Almost one year on from our visit to Bangladesh, we returned to the slums of Dhaka to see how Abu Dhabi-based Choice to Change Foundation has continued to transform children’s lives with the help of the capital’s residents
It all started with a smile. Stepping out of the backseat of our car, camera around my neck and rucksack strapped to my back, my feet hit the dusty ground as I struck a confident yet hollow stance; the journey on the way to the slum managed to unnerve me as I quickly began to feel vulnerable and exposed. Smoldering piles of burning litter line the ‘streets’ of the slum as naked toddlers skim past melting plastic, protruding glass and human waste, leaving me gasping and wincing with worry. I felt numb. “So this is a slum,” I said to myself.
Before I had chance to try and process what was going on, I felt a little hand hold mine. About the size of my palm, the grip of this little girl’s hand was strong. It was comforting. It was like she knew I had never seen anything like this before. I glance down to my left where she stood and saw staring back at me a child no older than five. With her scraggy hair and dust-covered face she looked at me and paused, our hands still joined. And with a slow blink of her moon-sized chocolate brown eyes, she smiled. That beaming, infectious smile shone through me and still resonates within me today.
One year on
Plenty has changed over the last 12 months for The Choice To Change (C2C) Foundation. It’s heart-warming for all the staff involved to see the support from the UAE, but it can also be a little overwhelming when thinking about what can and needs to be done. Yet the team remains grounded and their vision true – ‘to build a healthy environment of education and learning among underprivileged children.’ So upon arrival in C2C’s Lalmati School – one of the two sites they now teach from– I couldn’t wait to see how the foundation had grown.
How has the capital helped? Firstly, five like-minded friends living in Abu Dhabi donated enough funds to the school so that every child would receive a hearty lunch each day until the end of 2013. This sparked the start of the initiative the C2C Daily Lunch Progamme, where every child receives a meal for breakfast and lunch. A comforting thought that they won’t go hungry that day.
Recent donations of monitors from Abu Dhabi company Fluor and a laptop and computer equipment from a resident of the capital, means the students can watch educational videos, cartoons and more while enjoying their food – a part of the day these kids simply adore. These additions, along with photocopying machines, projectors and Internet connection have enhanced the way in which the students can learn.
Students Ashna Rahman and Fatema Akter who both suffered from serious burn injuries receive check-ups from the now-daily school nurse. Previously this was once a week. A donation of medical supplies from Harley Street Medical Centre in Abu Dhabi now means all students of the school can be treated immediately and safely.
The Friends of Yasmina (FOY) group recently visited Dhaka to donate on behalf of Al Yasmina School in Abu Dhabi. The school has sponsored two classes, which means each child will continue to be educated, given a uniform, attend an annual school picnic and get daily meals for an entire year.
Cleanliness and hygiene are key, so the employment of cleaning staff, who are from the slum, continues to improve the school along with the way of life for those employed. With this in mind, C2C recently conducted a fire safety programme for the community. The relationship between the school and the community is stronger than ever. Teachers visit the families in their free time, parents attend monthly meetings with the staff to discuss future plans and a social worker position has now been created to ensure that this relationship continues to flourish as well as keep in touch with every child’s situation.
However, with change comes responsibility. C2C is a passionate beating heart in Dhaka that continues to give poverty-stricken children an education in the slum. These children have almost nothing in their life, yet they are willing to give anything they may have in order to help you. The day after I left Dhaka and returned back to ‘reality’ in Abu Dhabi, C2C took some donations to the Mother Teresa Missionary including clothing and toys which could be given away, by the kids, to people even more less fortunate than themselves.
“When the students of C2C get everything for free, it could be easy for them to become complacent, too used to nice things,” said Abu Dhabi-based Eva Kernova, founder of C2C. “This programme allows the children to see orphaned and disabled children with less than them and give them something to smile about. It gives them an idea of what it’s like to be charitable. Being rich isn’t about what you have it’s about what you can give.”
Party in the park
One of the latest initiatives to be implemented was the inaugural C2C Picnic and Sports Day and it was something I was lucky enough to attend. Two buses, 108 very excited students, almost 20 staff and a very noisy journey, was the start of my final day in a nutshell. After a long bus trip through miles of 3ft high piles of rubbish – a place where many of these kids call work for two hours before school – we arrived at what could only be described as paradise for these children. Lush green fields, open spaces and an almost surreal silence. The Bangladesh Adventist Seminary and College (BASC) welcomed us for the day to use their main sports field along with a picnic area for the afternoon’s festivities. Staff had organised a variety of races and games for the students, to which I thought after three hours of running around in 30-degree heat would tire them out. In fact, it only fuelled their energy levels more.
An awards ceremony took place after the students filled their tummies with rice and curry; I thought the food would slow them down too, but again I was wrong. Music was played loudly and we danced like nobody was watching; students, teachers and visitors – we came together like one giant family. Seeing over 100 children dancing and screaming the chorus to Pharrell Williams’ Oscar-nominated track will forever make me, “Happy” too.
Leaving the children was heartbreaking. As the bus left, their little arms reached out of the windows towards me as they shouted “thank you” over and over again. But I hadn’t done anything. I’d simply turned up to their school for a few days to report on how the school had improved their lives. Then it hit me. They weren’t thanking me, they were thanking everyone in Abu Dhabi. Thanking you for their school, the food, the medical supplies, the computers, the books, and the clothes. Everything you have given so far, they were thanking you through me.
The foundation will always need your support. This not-for-profit organisation relies on donations, both of money and other supplies. People can now donate via their new page: www.justgiving.com/thechoicetochange
Abu Dhabi student learns invaluable lesson
Molly Maddocks, an A-Level student at Raha International School saw first-hand how the C2C kids lived from day-to-day in the slums.
“I spent the day with the kids at the picnic which was so much fun,” said Molly. “To see them in the slum the next day seeing how they lived shocked me to the core. They’ve got nothing. I couldn’t believe how different their life is to mine,” she said. “At their age I couldn’t wait to get out of school, I just wanted to be at home. For them it’s the opposite. They love this school and you can tell it means everything to them. I think kids who are at school, any age
