From the confines of a tiny tea stall, Shamsuddin long dreamed of setting up something bigger; a corner grocery shop to provide more security for the future of his disabled child, Rabuil, and to fund a move away from the slum dwelling without electricity in which he and his family of six lived in. But he never managed to get very far due to lack of available finance. Children’s Hope, who had provided nutrition, healthcare and other assistance to Rabuil in the past, awarded him a further grant of US$257 (£210) towards his total investment, which has at last enabled him to set up the shop. Soon his business started to generate the extra cash needed to relocate his family to more secure accommodation, where there is more room and the roof doesn’t leak in the monsoon.

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.

After her husband’s death in 2007, Kulsum became the sole bread-winner for her family of four, which included Sumi Akter, then 12, who was sponsored by Children’s Hope. Kulsum set up a home-based business with the help of a micro credit loan. Initially, she bought sewing equipment with that money and later took further loans totalling US$1292 (£1050) to boost her business. Today, Kulsum’s business is well settled and enables her to meet all of her essential family needs. Her daughter Sumi graduated last year.

Nurul Islam makes his living as a driver of a three-wheeled taxi, known as a TucTuc. Wanting to provide a more secure future for his seven-strong family he took the risk of taking out a high interest loan from another source to buy a reconditioned taxi, but the interest payments were too high. This was where Children’s Hope came to the rescue. He decided to take a loan from the charity’s microcredit scheme, which repaid his high interest loan and enabled him to manage his family finances with a low interest micro credit loan.

With the help of her husband, Rahima has run her corner tea stall since 2008. While Children’s Hope funded the education costs of her youngest daughter, Tahmina, then 11, now 18, she was struggling to find the money needed for her other two daughters, Nasnina and Sonia Akter, now aged 22 and 25.  She took out her first micro-credit loan in 2009 and invested the money in her business to help generate the extra income required for school fees. Soon she was getting a good return, and she repaid all of her loan in time and secured a second loan for further investment. Today Rahima comfortably manages all her household expenses, including the costs of university education for two of her daughters and paying for accommodation for the rest of the family.

Nazma is a mother of three, after seperating from her husband, she became the sole bread-winner of the family. Her days were very burdensome and whatever she managed to earn as a laborer in a tailor shop was not enough to meet her family needs. So hard was the struggle that she had to take her children out of school. Children’s Hope were able to fund the further education of her son Omar, as well as providing nutrition and family healthcare. To allow Nazma to start saving for the future Children’s Hope awarded her with a non-refundable grant of US$385 to establish her own tailoring shop. Now with the extra income she can support the education of her other children as well as contributing to the accommodation costs of relatives

Bilkis is the elder sister of a sponsored child called Kamrul Hasn, who is now 21. When they were evicted from their slum dwelling, the Family Rehabilitation Project awarded her US$308 (£250)  to set up her own tailoring business in the community and also provided her with appropriate training. Whereas before she was just getting by on the small sums she earned as a private tutor, today she makes a profit of US$26 (£21) per month, which helps her family pay the rent for their new accommodation in another urban area of Dhaka. The project has not only provided material assistance, it has also given her a newfound independence as the decision maker in the family.

When Rehana Begum’s husband, the only bread-winner in the family, fell into ill health with diabetes and heart problems, Rehana applied to the Sustainable Livelihood Development Project for a grant to set up her own grocery shop to provide her family income. She was awarded US$578 under the scheme and was able to provide much needed stability, giving her husband the best chance of recovery, and her children who were covered by the Children’s Hope sponsorship scheme, were able to continue with their studies.

Saiful Islam had been successfully running his savory food business from home until his house burnt down, destroying all his business assets and leaving him and his family of four living by a roadside. He was allocated US$578 (£470) to rebuild his house and additional money was also granted to salvage his business. He has since made a gradual recovery from his loss and today he is now able to save US$14 (£12)  each month from his own business.

“I am Amena Begum, 46, whose 14-year-old daughter Aysha Akter is with the Children’s Hope scheme. I was a day labourer working long hours in an embroidery factory, but I was paid very little, it was not enough to meet my family needs and the long hours meant I was unable to spend quality time with my girls, caring for them or supporting them in their studies. Children’s Hope gave me a non-refundable sustainable grant in order to buy an embroidery machine. Consequently, I set up my own embroidery business, employing two staff. One Sustainable Livelihood grant has turned my family earnings into a comfortable income from which I can now save some money on a monthly basis.