Children Really are the Future

Not a bad nights sleep considering that the bed was hard and I had a mosquito or two trap in the mosquito net that was meant to protect me from the pesky blighters.

Breakfast was very similar to dinner, omelettes; it is a good thing that I learned to like omelettes before I left England (a big thank you to CoActive).  Breakfast finished I decide to walk around the Center and meet the centres horse, named brace in Indian.  The horse is an important tool for cerebral palsy sufferers.  Having made aqua inane so with the horse I watched the morning pass by the centres outdoor kiosk, talking to various patients and carers.  One of which seems very keen on practising his English and will soon start bombarding me with Facebook messenger texts ( he may ned to be purged). Peter is updating his lists, and writing emails etc so i am waiting for him to pop out.  When he does arrive we are introduced to Valerie's daughter, and Asha (means hope) ,Sharmony's daughter, by Sharmony.  Sharmony is a worker at the Center, I have to say I am not sure what her role is but she is probably one of the main housekeepers.  Her story is mixed, her niece fell at about aged 8, breaking her neck resulting in paralysis from the neck down.  She learnt to paint using her mouth and her pictures are now sold as postcards.  Unfortunately she died a few years after the accident.  This is how Sharmony came to,the Center.

Sharmony is a lovely lady and she takes us for a walk through Savar to the local schools were all the kids are delighted to see us and all want to talk to us and have there pictures taken.  Suddenly I am beginning to feel like a rock star.  Strangely we also meet two women how babble on about Support from Saudi Arabia.  I really could not tell what they were saying, here I thought it was my chance to get some old lady photos, alas I was to be quickly denied.  Is Saudi trying to exert influence in Bangladesh?  After the school we return to the Center via the main road and see from close up the squalor on the streets, rubbish every where, piled up and rotting with a putrid odour, all mixed in with plastic bottles, bags and other incompatible materials.  This rubbish will here for years to come, surely disease will arise through such recklessness.

We return to the Center for a lunch that appears to have been arrange for us and the York students.  In fact we had arranged for the lunch to be brought forward by half an hour in order to get away for our afternoon meet with Save the Children. Here we met up,with the st Johns, York students (occupational therapists , and physiotherapists) and some,strange volunteer called Alan.  Alan has no qualifications, but visits just to speak English with the patients, this guy is really odd with a big "O"!

We are present with gifts, a book about the Center(just one for the two of us, really useful) and some wooden jigsaw pieces made by the child patients.

Our bit done it is finally time to head of to the city and our hotel for the night to meet up with Save the Children.  Three hours later and very late we make it to the Hotel 71, where a representative is waiting for us.  

Today, this afternoon Save the Children are going to show us their EYE programme, Education Youth Empowerment.  The programme involves encouraging young children from the slums to go to school.  These children are the kids that work as domestic cleaners, in the,case of girls, or carry out various "jobs" on the, streets of Dhaka.  These kids are an important source of income for the parents and as such many parents are not keen for there kids to go to school.  Save the Children and their partners try to, show the parents and children the benefits of education.  Because the children have no previous education they are behind there state, or private educated peers.  On the programme, STC endeavour to compact the child's enducation into a shorter time period.  They state that this is possible for the following reasons, the kids are generally older when they first join the programme, they are "street smart" and they have more drive than there peers.  From the evidence that I saw this could all be true.   The programme has been in place for manynyears and has help over a million children, in the Dhaka region they help and support over 190,000 such children.  It is more than just education, they provide vocational training, apprenticeships and job placement.  They actively encourage entrepreneurship and help the children / young individual how to save and raise capital.  

On our arrival to the school down some back streets covered in the usual squalor so evident in Dhaka we are treated by happy young faces.  On entering the school grounds the kids start singing and playing music.  We walk through a line of children presenting us with flowers, garlands and throwing flower petals over us, this is a bit of a shock!  To all those reading please let it be known that this is what I expect when I arrive home. 

We are led upstairs were introductions are made and STC gives a presentation.  After the presentation we are introduced to a recent crop of success stories, both male and female.  In a predominantly Muslim country this female participation is important.  The success stories range from recent job placements to individuals who have set up there own businesses.  

After hearing there stories we are escorted around the small school to view the current crop, talk with the school kids and see their activities.  We visit various classes, English language class, electronics, computer studies, engineering and sewing ( they still have pedal power sewing machines).  All of the kids are delighted to see us and constantly we are greet by polite and happy children.  It was truly inspirational to see how these kids were all so happy and enjoyed there education.  

Our final stop at the school,was to,visit the kids club.  The kids club allows the children to get together, discuss issues and just be kids.  It is an important element in the prevention of violence (in any form: physical, mental, child marriage and sexual attacks etc.).  The kids club involves a large amount of child empowerment and they elect. Class president on regular basis.  Today the kids sing traditional song and dance for us.  Towards the end they drag us to the Center and have us perform a traditional Bangladesh dance.  

The school visit finished we say our goodbyes and take our photos to screaming, happy kids and are driven away to visit an old students current work shop.  This student used to work as a child labourer in the shop that we currently now owns.  This is a more extreme tea boy to chief exec story, all the more so because it is true.  He currently owns and runs an engine repair shop, refurbishing motor cycle engines.  His shop employs around 12 people many who have been through the programme.  He is an example of how someone's life can be changed through this kind of work.

In the small shop,next door we also meet another success story of an individual who is now the chief Forman of a body repair workshop.  Bothe,are hard working individuals who through the programme and there own hard work are living a life that provides economic value as well as social value far and above what they could have imagined before  they were literally picked up from the streets.

Today was a real eye opener as to the great work that STC actually achieves.