Our community development projects were set up primarily to support families of sponsored children in crises. We believe that a stable family can provide a sustainable environment in which children can flourish. Our records also show that children under perform academically when their families are in trouble, so, to meet this challenge, we introduced a number of community development projects.
WE BELIEVE STRONG COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT UNDERPINS A CHILD’S CHANCES OF SUCCESS.
‘We were made homeless when the local authority destroyed our house after branding most slum dwellers as unauthorised inhabitants. We did not have enough household income at the time to rent a place. This is when Children’s Hope provided us with a grant to set up a tailoring business which I run from home. Today I make enough money to rent a place for my family. Many thanks to Children’s Hope for helping us regain our dignity.’
BilKIS
MICRO CREDIT
The poor often lack access to basic financial services. In affiliation with a partner organisation known as Prothithdhoni, we offer small loans to start or grow businesses. Micro-credit schemes can help poor people, especially women, to be more autonomous.
SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS
Families residing in Dhaka’s slums are under-served by both government and non-government organisations, many of whom still see poverty as a rural issue or see the urban poor as less deserving of help. Children’s Hope prioritises family support as a crucial step to providing uninterrupted education for its sponsored students living in slums. Family support is provided under the Sustainable Livelihood Development Project, which offers grants to families in crises.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Read how our wide range of activities has, for Dhaka’s slum children, created once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, every day.
Mohammad Shirajul Islam is the father of sponsored child Soma Islam, now 19, he is the only wage earner in his family of five. When she was 15, he was running a tea stall when, without warning or compensation, the local authority bulldozed his and other roadside small businesses to make way for new road construction works. Overnight his business and stock were wiped out and he found himself without any income for his family. Under the hardship criteria he received US$580 (£470) as a sustainable grant to set up a fresh tea stall. This fast track response in providing financial support was very welcome – it meant he could set up the new stall in a safer place and make good profits from the stall in order to help his family with the minimum of disruption to their lives.