Laily gets married!

Laily and Rofiq Marriage ceremony Laily is with one leg and Rafique don't have any disability. They meet each other in Dhaka when she was in training.

Please pray for them for there happy life.

All the children injoy the marriage it was in the boundary Bholas children
Alibhai

flood update from Ali, late October 2010

"Dear all
I thing you have seen the picture from Velumia and you have seen how much damage we have in Velumia:
1. Papaya tree the good fruit it was about 167 papaya tree in Velumia and in the boundary, about half of it fall down when it was heavy rain. The rest of the plant die now a days, in every tree it was so much papaya


2. Plantation, Vegetable are totally damage the field look like playground in the boundary and also in Velumia.
3. Other fruit trees some die witch can’t except the water others are still alive.
4. Paddy field is not damage totally some part of it is not so bad.
5. Damage, in the boundary Bhola garden are the wood, some Iron, some machine partly damage some should be repair may be some will damage the electric Motors
6. Fish in the pond first and second night we worked heard but after it was not possible to stop the fish to go out. so some fish was gone too.
7. The construction of the new building was not start fully but the sand was washed out a lot. and it will be late to start again.
8. Boundary wall and the wall for the tin shad building is not fall down but the water was coming threw so partly damage down part. Main problem that we don’t have time to go back and replant all the vegetable and the fruits tree as well as the paddy. We are trying to plant the vegetable we will buy the plant for plantation, we don’t have time to make the seedling and start again. The price is very high Directly we have lose of GBP 7000, for the crops and for the other damage is costly more than GBP 10,000. That was a rough idea.
Thank you so much we have start for the emergency work, all the staffs and children are working very heard.
Lots of love from your children"

Diary and Experiences of

Mohoram's Bhola Island trip to a charity

Orphans with disABILITY:

what a struggle going on in Bhola Island (Bangladesh)

As I am a wheelchair user and young one, it was my own decision that I will go to Bhola Island, largest island of the country Bangladesh, to visit a welfare organization named “Bhola’s Children” (www.bholaschildren.org). Normally the people go to Bhola by launch from Sadarghat (Dhaka) to Bhola launch ghat via Chandpur district. It was very tough to make this trip alone with a wheelchair and bags. Finally I had done it and I hope this travel reports (informal) will interest to you all.

The main aims of Bhola’s Children are to provide accommodation, education and medical treatment for orphaned children with disABILITY on the Island of Bhola (Bangladesh).

26th of July 2010.

I left my residence, the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP), my employed organization around 1.30PM. I reached at Sadarghat (Dhaka) near 4.30PM by bus and the rickshaw journey. It was mutual understanding with bus service provider that they will help me to carry my wheelchair and bags by their staff. I paid for me and also for wheelchair but I am not happy to pay for wheelchair rent. This is my first launch journey, that’s why I did not have any experience about sitting or bedding. My friend who lives near the Sadarghat (Dhaka), he bought a new bed sheet for sleeping on the floor of launch. It is common way for cheapest journey, really interesting. My wheelchair was burden to the launch authority as it is took bit place. They were expressing this boringness by their face not by speech/talk, but finally they accepted it. Launch left the Dhaka just at 7.00PM. It was very simple journey but I enjoyed so much. No traffic jam, no horn, no any stoppage to take more passengers, no much noise, no visible fasting competition. It was moonlight night and I was enjoying till 12.00AM. It was my idea and commitment to me that I will not sleep tonight but after 12.00AM I found everybody gone to sleeping world and that’s why automatically I did feel that I have to go for sleep. I have gone to sleep with wearing blue coloured jeans, which was not so easy to continue till next morning, but I had to.

27th July 2010.

A voice entered to my ears that “please get up, we reached at Bhola, take preparation to leave the launch”. I rose up about 5.45AM. It was not expected to me because the launch authority yesterday told me they will reach at Bhola not before 7.00AM. Okay, it was terrible to leave the floored bed earlier but when I faced that a fresh air creating impression to my body, it was really peaceful moment. I made a call to Bhai Mr. Howlader M A Ali, founder of Bhola’s Children to receive me from the launch ghat.

They came to me by 10 minutes and took me to organization. It was bit unexpected that the people of the launch did take the rent for me even they did not ask about the rent. Some how it is positive and someway it is negative but I took it positively as it is Bangladesh, one of the poorest and politically unstable country of the 3rd world, because most of disABLED people don’t have any earning way to pay for all the cost. Launch business is not small business, if one/two disABLED passenger(s) do not pay or half for each trip, it will not create any hamper to the business.

I took a great bath at the centre by 30 minutes because I did take bath before 24 hours ago. 24 hours is big time for me because I take bath 2 times each day, even when I go to abroad. After bath and wearing official dress Bhai made a brief about the culture and behaviour of Bhola Island’s people, centre’s staffs, all the residents, irregular clients and it was near about 6.30AM. After a cup of black coffee I took a visit to all places of the centre excluding ladies hostel.

The centre is about 97 decimals lands and secured by a medium high wall, 10 minutes way from Bhola Island’s launch ghat, 15 minutes away from the Bhola city, attached with Bhola intercity road. Very easy and good communication between Bhola’s Children and Bhola city and other places of Bhola Island. You will be happy if you pay a visit to this organization for a single time. I am sure many of politicians and big businessman, they don’t have any info about this organization forever. You will say first, “Orphans with disABILITY? What a struggle going on in Bhola Island (Bangladesh) by Bhai.

The life with disABILITY is a recognized battlefield for forever, if s/he is an orphan, is it not more than battle field? I think yes and I hope everybody should support my voice and thinking. Bhola’s Children are the brain child of Mr. Howlader M A Ali, around 55 years old men who is attached with disABILITY field for last 30 years. He is one of the pioneer leaders of Bangladesh for the disABILITY movement for last 3 decades. In addition, he did invest most of the time of these 3 decades to create and modify the assistive devices and its technology for all kind of disABLED people. If you look the profile or index of the disABILITY movement of Bangladesh, his name will come to you all automatically. In 2004, he thought I need to do something for Island based disABLED people and he started this project in Bangladesh’s largest island based district Bhola by giving all the stuffs of his life & family, even a single tea cup. Now he lives inside the centre at a very small single accommodation which is not minimum well decorated, he does not want it too. There are about 61 residents and about 90% are orphans with disABILITY. Near 5% disABLED and other 5% orphans only. Most of them are speech and hearing disABLED and near 20% other including blind, physical and mental. It was a different world to me. The children talk by using Bengali sign language even who is not a speech and hearing disABLED. Some times break the sign language rules because everybody don’t much training/education on the Bengali sign language.

There have no professional hired cook at all. The residents are cooking for all clients even for the residence based staffs. They select who will cook for this week and for next weeks, even a blind one also.

All the residents are allowed for all the necessity, even for personal things. They live there in the centre like the home and Bhai takes care as like parents. Current basic activities are as follows:

1. Residence based education for all disABLED resident.

2. Vocational training on Tailoring, making Assistive Device for disABLED people, Crop Farming.

3. Informal training to the disABLEDs on capacity building and life leading attitude to the common society.

4. Etc.

Work with orphans with disABILITY is not common in the world, even not so easy to do it. The attitudes of the workers, behavior of the staffs, costs of operating are not common in our country as well as in the south-east Asia. The current monthly operating cost is BDT 2,00,000.00 / USD 2,898.00.

After breakfast, I went to the new project which is just bought from a villager for a technical training centre in the future and it is about 52 decimals. The theme technical training centre is one of the most important future projects of this Bhola’s Children. Technical training is one demand sector in the world, that’s why the board of trustee decided to take this project. Personally I also believe this reality.

After half past 10.00AM, we were going to another new project namely Bhelu Mia, named from the place, which is about 11KM far from the centre. Normally we used bike to go anywhere in Bhola except any invitation and launch ghat. Bhelu Mia project is mainly to build the residence for the orphans with disABILITIES who have no any place to go in the future. They will live there forever and will crop the foods, cultivate the animals, etc. The centre will do marketing the items be done by themselves. It is about 230 decimals lands newly bought from a rich man who is personally a professor. I invested there about 3 hours time and got the idea from Bhai what is going to happen there in this project Bhelu Mia. Also I listened the personal life history of Bhai, which is carrying maximum similarities with Tony Blair’s or Barack Obama’s childhood.

Currently there in the Bhelu Mia project have only a tin shed small 2 bedded accommodations for 2 juveniles. Maximum of the land is like a pond and seasonal fish cultivating is going on. Another reality performance is going on to continue in this project which is really rare in the world. The responsive 2 juveniles for the security of the project are disABLED. They buy necessary commodities, cook the foods, clean the wears, takes bath at a same place, all other things. Wonderful thing is: one is blind and another one is speech and hearing disABLED. It is a common theory in the world that the resident based activities can not go/run for blind and speech and hearing disABLED at the same time at same centre. But what you will say when you will see this different thing and at a grassroots level in a poor country Bangladesh, even a small residence based centre Bhola’s Children? It can be a model and we can learn from Bhai how he is doing it. We can not forget it, every length starts by a step. The day was busy to me and totally successful.

28th – 30th of July 2010

These 3 days I passed with Bhai by project understanding, because I am one of the possible drivers to drive this project in the future.

I backed to Dhaka by same way journey and enjoy, started on evening July 30th and I reached at Sadarghat (Dhaka) at 7.00AM next day July 31st. Unfortunately it was rainy day and it was bit tough to get a vehicle to come to Savar (Dhaka), my employed organization CRP because my duty is to be started from 10.00AM. Thanks.

What can not be forgotten from my memory/knowledge–

* The acceptance of resident children. They had taken me as a long time friend. They have honoured me as an accompanier.

* Mutual understanding between Bhai and all other staffs and residents.

* Fresh fried hilsa with chicken soup made by Laily Akter, a resident.

* Bhai’s safety in driving the bike and vehicle (micro bus for the outside based student with disABILITY).

* The Bhai, a man with full humanity with good administrative & managerial performances.

Motion of interest: it may be an element to do something different in the field of your interest as well as in the world. You can find or lose everything if you are not aware about your liabilities or responsibilities to the society. The human being who does not carry these emotions, I do not believe s/he is a real one, who can run him/her properly or s/he can take responsibility for others or a group.

Md. Mohoram Ali

A young with disABILITY (Bangladesh)\

E-mail: MMA.1986@gmail.com

Offices:

Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP) Dhaka (Bangladesh), www.crp-bangladesh.org

WWW.BEZGRANIZ.COM - portal for the disABLED

Moscow (Russia), www.bezgraniz.ru

Glossary –

Bhai – It is a Bengali word same as brother and we use it to most honour to Mr. Howlader M A Ali).

Sadarghat – Main / principal station where the launches arrive and begin journey in Dhaka city only.

Ghat – Station where the launches arrive and begin journey.

Bruna and Dinah walk for Bhola’s Children: 112 kms
to Santiago de Compostela

















Last October, Bruna and Dinah decided to walk the
last stretch of the Camino de Santiago, to raise money
for our new workshop and tailoring room.

Unfortunately Bruna slipped on the ice before Christmas
and broke her ankle. The following day, Dinah did the
same but only broke her wrist. We hoped that Bruna’s
ankle, by some miracle and much help from Swiss doctors,
would recover and enable her to walk the whole way,
rather than resort to taxis. As you will see from her account,
she made it – as did Dinah, for whom it was the second time
but whose legs, even though four years older, behaved
impeccably.

We knew we had the good wishes of Ali and the children
every step of the way.

Bruna and Dinah walk for Bhola’s Children: 112 kms
to Santiago de Compostela

Last October, Bruna and Dinah decided to walk the
last stretch of the Camino de Santiago, to raise money
for our new workshop and tailoring room.

Unfortunately Bruna slipped on the ice before Christmas
and broke her ankle. The following day, Dinah did the
same but only broke her wrist. We hoped that Bruna’s
ankle, by some miracle and much help from Swiss doctors,
would recover and enable her to walk the whole way,
rather than resort to taxis. As you will see from her account,
she made it – as did Dinah, for whom it was the second time
but whose legs, even though four years older, behaved
impeccably.

We knew we had the good wishes of Ali and the children
every step of the way.

Feb/March 2010 Photos from Bhola

Outside the Circus

The Big Farewell

Luckily Dinah remembered her gardening gloves!

Dinah driving the tractor!

First Sale of Valumia Vegetables!

New Children with their new clothes

Dinah's Trip to Bhola

Dear all,

I got back last weekend from my seventh and most enjoyable visit to our children. Bhola Garden really has become a second home for me, and I enjoyed every moment of my time there – even when we had power cuts and there was no water on the third floor!

The weather could not have been better – hot sunny days and relatively cool nights. All the children were happy and healthy, apart from a couple who had been sent home to nurse chicken pox. The last thing Ali needs is an epidemic!

I was delighted to see seven children new since my last visit. Four of them are very young, which fits in with Ali’s plans to keep the age level down. Three are deaf, one has downs syndrome, one suffers from cerebral palsy, one is a slow learner; and dear little Hasnur is partially sighted. Ali hopes to take her to a specialist in Dhaka, in the hope of getting treatment. The new children had new clothes, material chosen by yours truly on an entertaining, three-to-a-rickshaw shopping expedition with Asma and Rozina, and made in her usual quick time by Asma and her helpers. My photograph shows them just after presentation, plus Rozina who was given a new dress to replace one destroyed by poor little Khadija…

Work at Valumia continues to keep us all occupied. Several of the men and boys worked there most days alongside Ali’s nephew Rabi and a team of daily labour, digging out the moat round the lower field so that it can be filled with water for fish. We, the gentler sex, were put in charge of clearing vegetation from the bank and I was pleased to have remembered my gardening gloves. Plenty of our own fruit and vegetables were on the menu, and we had the great excitement of taking our first crop of tomatoes, cabbages and eggplants to the wholesaler who sold them all without taking commission. Ali has so many loyal friends and supporters in the town.

A happy time was had by all last Sunday morning, when we caught fish in our pond by the simple means of taking out all the water and picking the fish out of the mud. Needless to say, I continued to be a vegetarian!

The other great excitement was delivery of the trailer. It is now painted, yellow and red so as to be truly visible. I had my doubts about Ali’s driving skills, especially reversing in our small space, but was delighted to hear on Monday that he had successfully driven it, and all the children, to Valumia to collect firewood. So now Ali can add tractor-and-trailer driving to his many other skills.

We now have five blind or partially sighted children. Ali and I visited Razia’s father, our erstwhile nightwatchman who always slept on the job, and persuaded him to let her come home to us, which made us all happy. We all worry about lack of any teaching for the blind. We can’t afford a qualified teacher, I tried very hard to inspire our present teachers to involve them in classes. The two sets of dominos were a great success, all the blind children used them to add up numbers and it was good for my Bangla number skills too. I can now go past baro, twelve! I will be searching for more simple games for our blind children before my next visit. They all love using my iPod, and I wonder if anybody can spare us an old one no longer in use after an update? Ali could record books on them.

Ali’s birthday, the second he has celebrated in his 57 years, was an occasion for a great party with wonderful singing and dancing, icecream eaten in the fingers (!) and a three-tiered birthday cake. The following evening, my last, we took everyone to the circus – a first for the children. Ali was worried about old Mammi sitting on a hard, narrow plank for several hours but in fact I thoroughly enjoyed it, loved seeing the children’s joy, and was twice visited from beneath the tiered seating by the clowns – one very short and one tall – asking if I was enjoying their antics.

This Friday 12th March is the third anniversary of Bhola’s Children registration as a charity. It is hard to believe how much we have achieved in these three years and it is all due to you. Ali asks me to send messages of love and thanks from him and from our staff and children. I of course add my own heartfelt thanks to you all,

Dinah