drop-In Centre during the day where there’s access to toilets, showers and most importantly food for lunch! Most often this will be the only access he has to food.
Like most of the kids on the streets this 11-year-old boy began to take drugs following in the steps of the other kids he met at the station and on the streets. He has had no education, but alas still considers himself lucky enough to have learned his numbers and the alphabet from the shelter. This has helped him to calculate the money he needs to buy his food and drugs.
In Sagor’s words, “what can I do? I have to survive myself. Every time, I have to think, how I will manage my next meal and others! I do a lot of things. Once, I work as a helper in a human hauler. Then I worked in a car garage. There they tortured me a lot. Subsequently, I’m running away. Then I started to work as a Tokai (recycling rubbish, begging, washing buses or doing any sort of things that would earn them some food). Independent business! However, first I used to smoke bidis or cigarettes. Then I started taking drugs. I was introduced to different types of drugs by other children of the street. I did not feel pain or hunger when I took glue, a kind of drug. I‘m trying to quit it, but it’s difficult”.
Sadly, most of the cases we come across are children just like Sagor. These children are from poverty-stricken families, broken families or have been forced flee to escape the pain and fear of constant torture. Then they fall into the path of child labour and gradually get over taken by drug abuse and other unthinkable illegal behaviours. It is often argued that children’s wages are essential to the survival of poor families. But the children who have been forced to sacrifice their education for work are doomed to a lifetime of high-risk low-wage jobs and they are then trapped in cycle of poverty, with history repeating itself for their children and so on. Sagor is one of the 689,037 child labourers in Dhaka division. While countries across the globe observe World Day Against Child Labour on 12th June, there are an estimated 3.45 million working children aged between 5 and 17 in the country, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS (Survey-2013). They are most vulnerable are those in the urban areas where they are easily victimized by drugs which cause irreparable destruction to their lives. This is what we are observing and attempting to change in our Tongi Street Children Project.
We tried to bring Sagor, and others like him, into our foster shelter project for rehabilitation. The years of exploitation and addiction has very sadly changed their mental form. Every day, approximately 50 children use our Drop-In-Centre and 30 children use the Night Shelter. We have a vast plan for these children for supporting them but we really do require more support from you all to fund this vitally important project.
Please donate as little or as much as you can afford today. Thank you.
Just £25 will support Sagor and other abandoned children at the Rehabilitation House. https://www.sreepurvillage.org/collections/gifts-that-give/products/supporting-children-at-the-rehabilitation-house
£80 will feed street children including Sagor for a whole week! https://www.sreepurvillage.org/collections/gifts-that-give/products/buy-lunch-for-a-street-child
https://www.sreepurvillage.org/pages/donate
The Sreepur Village, Bangladesh Blog 