Mark Gillespie joined us as a volunteer in the late 1980’s and was very much part of the move from Dhaka to Sreepur and the setting up of what is now, The Sreepur Village charity.
Before building started and during the early stages of the construction of the project he lived on the land with a number of children - in very basic facilities. For a short time they actually slept in a large truck! this was to prevent people attempting to acquire some of our land - some boundary stones had already had to be moved back!
Mark lived a quiet and reclusive life with his wife in a house he built in Dhaka city. Sadly, earlier this year Morium died and then recently Marks health deteriorated. In need of emergency care he made contact with Pat, founder of The Sreepur Village and current Overseas Director, who asked some colleagues in Dhaka to break into the house and get him to hospital. Mark had severe cellulitis in his legs with a disruption of the blood supply.
Over the following weeks Mark spent time in three hospitals and a week at The Sreepur Village - but unfortunately we could not offer the intensive medical care he needed so he had to go back to hospital. Mark sadly died on Friday 12th November in Dhaka Medical College Hospital. A funeral was held at The Sreepur Village on Saturday the 13th and he was then buried in our graveyard.
A mother of two children Sheli sought shelter from Sreepur Village, Bangladesh, in May 2018 when her husband died in a road accident. Her husband was a CNG-run auto-rickshaw driver. Sadly, road accidents in Bangladesh kill and permanently disable thousands of people each year.
North Eastern Bangladeshi residents build their houses at that height to prevent floods from washing away their homes. Nevertheless, this year floods in Sunamgonj district in Sylhet division wiped out lots of houses as well as many lives!
Throughout her three years at Sreepur Village, Shilpi has given emphasis to tailoring - she used to do some basic tailoring in her village. Upon arrival at Sreepur she initially completed all of their basic tailoring training but for the last year and a half she has been focusing solely on bag making.