Foundations of Experience
New Hope Ministry Bangladesh Trust (NHMBT) Orphanage and Schools Benevolent Project, previously known as Orphanage Self-sufficiency Project (BGD-010), dates back to 2007 and supports a current orphanage that cares for the welfare of 12 boys, the current and any future schools in Bangladesh, and the various community self-sufficiency projects around the country.
Context of the Work
Bangladesh, a country of 168 million people, straddles the fertile Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta and has the highest population density in the world. Its 168 million people fit into land 2/3rds the size of Victoria with 52% of the country less than 1 metre above sea-level. 24% of the nation lives below the poverty line. There are over a million Rohingya refugees in the Chittagong area who have fled from Burma. This has created a massive social problem in Bangladesh as it is a drain on the limited food resources of the country and has been the source of significant drug influx (“yaba” tablets containing a mixture of methamphetamine and caffeine) into the country.
The Need is Enormous
Whilst significant investment has been made in primary schooling by the government, the school system in Bangladesh is not accessible by significant numbers of children, particularly in remote areas e.g. Chittagong Hill tract areas, outlying rural areas, and also to underprivileged children in the urban slum areas. Whilst significantly more children are now in school it has often been at the expense of class sizes which are now regularly up to 60 per class which has taken the toll on the quality of education. Teachers generally have had to supplement their incomes by tutoring. There are still significant rural areas with very low literacy rates. There is also poor medical support in rural Bangladesh and very limited vocational education only simple farming as the only source of income.
Education that Works
Our goals are to provide:
- a high-level education for communities with low education rates, offering programs that lead to employment and sustainably for families.
- a safe, quality upbringing for the 12 boys from the orphanage until they gain employment at an appropriate time, including trade or undergraduate education.
- an opportunity for the people in the communities we serve to have an adequate standard of living through programs tailored to each community’s circumstances.
Practicalities
The Caleb Foundation has been working with Pastor Kalyan Biswas, the chairman of NHMBT and the Senior Pastor of the Uttara, Assemblies of God Church, to set up Educational facilities in the communities that we serve. In many places, communities cannot afford any education for their children and in some places, there are no schools. Over the years we have started 10 schools some of which are now self-sufficient. We are currently assisting with the salaries of 19 teachers in 5 schools. We also support 12 boys through our orphanage at Vadun which, whilst is partially self-supporting now, still requires about $12,000 a year to maintain the facility and provide food and education for the boys. We also provide many varied self-sufficiency projects tailored to individual communities’ needs. These include the provision of goats for milk production and breeding, running industrial sewing classes to enable people to gain employment, provision of very small funds to start small businesses for people with disabilities, the provision of adult education classes, the training of people in the provision of triage level medical services in remote and rural areas.
The benefits of this project will eventually reach up to 2000 students and 50 teachers, the 12 boys and their house parents, and others. Potentially thousands in the 50 communities we hope to serve will be helped, while currently about 1500 in 25 communities are being served. You too can benefit this impoverished country by donating with the donate buttons on this page. Thank you.
