Bangladesh

Saydabad Mercy

Dhaka, Bangladesh

In 2000 we began. We started the project – just three of us – and we had an idea of where we wanted to go but we really weren't sure just what would work in this poor, Bengali Muslim community. The results of our first survey were brutally shocking. Ninety percent of the children under 12 were presently or had been malnourished! The literacy rate was 30%. I remember looking over these statistics and others, checking them twice because I didn't want to believe it was that bad, and then crying.

The work started taking place. We weighed babies, taught moms how to feed their kids, and worked with other NGOs to increase the rate of immunization in the community. We provided minimal curative care. Mostly we taught and we taught. We also made truly shocking statements to the people of the community such as God loves you; God wants you to be healthy and strong; your children are valuable to God.

Slowly we grew as a team and in our ability to be effective in the community. We were able to add a day-care to our services for single moms. We have a greater network of services that we can help the community access. We are still growing and learning, but we still provide the essential services that we started with: providing primary health care to the community of Outfall 14 in Saydabad, Dhaka and teaching the people of the community how they can choose to be healthy both spiritually and physically.