Dear Donors:
Greetings from the Banglahelp team!
I’m very happy to share some news with you about our recent trip to Bangladesh. God continues to bless our work there and is giving us new opportunities to help the most vulnerable. Please continue to pray for our schools and projects.
The Light Schools Although our schools continue to be closed due to the COVID pandemic, things are still happening at them. Teachers have been providing class lessons for their students to use and study at home. Our teachers also visit students in their houses and help them with their homework. At this point, we don’t know when the government will allow the schools to open. Therefore, our teachers will continue to provide lessons and support them as much as possible until that time comes.
We also were able to distribute masks to three of our schools. Each one had the “Light Schools” logo on it.
We had the opportunity to visit several of our students and their families. They were eager to express their gratitude for some supplies that were distributed recently. These provisions brought much needed relief for many of these families. Especially appreciated by each family was the 25kg bag of rice, as seen in the picture to the left.
Destitute Women Development Project
This project is meant to help abused women who have despairingly ended up as sex workers to support themselves and their children.
We also met with sex workers at a brothel in Daulatdia, one of the biggest brothels in the world, where more than 1,300 women work. Some of them are sold into the brothel as young as 7 years old. They shared their painful stories and requested that we help them by taking their children out of the brothel so they can have a better life. They also requested literacy programs and training in other trades so that they can start a more dignified life. But their main request was, repeatedly, that we help their daughters go to the “Safe House” project…We met with four of these women. They shared their sad stories. One of them attempted suicide 3 times (the last attempt was a week before we met.) Luckily her son saw her and she was stopped from ending her life.
Another one threw away all her Bibles because she was so discouraged and angry with God for not helping her out of her difficult situation. These women have experienced pain and hopelessness beyond what some of us can imagine.
We discussed the opportunity to provide them with a safe place to stay and have training for different job opportunities.
We are partnering with Adventist World Radio who will be the main financial donor for this project.
We also met with sex workers at a brothel in Daulatdia, one of the biggest brothels in the world, where more than 1,300 women work. Some of them are sold into the brothel as young as 7 years old. They shared their painful stories and requested that we help them by taking their children out of the brothel so they can have a better life. They also requested literacy programs and training in other trades so that they can start a more dignified life. But their main request was, repeatedly, that we help their daughters go to the “Safe House” project.
The “Safe House” project was opened in 1997 by a Bangladeshi Freedom Fighter. They have helped over 140 girls (all daughters of sex workers) go to College and University and form families. There is a capacity for 50 girls, yet at this time they only have 18 girls, who are being sponsored by “Save the Children.” During this trip, we agreed with Ms. Anita Jepson (second from right) to sponsor 10 girls for 1 year.
Since then, we’ve decided to try and get sponsors to cover the 22 more available places at this Safe House. The cost is $105 per person per month.
We feel privileged to be able to provide education at the Light Schools to children and their parents. And now, the possibility to rescue women from the abuse of the sex trade and also support their daughters gives us new motivation to continue the work and pray more intensely.
We look forward to partnering with you as we continue to help those in need in Bangladesh!
With deep gratitude,
Gerardo Toledo
President